Coughing in a child: possible diseases and treatment. What to do about a cough? Treating a child's cough A boy coughs

Coughing in a child is a fairly common occurrence that parents of infants and older children encounter. This is the main danger. Many parents do not perceive wet or dry coughing in a child as a serious illness. But it does not just arise spontaneously. Any cough, even a mild one, has its reasons. It is impossible to cure it qualitatively without knowing the prerequisites. There are several reasons for coughing in childhood.

Coughing in a child: causes

To begin with, it is worth noting that sometimes coughing in young children is considered normal, especially if it occurs in the morning. If this phenomenon does not occur more than 10 times a day, then you have nothing to worry about. It usually does not affect the child's health.

But if it occurs during the day, then you are faced with some kind of disturbance in the baby’s body. The reasons for this phenomenon may be hidden in the following:

• Bronchitis.
• ARVI.
• Pneumonia.
• Runny nose.
• Allergic reactions.
• Severe inflammation of the adenoids.
• A particularly dangerous cause of cough is whooping cough. It occurs if the child suffers from shortness of breath, and attacks are repeated up to 50 times a day.
• Bronchial asthma.
• Diseases of the respiratory or circulatory system.
• Bronchitis.
• A foreign body stuck in the respiratory tract.
• Nervous tension.

Nervous coughing in children is quite common. It is usually quiet, short and not accompanied by additional symptoms. If your child is stressed, you should pay attention to this. Perhaps he is constantly under nervous tension. You need to eliminate the factors that triggered this in order to avoid mental health problems in the future.

Particular attention should be paid to the child if there is prolonged coughing.

Prolonged cough in a child

Sometimes it happens that moms and dads forget to pay attention to important factors. For example, when a child starts coughing. They don’t know what to do at the onset of the disease. Then the coughing becomes prolonged.

This usually occurs during exacerbation of various diseases. If treatment for the pathology was absent or was prescribed incorrectly, the disease does not recede and the child continues to cough. It can be considered protracted if the condition lasts more than a month.

Constant coughing over a long period of time requires a serious examination to determine the circumstances under which the disease developed, the child’s living conditions and the individual characteristics of the child’s body. The baby must pass several tests and also undergo an X-ray examination.

Most often, in this case, the diagnosis is made by excluding the least likely diseases from the list of possible ones.

The child started coughing: what to do with a dry cough

A dry cough is characterized by the fact that it does not produce sputum. It can be a symptom of the initial stage of development of many pathologies. Usually a few days after its appearance, sputum begins to form. But until this happens, it is necessary to begin to find out the cause of the dry cough. The prerequisites for its occurrence include:

• Bronchitis, laryngitis or tracheitis.
• A severe and painful dry cough that appears periodically in the form of attacks may indicate the occurrence of whooping cough.
• A rough and intermittent cough is a signal of diphtheria.
• A dry cough can be a symptom of tuberculosis.
• If a dry cough is accompanied by the production of tears and a constant runny nose, you are dealing with an allergic reaction. In this case, you need to remove the allergen from the child’s reach.
• If the room in which the child lives is too dusty or the humidity is below normal, then in any case a dry cough will occur.
• Irritants can be any paint, cigarette smoke, all kinds of detergents.
• If the baby suffers from abdominal pain or heartburn, which occurs in parallel with attacks of dry cough, then the cause is gastroesophageal reflux.
• A painful cough with shortness of breath can be a signal that a foreign object has entered the respiratory tract.

Parents are often concerned about the fact that their child is constantly coughing at night. There is a scientific explanation for this.

Why does a child cough at night?

When the baby lies down, mucus flows towards the respiratory tract, so the main symptoms of disease appear at night. This is when the most painful coughing attacks appear. They talk about the initial stage of development of pathologies.

But sometimes coughing at night indicates that there is an allergen in the baby’s room that provokes the development of corresponding reactions. It could be:

• The detergent you use to wash your baby's bedding.
• Nightwear or bed linen made from low-quality fabrics.
• Toxic substances hidden inside a pillow, blanket or mattress.
• Toys located near the bed that are made of rubber or plastic of poor quality.

To identify the allergen, periodically remove suspicious objects from your child's room. When the coughing stops, the problem can be considered solved.

Coughing is almost always accompanied by a high fever. However, if this symptom is absent, you need to find out why.

Cough without fever

If a child constantly coughs and this is not accompanied by an increase in body temperature, you need to sound the alarm, since the causes of this phenomenon may be hidden in the following problems:

• Tuberculosis.
• Bronchitis.
• Tracheitis.
• Tonsillitis.
• Bronchial asthma. This pathology occurs if, in parallel with coughing, the child develops attacks of suffocation.
• The presence of an allergen in the house or an increased concentration of dust in the air.

However, the most dangerous cause is the entry of a foreign object into the respiratory tract. We should talk about this phenomenon in more detail.

Foreign object in the respiratory tract

If a child suddenly begins to suffer with signs of suffocation, it is necessary to call an ambulance. Most likely, a foreign object has entered the respiratory tract.

If your child's complexion has changed, you can no longer hesitate. Pull the foreign body out of the respiratory tract yourself by hand or using tweezers.

Before carrying out these manipulations, it is necessary to place the child in a horizontal position. Only after this can you begin to clear the airways.

Cough in an infant

If coughing develops in an infant, it indicates the presence of the same diseases as coughing in older children.

But sometimes this phenomenon is physiological in nature. Mucus constantly accumulates in the body of babies. Coughing is necessary in order to clear it from the airways. If it repeats no more than 20 times a day, then there is no reason to worry.

Aging can also be caused by dry indoor air or teething.

However, sometimes such a phenomenon can indicate the presence of serious pathologies, so it cannot be ignored. If you are not sure that coughing in an infant is an absolutely safe symptom, take your child to the doctor who will conduct an initial examination. If there is no cause for concern, you will return home safely. But if there are suspicions about the presence of complex diseases, the doctor will prescribe an additional examination for the baby, based on the results of which a diagnosis will be made and treatment will be prescribed.

It is necessary to get rid of a cough immediately after it appears. Treatment depends on the causes.

Treatment of cough in children

Methods for treating coughing in a child are as follows:

• Dry or too warm air is the main cause of coughing. Buy a special humidifier and place it in the children's room.
• If allergic reactions occur, you need to detect the allergen and remove it from the child’s reach.
• For colds, it is necessary to consult a doctor, since treatment involves the use of special medications, such as Lazolvan or Doctor Mom. Syrup is the most effective form of cough medicine. Sometimes doctors prescribe several massage sessions. "Doctor Mom" ​​is a syrup that does not cause side effects; it can be used without a doctor's prescription if you are sure that the cough is caused by a cold.
• Drink plenty of fluids.

If you have serious pathologies, such as tuberculosis, you should consult a doctor.

Any cough does not occur as a separate disease. It is a symptom of a pathology developing in the child’s body. If you are not sure that you can correctly determine the cause of a child's cough, consult a doctor for advice. To avoid side effects, you should not self-medicate.

For many children, coughing becomes a habitual condition. Parents should not perceive this state of affairs as the norm. If a child coughs even without fever, then treatment is necessary. It is also important to create the most comfortable breathing conditions for the little family member.

As paradoxical as it sounds, an adult or child can cough for good if it helps eliminate dust and germs from the respiratory tract. The epithelium of bronchioles constantly produces mucus. Together with foreign particles, it is removed from the inhaled air by the movement of microscopic cell outgrowths - cilia.

Even healthy children cough 5-6 times a day to clear the airways of accumulated mucus.

Respiratory diseases that cause coughing:

• With tracheitis, viscous sputum creates plugs in the lumen of the bronchi (see figure). The eyelashes do not have time to remove mucus, and a hacking cough occurs.

• At acute laryngitis or damage to the vocal cords a barking cough appears. A viral disease causes narrowing of the lumen of the larynx and difficulty breathing in children aged 5 months to 3 years.
• With croup, the baby looks almost healthy before going to bed, but suddenly wakes up at night with a barking cough, his breathing becomes noisy.

At the first signs of croup, you should call an ambulance, give the patient a warm drink, and ensure high humidity in the room.

• With whooping cough, a child may cough from 5 to 20 times a day. Prevention (vaccination) is considered the most effective means.
• At swelling and spasms of the bronchi A spasmodic cough appears. In this case, shortness of breath occurs, wheezing can be heard even at a distance. The reason is that thick secretion accumulates and is not removed.

What to do if the cough does not go away for a long time

“How to treat a child?” - a question that often arises among parents. We need to understand the “many faces”: learn to distinguish dry, wet, barking and other types of cough. Why is this so important? The fact is that for different conditions, various pharmaceutical drugs and folk remedies are used.

A situation where a child coughs for more than a month and nothing helps occurs when respiratory chlamydia. Treat the disease with macrolide antibiotics, such as azithromycin, and give remedies for dry cough. An adequate choice of antibacterial therapy ensures cure in 10–14 days, even if the child has been coughing for a month or more.

According to medical statistics, children suffer from acute respiratory diseases on average 6 to 12 times a year. Therefore, if a child has been coughing for 2 months, then this may be the consequences of acute respiratory viral infection and bronchial hyperactivity. The disease occurs when the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract is irritated by microbes and their toxins.

It happens that the baby starts coughing during the infection season and continues to get sick for more than 3 months. In such cases, experts recommend immunocorrection and the use of desensitizing drugs. When a young patient’s cough lasts a long time, pediatricians prescribe physiotherapy, ozone therapy, herbal therapy, and vitamin therapy.

It happens that a child only coughs and does not experience other symptoms. In this case, the baby’s diet should remove potential allergens. They are rich in chocolate, nuts, citrus fruits, confectionery, strawberries, and seafood. It is recommended to give more permitted fresh vegetables and fruits to which allergies do not occur.

Children prone to allergic reactions should be treated with herbal remedies with caution. The same remark applies to distracting procedures - foot baths with mustard and mustard plasters.

With difficulty swallowing and gastroesophageal reflux, conditions reminiscent of respiratory diseases are observed. Then the baby develops a cough at night, shortness of breath, and wheezing for more than 4 months.

One can understand the concern of adults who do not know what to do if a child coughs incessantly, how to help. The cause may be infections of the nasal cavity, pharynx and larynx. Sometimes a “banal” cold can affect the lower respiratory tract - the trachea and bronchi - within 4-5 hours. A dry cough along with chest pain occurs in the initial stages of tracheobronchitis and bronchitis.

The child wheezes, but does not cough; he has nasal congestion in the first days of inflammation of the pharyngeal tonsil (adenoiditis). Then the mucus flows down the walls of the throat, the sick child coughs incessantly, most often before going to bed, at night and after waking up. Similar processes occur during rhinovirus infections and inflammation of the pharyngeal mucosa.

What to do at home before the doctor comes or visits the clinic if the child is hoarse and coughing:

1. For a sore throat, dry cough at the beginning of a cold, give juices and drops with extracts of marshmallow, mallow, and ivy plantain.
2. Do not use substances that irritate the respiratory tract, do not smoke in the room where children are.
3. More often offer your baby purified still water, warm fruit or herbal tea.
4. Gargling with water with table or sea salt, infusion of calendula, eucalyptus.
5. Ensure sufficient humidity and cleanliness of indoor air.
6. Do steam inhalations (after consultation with a doctor).

“Grandma’s” method - breathing over hot steam - is not recommended for young children due to the risk of burns and the likelihood of bronchial swelling. If a child is coughing for 2 months and has no fever, then inhalation therapy significantly improves his condition using modern devices - nebulizers. For your baby, you need to buy a convenient inhaler with a mask at the pharmacy. The medicinal aerosol easily penetrates the respiratory tract, and the rate of onset of the therapeutic effect is comparable to intravenous injections.

If a child is breathing heavily and coughing, or has a fever, then parents should seek medical help as soon as possible. In severe cases of bacterial infection, systemic antibiotic therapy will be required to prevent various complications of the disease. Treatment of ARVI is carried out with antiviral medications.

How to help with a wet cough

To reduce the viscosity of sputum, mucolytic and expectorant agents, both chemical and herbal, are taken. They reduce discomfort and speed up healing. It is no coincidence that doctors call a wet cough “productive,” because in this way the airways are cleared of germs.

Mucolytic agents:

• acetylcysteine;
• carbocisteine;
• bromhexine;
• ambroxol.

Pharmaceutical preparations with the active ingredients ambroxol, acetylcysteine ​​or carbocysteine ​​are given to children over two years of age after consultation with a pediatrician.

Expectorants:

• infusions and decoctions of medicinal plants (anise, coltsfoot, plantain, thyme);
• licorice and marshmallow root syrups;
• breast herbal collection;
• mucaltin,
• pertussin.

If an infant is coughing, it is not recommended to use ointments and inhalations with essential oils and saponins. For children over one year of age, a warm drink with honey, a natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory medicine, is suitable. Facilitates the removal of mucus warm tea with linden blossom or coltsfoot.

You cannot use mucolytic drugs and cough reflex blockers at the same time - this can cause a significant accumulation of mucous secretion in the respiratory tract.

When a child constantly coughs at night and has difficulty sleeping because of this, you can skip the evening dose of an expectorant. Before going to bed, give a cough suppressant. Such drugs should not be abused, because the respiratory tract must be rid of mucus and the causative agent of the disease.

It is no secret that many parents consider the tuberculin test (Mantoux) to be a vaccination. In fact, this is a test to determine the body's sensitivity to Koch bacilli. This is how the pediatrician will answer the question whether Mantoux can be done if the child coughs, has a cold or has a skin rash. In order not to distort the test results, doctors recommend rescheduling the test a month later.

What should parents do if their child coughs? updated: January 25, 2016 by: admin

Even a slight cough does not appear without a reason; this indicates congestion in the respiratory tract or the production of phlegm.

If a child coughs without signs of a cold and for no apparent reason, this is a “bell” from the body that not everything is in order, so you should not put off a visit to the pediatrician and immediately identify the cause of the illness.

Taking into account physiological development, young children sometimes have rare symptoms, mainly in the morning, immediately after waking up.

In the respiratory system, regardless of age, mucus is constantly formed in small quantities.

If we talk about children, then in this case the mucus is thicker than in adults and has a more viscous consistency, so it is a little difficult to clear the respiratory tract of a child.

This occurs periodically and is the cause of rare coughing in children. But if the cough has a paroxysmal character, is frequent and is accompanied by other symptoms, most likely this is a sign of an emerging disease.

Causes of constant coughing in children

Such reasons vary and may depend on various factors, including age.

If the disease manifests itself in newborns, this may indicate an insufficient level of formation of the swallowing reflex.

As the child develops, the cough will go away on its own. However, if this begins to take the form of a chronic cough, you should consult your pediatrician.

In children over 2 years of age, the main causes of constant coughing for no apparent reason may be due to the following factors:

• stress or prolonged nervous overload;
• physiological features of the development of the child’s body;
• consequences of acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections (for example, acute or chronic rhinitis);
• to food or other irritants;

Physiologically, saliva can flow down the back wall of the nasopharynx and accumulate in the respiratory tract, turning into mucus. The body itself tries to remove its excess through coughing. So, during the period of teething, the process of salivation intensifies, so the child may cough more often than usual.

The time at which the child begins to cough is also important. If this happens in the morning, then it may be chronic rhinitis or adenoids, but if the child coughs at night, then the reason may be an allergy to external irritants or even incipient non-infectious bronchitis. In this case, it is recommended to contact your pediatrician.

Dry cough

A cough that is not accompanied by mucus or sputum is called dry.

Unfortunately, attacks of such cough are painful and can be long-lasting.

The desire to cough is quite natural, as it allows you to clear the airways of microparticles of dust or excess phlegm, but if the cough becomes prolonged, repeats at night, does not bring relief and even ends with vomiting, you should consult a pediatrician.

The most common causes of dry cough in children are:

• entry of foreign small objects into the respiratory tract. For example, a small speck can cause a severe cough;
• chronic bronchitis, often the infection can be cured, but the cough remains for some time;
• allergic reactions to external irritants. In children, allergic reactions that take the form of cough can occur to plant pollen (during the flowering period), household chemicals and house dust.
  This in turn can lead to the development of asthma. Attacks appear after physical or psycho-emotional stress. Often attacks begin with a long and painful night cough. In this case, you must immediately consult a doctor and begin treatment;
• incipient gastrointestinal diseases. During the digestion of food, hydrochloric acid can enter the esophagus, which irritates its walls. Stagnation of hydrochloric acid leads to gastritis and often manifests itself in a dry cough;
• psycho-emotional stress. In children, after suffering stress, uncontrollable muscle spasms may occur, which is why the child may cough for some time. After the child calms down, the cough will stop on its own;
• beginning tuberculosis. This is the most serious manifestation of a dry cough. In addition to constant coughing, the child experiences lethargy, weakness, lack of appetite and general malaise. In this case, you cannot rely on fate and try to self-medicate. Complex conservative therapy in a hospital setting is required.

Nervous cough

The nature of nervous cough still remains not fully understood.

Some pediatricians believe that this is a habit that is difficult to overcome.

Nervous coughing is a psychological problem and appears in difficult life situations, that is, in an environment that can be called extreme. At night, when the child calms down and the spasm stops, this cough goes away on its own.

Nervous coughing is not a pathology, but a habit or symptom of another disease, so a medical examination may not show adequate results.

Children have an unformed nervous system and are easily susceptible to stress, which affects the entire body: stress causes spasm of the laryngeal muscles and coughing begins. By eliminating the cause of stress, you can overcome this type of cough.

Treatment

Treatment of persistent coughing in children depends on the identified causes. The most common cause is coughing after rhinitis (whether it is a cold or an allergic nature).

In this case, as a rule, the cause of excess mucus from the sinuses entering the respiratory tract is eliminated.

For example, nasal rinsing and physiotherapy are prescribed and it is recommended to place the child on a high pillow.

If the nature of rhinitis is allergic, it will be recommended to take a course of antihistamines. This treatment will significantly reduce the amount of mucus produced, which means that coughing will go away on its own over time.

For this purpose, inhalations are carried out:

• mineral water;
• baking soda;
• decoctions of medicinal herbs.

Such procedures have a mucolytic and antiseptic effect.

Inhalations are used simultaneously with the prescribed treatment.

Thus, herbal-based drugs are prescribed, the components of which are coltsfoot, plantain, licorice root, etc. If the drugs do not give the desired effect, the doctor will prescribe a course of physiotherapy.

You cannot self-medicate, so certain medications are prescribed only by a doctor after examining the child. The daily routine is also important: rest and semi-bed rest are prescribed for the duration of treatment.

Food should be warm, soft, avoid spicy, salty and sweet foods, as such foods can only increase inflammation. The ideal food for the recovery period are broths, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese and porridge.

Nervous coughing is treated strictly on an individual basis.

After a medical examination, the doctor prescribes therapy depending on what its causes are: physiological or neuro-emotional.

If the reasons are neuro-emotional in nature, the doctor may prescribe sedatives.

However, the most effective treatment for overcoming nervous coughing is hypnosis.

In conclusion, it must be said that if a child’s cough continues for more than a week, but no other symptoms of a cold are observed, it is necessary to undergo a medical examination. Early identification of the causes of persistent cough will allow immediate treatment to begin and avoid complications.

Video on the topic

Cough – especially for children – is an unpleasant thing. You won’t immediately understand what lies behind it: a sore throat, a cold or bronchitis. Or maybe nothing? Let's try to figure out how true our ideas about children's cough and methods of dealing with it are.

October 20, 2014· Text: Evgenia Karpovskaya· Photo: Shutterstock

STATEMENT No. 1: Cough is harmful to the body, so you need to fight it as quickly and effectively as possible.

NOT TRUE.“Well, ours is sick again - he’s coughing,” you can hear from the parents. They often perceive cough as an independent disease, forgetting that it is just a symptom. Getting rid of a cough (sometimes by any means) is tantamount to recovery for moms and dads. Unfortunately, it is not! Coughing is a natural defense mechanism. For example, it is necessary to get rid of a piece of food, an allergen or a microbe that has entered the respiratory tract. The physiological reflex of clearing the airways occurs when the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs (larynx, trachea, bronchi) become irritated, inflamed or infected. “Eliminating” cough with special drugs is generally indicated only in certain cases: for example, with whooping cough, when attacks of dry cough are so severe that the child cannot sleep or eat normally.

IMPORTANT! For a dry cough (for example, in the first days of an acute respiratory viral infection), to improve mucus production and sputum discharge, you can use children's dry cough medicine - the same herbal preparation from “Soviet” times. Containing licorice root extract and anise oil, it is quite effective when used regularly and at the correct dosage.

STATEMENT No. 2: The younger the child, the more often and more severely he coughs.

RIGHT. The immune system of babies (especially infants) is still very imperfect, and cough accompanies any viral or bacterial respiratory tract infections. In children of the first year of life, cough may continue for 3-4 weeks after suffering from acute respiratory viral infection. But a baby can suffer a respiratory infection accompanied by a cough up to 7-10 times a year! Cough in young children can also be caused by inflammation of the bronchi during asthma or due to contact with an allergen, and sometimes accompany a “childhood” illness (measles or whooping cough). A baby may cough if a tiny foreign body is inhaled or if a piece of food gets stuck in its throat while eating. Don’t forget that many babies cough simply from burping (gastroesophageal reflux).

STATEMENT No. 3: There is no need to panic at the first cough.

RIGHT. Indeed, there are many cases when a child coughs, but there is no need to sound the alarm:
- physiological cough of infants: occurs very often and is associated with the fact that during feeding, a certain amount of food enters the trachea and provokes a cough reflex. Also, infants may cough frequently while crying (especially intensely).
- teething cough. Wet in nature, it is associated with excessive salivation and does not require treatment.
- morning cough can be completely normal for a healthy child (this physiological cough is especially often observed in the morning). Remember that it is absolutely normal for children to cough up to 15-20 times a day! This is due to the need to free the bronchi from the natural mucus that has accumulated in them overnight.
- cough simulation. Older children (and some, even from 4-5 months of age) can use coughing to attract the attention of adults. Having noticed such a trick (if there are no real reasons for concern), react to the cough calmly: excessive excitement and attention can reinforce this child’s habit.

STATEMENT #4: Sometimes it's better to be safe!

RIGHT. Giving children's immunity the opportunity to cope with the virus on its own is wonderful. Still, you need to be on your guard: you can’t joke with a cough. If the baby coughs, it is better to show it to the doctor in any case, but if the cough that accompanies ARVI does not go away after 10-14 days, this must be done. An examination by a doctor will make sure that the cough is not caused by a complication of the disease (or will determine which one) and does not require special treatment. Pay special attention if the cough gets worse over several days, coughing attacks are very long, if the child has a fever, a rash or diarrhea, general weakness, difficulty breathing or eating, nausea or belching - at the first appearance of one of these signs, go to the doctor immediately.

CLAIM #5: There are many different types of coughs.

RIGHT. Depending on the reason that caused it and the stage of development, the cough may be different.

First of all, coughs are distinguished by their nature - dry or wet.. The first is easily recognized by its short, intermittent and repeated attacks. It is exhausting and quite painful for the child, as it irritates the delicate mucous membranes of the nasopharynx. A dry cough is not accompanied by sputum production and occurs at any time of the day. A wet cough (also called a productive cough) is recognized by a hoarse noise and expectoration of mucus.

The duration of the cough should also be taken into account.. There are:
- acute cough. It lasts 1-2 weeks. It can occur as a result of a foreign body entering the respiratory tract (food debris, small parts of toys) or due to the development of acute respiratory infections (characteristic of pharyngitis, laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia).
- protracted. Lasts from two to six weeks. In most cases, it is not so much a symptom of the disease as evidence of the healing process. The cause of a lingering cough is no longer the infection itself, but the increased sensitivity of cough receptors and good sputum discharge. Also, a prolonged cough can be caused by rhinitis, sinusitis, adenitis, sinusitis - diseases in which phlegm flows down the back wall of the nasopharynx and irritates the cough receptors. In this case, the cough is accompanied by nasal congestion and discharge. A prolonged cough can also be characteristic of obstructive bronchitis and bronchial asthma (in children, bouts of prolonged cough remain its only manifestation for a long time). Often such a cough torments a child at night and in the morning.
- chronic cough lasts more than 1.5 months. It is characteristic of some chronic diseases of the lungs and pulmonary tract. This cough may wax and wane periodically, but it never really stops. A persistent cough is characteristic of very serious diseases: dry - for laryngeal papillomatosis, fibrosing alveolitis, wet - for bronchiectasis, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis.

Cough also differs in type of manifestation (powerful and sharp or increasing gradually), in time of appearance (daytime, morning, during meals or at night), in timbre (barking, whistling, with attacks).

IMPORTANT! All characteristics of a child’s cough should be carefully noted in order to provide the doctor with the most complete information! Effective treatment and a speedy recovery depend on this.

CLAIM #6: The baby coughs less at night if the nursery is warm.

WRONG. Just the opposite. Too hot air does not help relieve coughing attacks. Remember that the air temperature in the room where the child sleeps should not be higher than 19 degrees! Air humidity is also important: too dry air causes additional irritation to the throat. Therefore, if the humidity level in the room is below 40%, it is best to install a humidifier (or use one of the “grandmother’s methods”: hang a damp cloth on the radiator, place a bowl of water next to it). Be sure to ventilate the rooms and make sure your child drinks enough water per day!

WRONG. The main function of a wet cough is the natural “removal” of pathogens from the body. This should not be interfered with, but it should not be artificially stimulated. For example, the French Agency for Sanitary Safety categorically does not recommend giving mucolytics, mucofluids and helicidin to children under two years of age. These mucus thinners are dangerous for small children: the bronchi can become completely clogged, because children have much less strength than adults to intensively cough up mucus. Be sure to consult with your local pediatrician before giving your baby the first spoonful of any “cough medicine.”

CLAIM #9: You can treat your cough on your own with cough syrups sold over-the-counter at pharmacies.

WRONG. Such “universal” cough remedies are at best ineffective (the concentration of active substances in them is too low), and at worst they are potentially dangerous for children. Cough is a symptom. It cannot be masked or weakened! If the cause of the cough is a common runny nose, it will go away on its own, without the help of medications. But when the cough is caused by a more serious illness, only a pediatrician can choose the appropriate treatment.

STATEMENT No. 10: Rinsing the nose with saline is an effective “auxiliary” remedy in the treatment of cough.

RIGHT. Even if it seems to you that the runny nose has already stopped and the sinuses are free, it is better to continue rinsing the nose three times a day until the child has completely recovered. Firstly, it makes breathing easier, and secondly, it prevents the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx from drying out, thus preventing the development of infection in the respiratory tract.

A child’s cough is not a harmless symptom.

Coughing is a protective mechanism that is necessary to clear the airways of pathological secretions. With the help of rare cough shocks, accumulations of mucus are removed from the bronchi, trachea and larynx.

But if a child develops a persistent cough, what should parents do to help cope with the unpleasant symptom? First, you need to consult a doctor who will determine the cause of the cough, and then prescribe a course of effective treatment.

Types of cough

To understand why a child constantly coughs, you need to understand what types of cough there are and which of them is observed in a particular case. The main types of cough will be discussed below.

Acute cough

This type of cough manifests itself in the case of acute inflammatory diseases of the airways and other parts of the respiratory system (laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia). First, the child develops a constant cough of a dry, unproductive nature.

If a child constantly has a cough in early and preschool age, then this can be caused by the flow of mucus from the nasopharynx into the larynx in the case of prolonged nasopharyngitis, adenoiditis, or hypertrophic changes in the adenoids. This cough is superficial and quickly resolves with treatment of the underlying disease.

If coughing attacks are provoked by prolonged episodes of bronchitis, then wheezing is characteristic. In this case, a cough can bother a child for a period of two weeks to a month.

If a lingering dry cough appears at school age, its causes may be as follows:

• tracheitis;
• tracheobronchitis;
• whooping cough (see ).

In this case, damage to the upper respiratory tract may occur due to the progression of the inflammatory process of viral etiology. The cough has a paroxysmal character, the attack usually ends with the discharge of a dense mucous lump. If coughing attacks are provoked by whooping cough, then you can note the absence of wheezing in the lungs.

Recurrent cough

This type of cough is observed in children with the following diseases:

1. Bronchial asthma. The cough has a paroxysmal character.
2. Recurrent obstructive bronchitis. A wet, spasmodic cough is characteristic.

Recurrent cough requires correct differential diagnosis to select an effective treatment regimen.

Persistent, prolonged cough

This type of cough can occur in case of chronic diseases of the respiratory system. The child coughs almost constantly; attacks may occasionally weaken or intensify. A constant wet cough can be observed with suppurative lung diseases. Quite rare causes of persistent cough are pathologies such as bronchiectasis, as well as a defect in the structure of the bronchial cartilage, or Williams-Campbell syndrome.

With such a hereditary disease as cystic fibrosis, due to the excessive viscosity of sputum, a painful, obsessive cough with manifestations of obstruction is observed. To identify cystic fibrosis, a study of sweat electrolytes is prescribed.

If, with a constant dry cough, a child experiences a change in voice, this reflects the clinical picture of laryngeal papillomatosis. And with fibrosing alveolitis, attacks of dry cough, shortness of breath, chest deformities, and symptoms of “pulmonary heart” are detected.

It is important to note this type of cough as a psychogenic cough. It has a non-productive character, a metallic tint. It disappears during sleep and is observed only during wakefulness.

Psychogenic cough is characterized by regularity, as well as high frequency, suspension when talking and eating. The causes of psychogenic cough can be stress in the family or school.

Methods of therapeutic correction of persistent cough

The specific course of treatment for pathologies that provoke a persistent cough in a child is determined by the doctor based on the results of the examination. At the same time, it is important not only to eliminate the cough itself, but also to try to get rid of the cause that provoked its appearance.

So, what to do if your child is constantly coughing? The pediatrician prescribes both drug treatment and some additional therapy methods, of which inhalation is the most effective when carried out at home.

Drug treatment of cough

The table below shows the main groups of drugs that are prescribed to correct cough:

Psychogenic cough is not relieved by drugs from the above groups. To correct it, neuroleptics and hypnotherapy are used. The course of treatment for psychogenic cough can take many months.

To help your child get rid of a persistent cough, you need to follow these recommendations:

1. It is important to strictly follow all doctor's orders.
2. Medicines should be taken only according to the dosages specified in the instructions.
3. You should give your child enough fluids to help remove mucus from the respiratory tract.
4. Inhalations with essential oils (fir, pine, eucalyptus, mint) will help alleviate the child’s condition.
5. It is necessary to ventilate the room where the child is, and also monitor the level of humidity in it.
6. Any traditional methods of treatment can be used only after consulting a doctor.
7. To support the child’s immune system, you need to consult with a specialist about the need to prescribe a course of vitamins and immunomodulators.

Photos and videos in this article complement the answer to the question, if a child constantly coughs, what to do. You should not neglect the recommendations of the pediatrician and regular visits to him to monitor the child’s condition, because the price of the baby’s health is especially high.