Treatment of cough in children 2 years old Komarovsky. Dry cough in a child Komarovsky

If a child has a cough, how to treat it? This is a problem that every parent faces from time to time. There are a lot of medicines on the market, but how to choose the best one? You don’t always need to buy tablets and syrups, because in some cases you can get by with gentle methods.

Dr. E. O. Komarovsky, like other specialists, advises that if a child has prolonged symptoms of cough, immediately consult a doctor, who should establish a diagnosis and prescribe the necessary medicine.

Contents of the article:

Suitable medications

How to quickly cure a child’s cough using medications? Dr. Komarovsky does not recommend using regular tablets if the baby is 2 years old or younger.

What to give a child for a cough when it is not associated with a negative lung condition? If this symptom manifests itself only as a defensive reaction to external irritants (dust or unpleasant odor), tablets that suppress the reflex itself will help. Thus, Broncholitin with the active substances glaucine, ephedrine and basil oil is used for children 3 years of age and older. In addition, they are given Libexin 3-4 times a day depending on body weight (detailed instructions on the package) or Thermopsol.

Bronholitin
Libexin
Thermopsol

A cough expectorant thins mucus and gradually removes it from the body. During the first applications, the symptom may become stronger. This is the result of the medication: there is more mucus, so the body tries to get rid of it faster. Thermopsol is one such medicine that is good for treating severe cough, tracheitis and bronchitis.

Plant extract removes phlegm well. Thus, Thermopsol contains the herb thermopopsis. Due to alkaloids, there is a stimulating effect on the respiratory centers. But here parents should be careful, since Thermopsol in large doses causes vomiting. Instructions for use advise taking the medicine 3 times a day, accompanying the therapy with additional plenty of fluids.

But not only the drug Thermopsol effectively relieves the annoying symptom; a good cough remedy for children 5 years and older is Mucaltin. By forming a protective film on the mucous membrane, the drug removes it faster and enhances the effect of other drugs. With the permission of a doctor, Mucaltin can be given from three years of age by dissolving the tablet in 1/3 glass of warm water.

Under no circumstances should adult medications be used to treat children, even if the parent reduces the dosage.

It is allowed to give lozenges for sucking. Dr. MOM has several berry and fruit flavors to choose from. It is recommended to drink 1 lozenge every few hours per day. Another effective remedy is Septolete. It is not recommended to give it to children under 4 years of age. One tablet is prescribed once every few hours, and for children a maximum of 4 lozenges per day. The dosage is determined by the attending physician.

Dr. MOM
Septolete

In the video, Dr. Komarovsky talks about cough treatment:

List of antibiotics

Treatment of cough in children with antibiotics can only be prescribed by the attending physician, based on a number of manifestations:

1. Long-term symptoms (2 weeks), and conventional medications do not help.
2. Whooping cough, streptococcal infection or pneumonia.
3. Discharge of mucus from the nose, temperature rose above 39°.

Which antibiotic is suitable for a baby under one year old? Zinnat is available in the form of tablets or suspension for internal use. Therefore, infants aged 3-6 months are given the drug 2 times a day. From six months and for children 2 years old, the dosage increases. The average course of treatment is a week.

An antibiotic for coughs for children under one year of age in the form of injections is the drug Zinacef. It is almost completely eliminated from the body within a day. With this course of treatment, the dose for newborns should be divided into 3 times.

From 2 years old, for example, Suprax in the form of a suspension is suitable. Flemoxin Solutab is also used for children two years old 2 times a day. For children from 3 to 10 years old, the dose increases.

Sometimes an unpleasant symptom is accompanied by other signs of a cold. What can be done in this case? Antibiotics for children with coughs and runny noses in the form of syrups are most effective because they have a pleasant taste. Augmentin is one of the best cough medicines for children under one year of age. The same proportion remains up to 4 years, after which the dosage is doubled, so before taking the product you need to study the instructions.

Cough tablets for children are only suitable if they already know how to swallow on their own. Biseptol is allowed for children over 3 years old 2 times a day after meals.

Babies are given only suspensions. He will not be able to swallow or chew a tablet, so until the age of 5 years, doctors most often prescribe only liquid forms of the medicine.

Treatment of cough in children with antibiotics should only occur under medical supervision. If it is possible to do without such drastic measures, the doctor will definitely report this and select another remedy.

Folk recipes

Folk remedies have a more gentle and gentle effect on the child’s body, so they are often used by parents. Every family with a baby knows such recipes, so they always have honey, aloe and various herbs in stock. In ancient times, severe coughs were treated with egg mixture. To do this, boil a glass of milk, after which butter (1 tsp), honey (2 tsp) and yolk are added.

Another cough medicine: add 2 tbsp to the previous liquid (0.5 l). l. pine buds. Everyone insists for an hour, after which the mixture is drunk throughout the day.

Effective compresses relieve coughs within a few sessions of use. They can be prepared with the following ingredients: potato cakes and apple cider vinegar. To prepare the first recipe, you need to boil and mash several tubers, adding 1 tsp. alcohol and 2 tsp. butter. Form into flat cakes and place on your chest and back. After an hour and a half, remove the compress.

Vinegar (3 tsp) diluted in water with 1 tsp will also help. honey Gauze soaked in the solution is applied to the problem area, covered with polyethylene and a scarf for 20 minutes.

How to treat a disease using various infusions? Buy any herb or a mixture of anti-cough herbs at the pharmacy, brew it in a thermos, according to the instructions, with a glass of boiling water and after half an hour you can drink it. Dr. Komarovsky recommends adding a pinch of baking soda (but don't overdo it). Such infusions irritate the gastric mucosa, stimulating the rapid release of phlegm. Children should drink plenty of fluids while taking infusions. Before intensive treatment, you need to check whether the patient will show a negative symptom in the form of vomiting.

Another useful folk cough medicine for children aged 1 year and older is a mixture of honey, butter and cocoa. Mix (all 100 g) honey, butter, aloe juice and 50 g cocoa, add sugar to taste. Bring to a boil and then place in the refrigerator. Before bedtime 1 tbsp. l. The prepared mixture is diluted in a glass of milk. This remedy is not only effective, but also tasty, so children drink the medicine with pleasure.

What to do if the cough does not go away for more than 2 weeks? After consulting a doctor and prescribing basic medications, additional flaxseed oil can be given. Its taste is quite specific, so 1 tbsp. l. It is permissible to add to food or dilute slightly with water.

In the video, an experienced mother talks about how she treats a cough at home:

Other methods

How to stop a child’s cough without resorting to aggressive methods in the form of pills and antibiotics? There are various devices and devices that also effectively eliminate the problem. Inhalations with saline solution for cough can be used 2-4 times a day. To do this, use sodium chloride or table salt.

The use of the inhaler is acceptable for pregnant women, nursing mothers and infants from the first days of life. Such cough inhalations for children moisturize the mucous membranes of the pharynx, mouth and bronchi, after which sputum is quickly eliminated from the body. However, inhalations are contraindicated in the presence of the following symptoms:

1. High temperature. If the fever is above 37.5°, the procedure will cause great complications due to metabolic processes in the body.
2. Bleeding. If a child has weak blood vessels and often bleeds from the nose, the inhaler will dilate the blood vessels more, causing a similar symptom.
3. Allergies. There is no reaction to saline solution, but be careful about the additional components that you add to the inhaler. If you are at risk of allergies, please consult your doctor.

Inhalations for children against cough and runny nose should be carried out only with the help of a pharmaceutical saline solution. It is impossible to obtain such a liquid at home.

For children over 3 years old, it is recommended to use mustard plasters. According to the instructions, the bags should be placed in warm water for a few seconds and then placed on the back. At 3 years old, a child can leave them on for 2 minutes, placing the applique on clothing or a piece of fabric, for older children - up to 1 minute on a naked body.

Massage is a good way to help fight a cold. The most accessible method is rhythmic tapping on the back without affecting the spine. To soften the blow, Dr. Komarovsky suggests doing this through the palm (especially for infants). The procedure is repeated up to 5-6 times a day.

Treatment of children's cough can also be carried out using drainage massage. It begins with stroking up and down, after which the back must be actively rubbed until slightly red. The manipulation ends with tapping and stroking. After this, you need to lift the child and ask him to make several coughing sounds, which subsequently often turn into an intense symptom.

Dr. Komarovsky described this procedure in great detail; this can be seen in the video:

Good and correctly performed breathing exercises will help get rid of cough. It saturates the body with oxygen, serves as a preventive measure for a number of other diseases, improving the general condition of the body. The simplest and most effective thing is to quietly force the child to do breathing exercises in the form of a game, blowing out balloons, blowing soap bubbles, or launching sailboats in a large basin.

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The famous children's doctor E. Komarovsky claims that it is not the cough that needs to be treated, but the disease that caused the cough. Developing this idea, Dr. Komarovsky argues: you don’t need to get rid of a cough, but increase its effectiveness.

How does it manifest?

The main characteristic of a dry nonproductive cough is the absence of sputum.

Other characteristic signs of a dry cough:

• sore throat.
• barking cough
• bronchospasms,
• dyspnea,
• elevated temperature,
• painful cough at night.

Symptoms indicating the development of the disease:

• pain in the head area,
• nervous system disorders,
• insomnia.

Reasons for development

Cough without phlegm accompanies many diseases. The main ones:

Cough at night

A child’s cough during sleep is the body’s reaction to infection or inflammation. If your baby starts coughing at night, you should immediately consult a doctor.

The causes of a dry cough in a child at night can be:

• Allergic reaction caused by surrounding objects: bed linen made of low-quality fabric; nearby toys of unknown origin, especially soft ones; the smell of recently painted objects.
• Viral origin. It is at night that mucus in the lungs begins to accumulate, causing attacks of suffocation.
• Night cough without sputum sometimes occurs when gastrointestinal reflux.
• Frequent night cough, and then a paroxysmal dry cough, signals the beginning of bronchitis or whooping cough.

No temperature

When a child has a cough with signs of suffocation, and the temperature is normal, you should consider whether a foreign body has entered the throat. A ball, a button, or part of a toy can bring a child to a critical state. A foreign body can be removed with sliding blows between the shoulder blades. In this case, the child lies on the adult’s knee, body down.

Infants up to one year old develop a cough in the morning, which causes great anxiety among parents. Fears are in vain: the baby coughs to get rid of the phlegm that has accumulated overnight, which is normal for infants.

If a child has a dry cough, you should consult a doctor and, after consulting a pediatrician, begin treatment.

Treatment options

In articles and television programs devoted to eliminating dry cough, doctor E. Komarovsky emphasizes that it is not possible to get rid of a cough unless the causes of the cough are eliminated. You can humidify the air and eliminate the effect of allergens, but if the cause of the cough is a viral disease, you can only expect the effect of antiviral immunity on the disease. During this time, the child will undergo painful attacks, and his parents will undergo a lot of unpleasant worries.

Cough cannot be eliminated; its effectiveness must be increased. These words of E. Komarovsky became the main principle of getting rid of cough.

A positive characteristic of an effective cough is its rare manifestations. After the accumulation of sputum, the child coughs, getting rid of it, there is a respite, and everything repeats.

But sometimes you have to cough many times to get rid of phlegm.

Treatment for children differs from treatment for adults. There are factors that cannot be ignored:

• For up to two years, drug treatment is prescribed only as a last resort, strictly adhering to the doctor’s advice, since there is a risk of drug overdose.
• The medicine should be given to the baby before rest - often the drugs cause drowsiness or dizziness.
• Until the age of two, children do not know how to cough to remove mucus. A child who has a cough needs to drink as much fluid as possible.

When treating dry cough you should remember:

• It is necessary to strictly follow the instructions of the pediatrician.
• Conditions favorable for treatment are created in the house. Clean air should be cool and humid. Air temperature is within 18 – 20 degrees.
• Eliminate odors and cigarette smoke.
• The child should receive plenty of fluids.
• The diet includes fermented milk products, cereals, vegetable and fruit purees.

What affects the effectiveness of a cough?

Dr. Komarovsky identified factors for the effectiveness of cough:

• Ability to cough, i.e. consciously perform a cough impulse. In an older child, the cough is more effective.
• Sputum quality. Thick sputum is more difficult to get rid of; you have to cough many times. Cough shocks cannot be changed. But you can change the thickness of the sputum, thereby affecting the effectiveness of the cough.

For symptomatic treatment of dry cough, the following mandatory requirements must be observed:

• The room should be cool and fresh. This will prevent the discharge from becoming thicker and the mucous membranes from drying out.
• The child should receive the maximum amount of fluid to thin the mucus.

By following these rules, you can rid your baby of dry cough by 90%.

Will medications help?

There are two options for the effects of medications:

• Cough medicines. They relieve cough by reducing the excitability of the cough center.
• Expectorants. They improve cough, while the rheology of sputum and bronchial contractility change.

Medicines for dry cough are aimed at changing sputum, performing one of two functions:

• Liquefies already formed mucus
• Increases the amount of sputum that is easy to cough up.

Cough medicines

According to Dr. Komarovsky, coughing is a necessary protective reflex, but some diseases require the use of medications:

• whooping cough.
• pleurisy,
• oncological diseases of the respiratory system.

E. Komarovsky warns parents against using antitussive medications for their children without a doctor’s prescription: some of them have a narcotic effect.

Expectorant medications

• Resorptive(after absorption, the drugs from the gastric mucosa are released in the bronchi, thinning the mucus).
• Reflex. By activating the nerve endings of the stomach, they influence the production of mucus in the bronchi.

Mucolytics

The drugs affect sputum, while thinning it. Mucolytics are used, according to Komarovsky, if the sputum is thick and viscous. IN otherwise Mucolytics may worsen cough.

Among mucolytics, a well-known pediatrician identifies:

• Ambroxol,
• Bromhexine,
• Carbocysteine,
• Guaifenesin

At the same time, Komarovsky claims that the effectiveness of the drugs will only appear with an additional effect on blood rheology by increasing the amount of fluid taken.

What should a child drink?

A sick child needs large amounts of fluid. If the child does not have allergic reactions, it is advisable to give the baby water:

• tea with lemon,
• linden tea,
• cranberry juice,
• tea with raspberries,
• tea with added honey,
• warm milk.

Use of herbal infusions

The following herbs have expectorant properties:

Directions for use: 1 teaspoon of dry herb or root, pour a glass of boiling water, simmer for 15 minutes. Take a teaspoon every 4 hours. You can prepare a decoction from a mixture of these herbs, taken in equal proportions. Methods of preparation and dosage are the same as in a one-component decoction.

Children after two years of age can take decoctions in the absence of allergic manifestations.

Remember! When getting rid of a dry cough, you need to be extremely careful: simultaneous use of cough medicines and drugs for cough effectiveness lead to very serious consequences!

Preventive measures

A dry cough occurs for various reasons, accompanying many diseases and mechanical effects on the baby’s respiratory system. To minimize unpleasant moments when a child becomes ill, you need to follow the advice of Dr. Komarovsky:

• Constantly take measures aimed at increasing your child’s immunity.
• Provide your baby with cool, moist air in his room.
• Eliminate allergens in the child’s environment.
• Make sure your baby is drinking enough fluid.
• Do not treat your baby without consulting a specialist. The first time you cough, contact your doctor.

And also do not forget about a favorable emotional environment. The attention and love of family members is the best medicine for a sick child.

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A child’s cough worries not only the baby, but also his parents, who strive to help their son or daughter in every possible way. Some begin to use folk recipes on the advice of relatives, others go to the pharmacy for syrup, and some do inhalations. Let's figure out whose actions are correct in the opinion of a specialist, and how the popular pediatrician Komarovsky advises treating a cough.

Before giving your child any medications, be sure to consult your pediatrician. Symptomatic treatment

First of all, when a child of any age coughs, Komarovsky focuses the attention of parents on the fact that this is just a symptom of some disease affecting the respiratory tract. In addition, this symptom is protective, so in most cases it is not worth suppressing.

A popular doctor calls ARVI the main cause of cough in childhood. And therefore, in the overwhelming majority of cases of cough in a child, eliminating its cause, according to Komarovsky, is impossible. But there is no need to leave the child without help, so a well-known pediatrician advises symptomatic treatment.

Wherein He calls the main principle of such cough treatment not eliminating the symptom itself, but increasing the effectiveness of the cough. This can be achieved by influencing the quantity and quality of sputum using:

1. Humid and cool air.
2. Drink plenty of fluids.

For more information about this, see Dr. Komarovsky’s program.

Humidify and purify the air

Komarovsky calls providing the child with moist and cool air one of the most important tasks of parents. This will reduce the load on the baby’s respiratory tract and also prevent drying out of the mucous membranes.

If you optimize the conditions in which the child is located, his body will not waste effort on processing the air (heating, cleaning and humidifying it), but will focus on developing antiviral immunity.

In addition to temperature and humidity, the popular doctor draws attention to the need for clean air in the room where the coughing child is. Komarovsky notes that Children's need for clean air when coughing increases several times. This is primarily due to nasal congestion during acute respiratory infections and reduced activity of the epithelium in the respiratory tract. When dust enters the respiratory tract, it leads to poor ventilation and additional mucus production.

Komarovsky advises:

• Reduce the number of possible dust accumulations in the room, for example, hide books behind glass, put toys in boxes, take out carpets.
• Avoid child contact with foreign odors and substances, for example, do not use deodorants and perfumes indoors, do not wash the floor with chlorine, and do not spray insect repellent spray.
• Avoid exposing your child to tobacco smoke.
• Carry out frequent wet cleaning. A well-known pediatrician does not recommend vacuuming a room with a sick child, and if a vacuum cleaner is used for cleaning, the child should be sent to another room while the room is being cleaned.
• Maintain the room temperature at +18 degrees.
• Maintain indoor humidity at 60-70%. The best choice would be to use a humidifier, but if the family does not have such a device, Komarovsky recommends using containers of water and wet sheets.

It is especially important to maintain optimal temperature and humidity levels at night. This will prevent night coughs caused by dry mucous membranes and staying in a lying position, as well as coughs after sleep.

Air humidifiers will help maintain an optimal level of humidity in the children's room Let the child drink more

According to Komarovsky, drinking plenty of fluids is irreplaceable for a child with a cough. It will maintain and restore the properties of sputum by influencing blood rheology, that is, first drinking will make the blood more liquid, which will increase blood circulation in the mucous membranes of the respiratory system and improve their ability to form normal mucus. In addition, the child's body spends a lot of fluid with increased temperature and rapid breathing, which also necessitates frequent drinking.

To ensure that the liquid you drink is absorbed faster, Komarovsky advises giving any drink heated to approximately body temperature. In this case, the liquid will be immediately absorbed in the stomach and enter the blood.

As for the drinks themselves, you can give your child:

• Rehydration solutions.
• Not a strong tea, maybe with sugar and safe fruit.
• Dried fruits compote.
• Raisin infusion (infuse a tablespoon of raisins with 200 ml of water for 30-40 minutes).
• Compote of berries and fruits that the child tried before illness.
• Fruit drink or juice.
• Non-carbonated mineral water with a neutral taste.
• Watermelon.

Komarovsky calls rehydration solutions the best choice of drink, however, with a body temperature of up to +38°C, sufficient air humidification and no breathing problems, you can be guided by the child’s wishes.

A popular doctor advises that infants with a cough should be given something to drink in addition to breastfeeding, since human milk does not cover pathological fluid losses. At an early age, the baby can be given a rehydration solution, baby tea, still mineral water and raisin decoction.

You need to give your baby more water if:

• The air in the room is dry and warm.
• The child's body temperature is high.
• Urination is rare, and the urine itself is darker than usual.
• There is severe shortness of breath and a dry cough.
• The skin and mucous membranes are dry.

With a slight deterioration in the condition, low temperature, as well as access to cool and moist air, Komarovsky calls the child’s thirst the main criterion for the frequency of drinking. At the same time, you need to offer a drink very often and whenever possible. Supporting the drinking regime is also important in cases where the child has a prolonged and residual cough.

Drug treatment

Komarovsky calls the prescribing of any medications for children with cough the prerogative of the doctor. This is especially true for coughs in infants.

Antitussives

Since coughing is a necessary protective reflex, in most cases such medications are not needed. Komarovsky calls their use justified for whooping cough, when the child is tormented by coughing until he vomits. Also, medications that inhibit the cough reflex are needed for pleurisy, cancer in the respiratory tract, and for irritating coughs caused by factors affecting nerve endings.

Komarovsky is categorically against parents independently prescribing antitussive medications to their children. He reminds that Some drugs in this group are narcotic and can cause addiction. In addition, many antitussives can also depress the respiratory center, which is especially dangerous in children under 2 years of age. So these drugs can be used in children over 2 years of age only when indicated and after being prescribed by a pediatrician.

Expectorants

The main purpose of using such medications is called by a popular pediatrician to cleanse the respiratory tract of phlegm. It is very dangerous, according to Komarovsky, to combine such medications with antitussives, because in such cases the sputum accumulated in the lungs will not be coughed up.

A well-known doctor divides all expectorants according to their mode of action into resorptive (they are absorbed in the stomach and released in the bronchi, affecting mucus) and reflex (they activate nerve endings in the stomach and affect the muscles of the bronchi and mucus production).

Most modern drugs are drugs with a reflex effect. Komarovsky emphasizes that they are safe for children, but their effectiveness has not been proven, and the nature of the cough is more influenced by the conditions in which the child is located than by any expectorant medications.

Mucolytics

Such drugs affect the sputum itself, changing its rheology. Komarovsky names ambroxol, bromhexine, carbocysteine, acetylcysteine ​​and guaifenesin among the drugs in this group. A well-known doctor notes that it is advisable to use such drugs in the presence of viscous, thick sputum. If a child has a mild version of ARVI and has a wet cough, according to Komarovsky, mucolytics are not needed and may even worsen the cough. In addition, the effect of such drugs will be ineffective if the rheology of the blood is not additionally influenced by drinking plenty of fluids.

The child coughed - it couldn’t be worse! A continuous cough torments our beloved child - the whole family has no peace! You think to yourself: “It would be better if I got sick a hundred times...” Is this a familiar picture? There is a way out of this situation. Dr. Komarovsky, famous on the Internet, gives advice on treating dry cough in a child. His recommendations are given in this article.

Cough - what is it?

What is a cough? This is an important mechanism of the body that contributes to the normal functioning of the respiratory system. The mucous membrane of our bronchi constantly produces a certain substance. It includes the necessary components, which in turn help maintain the elasticity of tissues.

Children's cough

Dust entering the respiratory system is absorbed by sputum. Komarovsky notes that it is this sputum that is the body’s main fighter against infections that enter the child’s body along with inhaled dust. It also contains antimicrobial substances:

• lysozyme
• immunoglobulin

Komarovsky also draws attention to the following nuance. Sputum has certain physical and chemical properties: viscosity and density. In medical language, this is the rheology of sputum. It is logical to assume: if the mucus has abnormal rheology, then it will not be able to fully perform its functions.

Now regarding dry cough. A dry cough occurs at the beginning of inflammation of the mucous membranes, when there is still no mucus in the bronchi. This is the stage in the development of the disease when the infection causes irritation in the respiratory tract.

If there is a cough, the body cannot cope with it on its own. He needs help!

Causes of cough according to Komarovsky

A dry cough, according to Dr. Komarovsky, is most often not accompanied by a runny nose or fever. Attacks of dry cough last a long time and exhaust the child’s body.

Important! Attacks of dry cough worsen at night due to the peculiarities of the autonomic nervous system. In this case, you need to act directly on the cough center.

It should be remembered that cough is only a symptom of the disease. To overcome a cough, you must first determine the cause of its occurrence. If you self-medicate and suppress only the symptoms, the disease will soon return. Komarovsky claims that by promptly influencing the very cause of the cough, you can get rid of not only the irritating symptom, but also all sorts of complications of the disease.

Allergic cough

A dry cough can be not only a symptom of respiratory tract diseases, but also a harbinger of diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

The most common causes of dry nonproductive cough:

• viral infections
• bacterial infections
• mixed type infections (viral-bacterial etiology)
• allergens
• localized tumors in the respiratory tract
• damage to the bronchi by chemicals (gasoline, glue, paints)

There are many causes of dry cough. The most important thing is to choose effective treatment.

Treatment methods

What treatment method does Dr. Komarovsky recommend? The simplest treatment for dry cough is a targeted effect on the cough center. Medicines whose active ingredient is codeine will come to the rescue. These drugs should not be used without a doctor's prescription.

Mucolytics

Komarovsky claims that not only codeine will help save a child from the disease. It is quite possible to get by with more gentle means that alleviate attacks of unproductive cough.

Today, pharmacies offer a wide variety of antitussives:

• expectorants (mucolytic), which act to increase the volume of sputum
• drugs that have an antitussive effect and stop coughing attacks

Important to remember! Frequent use other than as directed by a specialist can lead to complications of the disease. Mucolytic agents should not be used in children under 2 years of age. This is dangerous for their health.

For children, it is better to use safer drugs. Komarovsky lists these as:

• Mukaltin
• Ammonia-anise drops
• Bromhexine
• Ambroxol

The treatment algorithm is selected only by the doctor. If the cause of a dry cough is diagnosed correctly, then getting rid of it will be much faster.

According to Komarovsky, the presence of moist air in the room is a necessary condition for the successful and rapid recovery of a child. The composition of the air directly affects the quantity and quality of sputum produced. Conversely, dry air, according to Dr. Komarovsky, contains a lot of dust and harmful elements that contribute to the increase in coughing attacks.

Regular ventilation

Hence the conclusion. Ventilate, ventilate and ventilate again! In the room where a sick child is located, the air should always be cool and humid. Temperature no more than 18°C, humidity – 50%. You can achieve the desired humidity using a humidifier. If it is not there, then you can place containers with ordinary water, which will evaporate and humidify the surrounding air.

Komarovsky's next advice is to get rid of household dust. The more dust in the room, the higher the likelihood of mucus drying out in the bronchi. Regular wet cleaning of the room will help. Cleaning should be done only with clean water, without the use of chemicals.

Do not neglect the following important recommendation: drink as much fluid as possible. It is desirable that the temperature of the liquid consumed is equal to body temperature. This promotes faster absorption into the blood. And, consequently, more successful dilution and separation of mucus in the respiratory tract. How much liquid should I drink? This depends on the age of the child, the condition of the air in the room, and the presence of elevated temperature.

You can find out whether your child drinks enough by the following sign. If the baby urinates at least once every 3 hours, then there is enough fluid in the body.

It must be remembered that if you have a runny nose, sore throat and fever, treatment with mucolytic and antitussive drugs will be pointless.

Komarovsky also recommends keeping the child’s feet warm when coughing. If there is no temperature, carry out warming procedures: foot baths with mustard, wear warm socks. You can put a tablespoon of dry mustard in your socks. The use of mustard plasters will not be superfluous. They should be applied to the back and chest for 3-5 minutes. After using them, you should wear a warm blouse to prolong the warming effect.

How to relieve the condition

Dr. Komarovsky believes that to relieve attacks of unproductive cough, walking in the fresh air will be useful. But only if the child does not have a high temperature.

You can also use folk remedies to reduce dry cough:

• a glass of warm milk with honey
• half a glass of milk with soda
• tea with raspberry jam

You can also prepare remedies to relieve coughing attacks with your child. Let him put three figs in a glass of milk. Bring the prepared mixture to a boil, cool slightly. The medicine prepared by the baby himself will be drunk with great pleasure!

Banana puree

Banana puree will help relieve cough. Add warm water to the prepared puree and serve to the child. The use of viburnum will also be effective. Tea is prepared from the berries, and a decoction is made from the flowers. Viburnum contains a large amount of vitamin C.

To alleviate the condition, you can do a light chest massage. Movements should be in the form of patting and tapping to promote better mucus discharge. Rub with warming ointments, apply compresses to the chest and back. For older children, inhalations can be done with saline solution or mineral water. All kinds of cough drops will also help relieve the condition.

All of the above methods of relieving attacks of unproductive cough are a good help. But they do not replace drug treatment.

Prevention

A little about prevention. Komarovsky never tires of repeating that the most important thing for preventive purposes is to prevent a decrease in the child’s immunity. It's no secret that weak immunity is more susceptible to infections and viruses.

Daily ventilation of a living space reduces the risk of infection by 2-3 times, because pathogens die in cold air.

Preventive vaccinations are a huge help in the fight against viral diseases (including influenza). They need to be done every year when the cold season sets in. The positive effect of vaccination occurs after two weeks. It is advisable that during this period the child does not come into contact with infectious patients.

Important! Only a doctor can refer you for vaccination! The child must be absolutely healthy. Vaccination can be done from 6 months.

During the cold season, for preventive purposes, Dr. Komarovsky recommends drinking rosehip decoction. This will strengthen the child’s immunity, since rosehip contains a large amount of vitamin C.

If a child suffers from colds more than 8 times a year, then doctors classify them as frequently and long-term ill people (CHS). In this case, consultation with an immunologist is necessary. For frequently ill children, the pediatrician may prescribe sanatorium-resort treatment. And absolutely free! At the expense of the Ministry of Health.

Another effective preventive measure is hardening. But only in moderation. You should start by gradually reducing the water temperature. Reduce by one degree every day. Hardening should begin from the feet. For example, in the first days they soaked their legs in cool water, on the fifth day they soaked them up to their thighs, and so on. Only a healthy child should be hardened. Even if there is only a slight runny nose, hardening should be stopped.

Any cough requires consultation with a qualified specialist. Do not self-medicate under any circumstances! Not only will you not be cured, but you will also develop complications. The health of the child is only in your hands!

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Feb 18, 2017Violetta Lekar

How to treat children's cough at home, Dr. Komarovsky

Cough causes a lot of inconvenience to a child. Sometimes the coughing attack is so prolonged that it ends in vomiting. This is due to excessive tension in the abdominal muscles. Paroxysmal dry cough, most often occurring at night. The child sleeps, relaxes, mucus accumulates in the respiratory system and prevents the child from sleeping. The result is a debilitating cough that does not stop for several minutes. When asked how to treat children’s cough at home, Dr. Komarovsky gives a complete, detailed answer. According to the famous pediatrician, first you need to find out in which part of the nasopharynx the changes occurred. Interview your child about which part of the larynx he experiences discomfort and pain.

After the survey, assess the child’s body temperature. If the thermometer has risen above normal, according to the doctor, this is an acute respiratory disease or acute respiratory infection.
Observe the nature of the sputum. Even a dry cough produces a small amount of mucus.

The child has a dry cough without fever

1. If a mother observes a dry cough in her baby, and the temperature does not go beyond the normal range, this is not an infectious disease. According to the doctor, the cause may be an allergic reaction to dust and interior items. It is necessary to remove the irritant from the child as quickly as possible.
2. Another important cause of cough without fever is reflux pathology of the esophagus. With this disease, gastric juice enters the respiratory system and causes irritation. As a result, spasm of the bronchi occurs, irritation of the trachea and a dry, paroxysmal cough occurs.
3. There is no need to sound the alarm if a child’s cough occurs after waking up. In the case when the baby coughed several times after sleep and there was no cough during the day. With such actions, the child’s respiratory organs are cleared of mucus accumulated during sleep.

How to treat a child's cough. Types of cough

• As already mentioned, you need to listen to all the changes occurring in the child’s body. If the baby not only has a cough, but also signs of intoxication: headache, nausea, vomiting, weakness and malaise - this indicates the onset of the flu.
• A strong, barking cough is a symptom of whooping cough. Children attending kindergarten and educational institutions are susceptible to this serious disease. With whooping cough, the child’s body temperature rises sharply to high levels, which is difficult to bring down with antipyretic drugs. You can't do without a doctor. The child requires immediate assistance from specialists. The disease is dangerous due to the development of spasm and stenosis of the larynx. The use of traditional methods of treatment is unacceptable.
• Dr. Komarovsky strongly recommends taking a closer look at the baby’s chest during a coughing attack. If it bends strongly during coughing, you should seek help from a doctor to exclude the diagnosis of pneumonia.

Cough medicine for children

To relieve a child of a cough, today there is a huge selection of drugs. Typically, mucolytics made from plant components such as plantain or ivy are used. A decoction of chamomile flowers will help stop the inflammatory process.
For children over one year of age, the doctor recommends taking the drugs Lazolvan, Ambroxol, Ambrobene.

In addition to medications, offer your child decoctions of lingonberries, raspberries, honey and blueberries. A storehouse of vitamins is contained in cranberries. Prepare fruit juice for your baby.

• It should be remembered that self-medication is extremely dangerous. The drugs are prescribed strictly by a pediatrician. Otherwise, you can cause irreparable harm to the child’s health. For example, mucolytics have an expectorant effect. A child with a dry, irritating cough does not need to dilute the mucus, but stop attacks by acting on the cough center. You cannot treat yourself for pneumonia and whooping cough. In this case, complex rather than symptomatic treatment is required.

According to Dr. Komarovsky, parents can help their child alleviate the condition by following some recommendations:

• The air in the room must be humidified. If you don’t have a humidifier, you can simply turn on hot water in the bathroom, close the door and breathe in the moist air with your baby. Damp air promotes better mucus discharge and relieves spasms;
• If the child’s body temperature is within normal limits, go for a walk. It is especially useful to walk in the winter season and after rain;
• To stop an attack of dry cough, encourage your baby to drink more liquid. Tea with raspberries or lemon will be especially useful;
• The liquid should not be hot, but warm. By doing this you will avoid additional irritation of the larynx;
• If your baby has not only a cough, but also a fever, prepare him a drink with added sugar and a few drops of lemon.

Like any doctor, Komarovsky is a proponent of self-medication. Do not forget that by giving the baby a self-prescribed pill, the mother risks the health of her dearest and most beloved person. We looked at how to treat children's cough at home. Don’t look for similar symptoms of the disease on forums; go to the hospital. And remember that timely assistance will help avoid the development of complications after illness.

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The autumn period rarely goes without colds. ARVI and acute respiratory infections.

A constant companion to most of these diseases is a cough.

This is one of the most common symptoms diseases in a child.

How to properly treat a cough? First, we suggest getting to know the enemy by sight.

Cough- This is a complex reflex act, during which the respiratory muscles sharply contract and a jerky release of air from the lungs occurs.

The cough reflex is caused by irritation of receptors located in the larynx, trachea, bronchi or pleura.

When coughing, a person expels not only air, but also phlegm and foreign bodies that have entered the body through the ENT organs.

That is, cough during many diseases clears the airways. Which means he turns from an enemy into an ally and assistant .

This fact must be taken into account when prescribing treatment. In cases where a cough helps to get rid of phlegm, it should never be blocked with antitussives. On the contrary, expectorant medications should be used to help clear the airways.

Famous pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky Absolutely correctly notes: Cough is not a disease, but only a symptom of some disease. And, therefore, it is necessary to fight not with cough, but to treat the disease that provokes it.

Cough may be symptom of a wide variety of diseases :

• viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections (acute respiratory infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc.);
• allergic and infectious-allergic diseases (for example, bronchial asthma);
• chemical irritation of the bronchi, for example, inhalation of paint or gasoline;
• the famous childhood infectious disease whooping cough, which is primarily manifested by paroxysmal cough, etc.

Coughing helps eliminate foreign substances or mucus that accumulates in the body. And to prevent drying sputum, which is simply necessary for the body to heal itself, the child needs fresh air and warm drink .

In addition, in such a situation, Dr. Komarovsky advises expectorants and mucolytics. mucaltin, ammonia-anise drops, potassium iodide, bromhexine, acetylcysteine, lazolvan. These agents thin the mucus and promote coughing. The dosage must be prescribed by a doctor.

Doctor Evgeny Komarovsky: Never, under any circumstances, use or give cough suppressants to children. Their use has strict indications, and without a doctor’s examination, without carefully listening to the lungs, without clarifying the diagnosis, you can cause very serious harm!

The famous doctor once again reminds that juggling medications and treating a cough is a pointless exercise. Need to find root cause .

Sometimes it is enough to protect the child from exposure to the allergen or put a humidifier in the room - and the cough will disappear. In any case, do not remain indifferent to the signals that the child’s body gives. Necessary call a doctor. correctly diagnose and treat the disease causing the cough.

Be healthy and don't cough!

Komarovsky School. Cough and cough medicines

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A dry cough is a typical phenomenon in the initial stages of a number of respiratory diseases. Usually it lasts only a few days, after which it transforms into wet (productive). But there are cases when the cough does not go away for a long time, and remains unproductive. This condition is especially painful for children under one year old.

As Dr. Komarovsky explains, coughing at any age is a natural reaction aimed at clearing the airways.

Respiratory diseases should be accompanied by a cough, and there is no need to rush to suppress it. But if it becomes protracted and does not bring relief, you need to understand the reasons and take action.

Possible duration and causes of dry cough

• acute - lasts several days, then gives way to wet;
• protracted - does not go away longer than 3 weeks, but it bothers you for no more than 3 months;
• chronic, lasting more than 3 months, recurring throughout the year.

The latter type is more typical for adults, and in young children (up to a year and older) an acute and lingering cough is more often observed.

A cough in a child or adult is not a disease that needs to be treated, but a symptom designed to draw attention to the problem. This is constantly emphasized by E.O. Komarovsky. This symptom is characteristic of about fifty different diseases and conditions. Its nature is not always infectious; often a dry cough turns out to be a manifestation of an allergic reaction. It can torment a person for a long time if contact with the allergen is not eliminated.

The causes of a lingering dry cough in an adult, a schoolchild, and a baby in the first year of life vary. In adulthood, it is more often caused by the costs of the profession (harmful working conditions), taking certain medications, heart failure, and oncological problems. In children, the cause is most often diseases of the ENT organs and respiratory system of a viral nature, but bacterial infection cannot be excluded, and at school age - an atypical infection.

No matter how painful coughing attacks may be, they do not pose a threat to life (unless accompanied by suffocation). Therefore, pediatrician Komarovsky urges not to treat the child yourself “for a cough,” but to make an appointment at the clinic for a consultation or wait for the local pediatrician to arrive.

In order to get advice from a qualified pediatrician, use the convenient service to find a doctor in your city. We do not advertise medical services, we offer a convenient tool. He will help you choose a doctor who will correctly diagnose the causes of your child’s cough and prescribe effective treatment. Choose a doctor in your city based on reviews and cost of services and make an appointment at a time convenient for you.
The specialist must determine the reason why the baby is coughing for a long time. It could be:

• ARVI, influenza, occurring against a background of weakened immunity and provoking external factors (passive smoking, dry indoor air);
• the addition of a secondary infection and the development of respiratory tract diseases of bacterial etiology - pharyngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis;
• pneumonia, pleurisy;

• atypical forms of pneumonia and bronchitis caused by chlamydia or mycoplasma and occurring with relapses;
• whooping cough, measles, false croup (from the 4th year of life, children rarely get sick with it, it is more often observed up to 3 years);
• tuberculosis of the respiratory system, which in recent years has increasingly affected children.

Causes of cough not related to the respiratory system

In one of his programs, Dr. Komarovsky described a case: a child’s cough did not go away for six months; they preferred to treat him with expectorant syrups, but the cause of the problem was never found out. This is fundamentally wrong, symptomatic treatment is ineffective, and etiotropic treatment is different for each disease. The cause of a lingering cough is not always due to respiratory diseases. It can be caused by the following diseases and factors:

• bronchial asthma is a serious disease of the body as a whole, and not just the bronchi. It can develop in a child as early as 2 years old, especially if he previously suffered from recurrent bronchitis;

• allergic reaction, hay fever;
• reaction to household toxic substances;
• migration of worm larvae during ascariasis;
• some diseases and pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract.

Protracted cough in children is quite rarely associated with tumors, heart failure, and pathology of the auditory nerve, but this possibility cannot be excluded.

Another probable cause of a cough that does not go away for a long time: a small foreign object has penetrated the bronchi and is constantly irritating. In such cases, the cough is dry, debilitating, and there are no symptoms of the inflammatory process.

What to do if you have a prolonged dry cough

First of all, as already mentioned, see a doctor, undergo an examination, diagnose the disease and treat it.

And to relieve cough, use the remedies recommended by a specialist in accordance with the age of the child and the nature of the underlying disease. Evgeniy Olegovich Komarovsky names 2 universal measures that are indicated for a cough of any nature, especially if it is dry:

• humidifying the air, preventing the mucous membrane from drying out;
• Drinking plenty of fluids to thin the mucus.

Dr. Komarovsky also recommends regularly monitoring the body position of a child who is prescribed bed rest. He should sit up in bed more often, rather than lie in the same position for a long time. For coughing attacks that develop mainly at night, it is necessary to place the pillow at a different angle (higher than usual).

If there is no indication for bed rest, physical activity should be moderate. By sweating, the child loses fluid, and this leads to thickening of sputum and the development of an unproductive cough. Screaming, laughing, crying put additional stress on the mucous membrane and can also provoke another attack.

The following factors also play an important role:

• minimal use of substances with a pungent odor;
• installation of climate control equipment, control of temperature and humidity in the children's room, regular ventilation and wet cleaning, elimination of “dust collectors”;
• use of hypoallergenic laundry detergents, underwear and bed linen should be made of natural fabric without dyes;
• daily active walks, if there is no acute inflammatory process;
• a gentle diet during the period of illness. There is no need to force even a healthy child to eat, especially a sick one. This will be confirmed by any specialist, in particular, Dr. Komarovsky. Food must be hypoallergenic; the use of hot seasonings and exotic products is unacceptable.

Cough medicines

Dry and wet cough require different treatment; the second one should never be suppressed. But with a non-productive cough, especially when it does not go away and interferes with proper sleep and eating, the use of antitussive drugs may be indicated. Pediatrician Komarovsky claims that the only disease for which one should take medications that depress the cough center (Libexin, Sinekod) is whooping cough. In this case, the nature of the cough is such that expectorants and mucolytics cannot alleviate it.

Children under one year of age can be treated with antitussive drugs only on the recommendation of a pediatrician, and the dosage must be agreed with him.

It is also justified to take these medications at night so that the child can get a good night's sleep. In other cases, treatment with expectorants and mucolytics will be safer and more effective. They help not only with a wet cough, but also increase the likelihood of a speedy transition from unproductive to productive. However, Dr. Komarovsky claims that expectorant syrups are intended mainly to reassure parents. In foreign pediatrics, such medications are not used, and a similar effect is achieved by drinking plenty of fluids.

You can also resort to proven folk methods: warm water or milk with honey (in the absence of allergies), milk with added butter, soda mixed with slightly alkaline mineral water, chicken broth. Such drugs can be taken over a long period without fear of side effects. Therefore, for a cough that does not go away for weeks or months, this is a good auxiliary therapy. But it is auxiliary, we must not forget about the treatment of the underlying disease.

Treatment of the cause of cough

In diseases caused by bacteria, the cough is often productive; it can be dry in the first days after the addition of a secondary infection. Regardless of the nature of the cough, antibacterial therapy is indicated. E.O Komarovsky emphasizes that it is impossible to treat bronchitis, pneumonia and other diseases of a bacterial nature with folk remedies, without antibiotics. It is also necessary to take them for whooping cough. Atypical forms require specific treatment with antibacterial drugs, to which mycoplasmas and chlamydia are sensitive.

When tuberculosis is detected in a child, it is necessary to carefully calculate the dosage of anti-tuberculosis medication, taking into account the patient’s weight. Ascariasis requires taking antihelminthic drugs, hay fever and other allergic reactions require antihistamines. Bronchial asthma cannot be treated without bronchodilators. Particular attention must also be paid to eliminating provoking factors and preventing exacerbations.

It should be noted that quite often the protracted nature of dry cough is explained by its relapses. And they are connected with the fact that the therapy of the underlying disease was not completed. After the baby’s condition improves and the main symptoms disappear, parents stop giving the drug prescribed by the doctor, and complete recovery is not achieved.

It is especially important to complete the full course of treatment in case of antibiotic therapy.

If a child’s persistent cough does not go away for more than 3 weeks, especially when such situations are repeated many times throughout the year, a thorough comprehensive examination is required.

It is necessary to take an x-ray and undergo a series of laboratory tests. Based on their results, a decision is made on the advisability of contacting other specialists. In particular, a small patient can be examined by an otolaryngologist, pulmonologist, phthisiatrician, or allergist. Only when the root cause is identified will the treatment of persistent and chronic cough be effective.

Worms in a child treatment at home - traditional methods of treatment

First of all, as an assistant in the fight against disease, an important immune mechanism, and in addition to this - as a messenger of infectious and non-infectious diseases. The sputum secreted by the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract contains enzymes that suppress pathogens.

Purely mechanical removal of inhaled pathogens along with mucus also plays a role. Therefore, the frequency of coughs in diseases of the lungs and upper respiratory tract increases, as the need to remove accumulated mucus increases.

Therefore, quickly eliminating this reaction is not always the best option. Please note: cough is not a separate disease, but a symptom! Among the diseases manifested in this way are:

• infectious diseases of a viral and bacterial nature, for example, ARVI, bronchitis, pneumonia, rhinitis, etc.;
• allergies, bronchial asthma;
• neoplasms in any organs of the respiratory system;
• Komarovsky classifies whooping cough, which has attacks in a child, as a known, but thanks to vaccinations, rare infection.

This list can be supplemented for a long time, but the main thing you need to understand is that eliminating the cough reflex will not help you cure these diseases. Medicines that affect the cough center in the brain inhibit the manifestation of this reflex, but do not help the body cope with the causes of the disease.

As a result, the cough reflex is suppressed, and mucus continues to accumulate in the lungs, which is quite dangerous.

Healthy children normally cough up to 20 times a day. But if this happens more often, and the attacks are prolonged and painful, show the child to the pediatrician.

Most often, children cough with a viral cold, in which case there is a cough, fever and runny nose. Komarovsky also draws attention to the fact that rhinitis can cause attacks at night, or more precisely, in a lying position, when snot flows down the nasopharynx, interferes with breathing and causes a cough.

Treatment

Komarovsky believes that the main thing in treating cough in children is not to self-medicate, not to rush to stuff the child with medicine, but to pay attention to the cleanliness and humidity of the air, and also to increase the amount of fluid they drink. Such measures have a thinning effect on sputum, preventing it from drying out.

Before deciding how to treat a child’s cough, Komarovsky suggests paying attention to the properties of medications often used for this task.

The effects of medications can be aimed at:

• suppression of the cough reflex, which has a control center in the brain;
• thinning of sputum;
• activation of ciliated epithelial cells that push mucus upward;
• stimulation of the smooth muscles of the bronchi;
• decreased sensitivity of the respiratory tract mucosa
• fight against inflammatory processes.

Types of Medicines Used

There are two main groups used in treatment, the first - removes cough (suppresses the reflex), the second - improves productivity, cleansing of mucus (mucolytics and others).

When are drugs that suppress the cough reflex used?

• whooping cough, since the cough is caused by irritation of the nerve endings of the mucous membrane;
• pleurisy not accompanied by sputum production;
• tumors in the chest or upper respiratory tract;
• irritating cough resulting from prolonged exposure to dry, hot air, dust, etc.

As you may have noticed, such remedies are prescribed when there is no sputum, the lungs are clean and the cough is not beneficial.

Self-medication with antitussives can lead to dangerous consequences!

In other cases, Komarovsky recommends not stopping wet and dry coughs, but promoting cleansing processes by reducing the viscosity of mucus and activating bronchial contractions. Among the drugs with such properties, Komarovsky recommends mucaltin, bromhexine, ambroxol.

The commercial names of drugs containing these components are different - see the active ingredient on the package. The dosage of use should be clarified by the doctor depending on the age of the child and the severity of the case.

Also pay attention to medicinal herbs, for example, marshmallow root, licorice, almost pine, thyme and others. They have an expectorant effect, which is why they are so popular as components of cough syrups.

The doctor also emphasizes that these drugs, as well as inhalations, have an effect that can be achieved by simply drinking plenty of fluids and humidifying the air. These are the main elements that relieve cough, and ignoring them will negate the effectiveness of any pills and procedures.

Taking mucolytics is justified only when the sputum is too thick and viscous, coughing it up is difficult and causes pain in the chest.

Please note that the simultaneous use of drugs that inhibit the cough reflex and drugs aimed at increasing the amount of mucus and thinning it is unacceptable.

Treatment of infants

Dr. Komarovsky emphasizes that it differs significantly from the treatment of adults. Many drugs are contraindicated for them, for example those affecting the cough center.

The child does not know how to cough, moreover, his muscles are not yet developed enough, and his lung capacity is too small to expel mucus effectively. A sick infant should be shown to a doctor; a consultation will not be superfluous in any case.

Situations in which emergency medical care is needed:

Along with viral infections, cough in infants can often be caused by a runny nose, as well as, which is especially noticeable in the horizontal position of the child’s body. If you have a runny nose, saline solution in your nose will help clear your nasal passages, mucus will not interfere with breathing, and the cough will stop.

And during the period when teeth are cutting through, the gums swell, a lot of saliva is released, and the child literally gags, which is why he clears his throat. Raise your head, place your baby on a higher pillow, this will help wait out the teething time.

Conclusion

As you noticed, the main idea is not to rush to mindlessly stuff a coughing child with medicine, but to work on his living conditions, and thus create the preconditions for a speedy recovery, without interfering with his immune system.

At the same time, the doctor emphasizes that cough can be a symptom of more serious, dangerous diseases.

Therefore, he urges you to trust your pediatricians, because no online consultation can compare with a face-to-face examination.

Thus, it is impossible to cure a cough, but you can cure the disease that is the root cause, and the unpleasant symptom will go away on its own.

Dr. Komarovsky will tell you more about some of the nuances of treating cough in a child in the video attached below.

Dr. Komarovsky can be categorical in his statements, but he always advocates for the common sense of parents - especially when it comes to the health of children. Especially if the child is sick. It is worth listening carefully to the advice of the “Ukrainian Spock” ​​regarding the treatment of cough - more precisely, methods that cannot be used in treatment. During the cold season, knowledge about treating your child without the risk of prolonging the illness and getting complications will be very useful.

It was this valuable information that Dr. Komarovsky shared on his personal page on a social network.

For an hour I was in a room with a working TV. Within an hour, I saw 8 times advertisements for medications that, according to the manufacturer, should be swallowed immediately when a cough occurs. My nerves can no longer stand listening to this scam on a national scale!

PEOPLE, ATTENTION!

1. Absolute majority advertised cough medicines are expectorants and/or so-called mucolytics: drugs that increase the volume of sputum (sputum is mucus formed in the lungs) and make it more liquid, flowing (which theoretically makes it easier to cough up).

2. Absolute majority cases when you have snot, cough and fever, this is an upper respiratory tract disease: rhinitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis. Expectorants increase the amount of sputum!!! Why would you increase the amount of mucus in your lungs when you have a runny nose or sore throat? For what? Because they said it on TV?

3. Expectorants sometimes (rather rarely) they are needed for certain diseases of the lower respiratory tract - bronchitis, pneumonia. Bronchitis and pneumonia are treated by doctors, not by people who have watched enough TV.

4. Expectorants do not reduce, but intensify the cough, activating the discharge of sputum. But when there is a lack of fluid in the body and/or when the air in the room is dry, expectorants cannot exert their effect: the cough intensifies, but does not bring relief!!! At the same time, if you drink a lot, and the room has clean, cool and moist air, expectorants are not needed: the sputum in such conditions does not become viscous and can be easily coughed up without any medications.

In this regard, it is not surprising that a phrase from a very well-known and, of course, non-Nashen medical textbook: “the effectiveness of expectorants compared to drinking plenty of fluids has not been proven.”

5. Children have a cough (the strength of the cough impulse) is much weaker than in adults. After taking expectorants, children are often unable to cough up the increased amount of mucus. It accumulates in the lower respiratory tract and is the main cause of obstructive bronchitis and pneumonia. Giving a mucolytic and putting the child to sleep in a warm and dry room (and we have 90% of such rooms) is the easiest way to organize complications. And if, in addition to this, your nose is stuffy and your body temperature is elevated, then the chances of turning a week-long runny nose into a month-long treatment for pneumonia are maximum.

It is not surprising that in many countries mucolytics are strongly not recommended for children under the first 5 years of life, and giving them to children under 2 years of age is generally a crime. But we're lucky! Here (on the way to Europe) you can advertise to everyone, without a prescription, on prime evening television.

6. Once again, for those who have not yet understood: TV should not replace the brain. This rule works both in politics and in coughs. Do not buy expectorants without direct instructions from your doctor. If a doctor at home has prescribed expectorants for a child under 5 years old, look for another doctor; if the child is under 2 years old, urgently look for another doctor.

7. Want to relieve your cough?

Dress warmly;
. do everything to ensure that the room has clean, cool (16-20 ° C) and not dry air (relative humidity 40-70%);
. watch your nasal breathing (it should be!): frequent rinsing with saline solutions and, if completely unbearable, vasoconstrictors;
. drink plenty of warm liquids;
. find someone who will make a diagnosis;
. turn off the TV.

Do you agree with the advice of Dr. Komarovsky or do you have a different opinion about the treatment of cough? Share your opinion in the comments.