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It is usually not difficult for attentive parents to understand that a child is sick. The baby's temperature rises, a runny nose, cough, and loss of appetite appear. Sometimes adults notice that the baby has a hoarse voice. And that's enough alarming symptom, which all moms and dads need to know about. Famous children's doctor Evgeniy Komarovsky tells why this happens, why it is dangerous and what to do if hoarseness is observed.
The larynx contains vocal cords, which are directly involved in the formation of sounds. These ligaments themselves are very mobile. However, their mobility is easily impaired and modified if swelling occurs and inflammatory process in the throat, where the ligaments attach.
Many parents mistakenly believe that if a child has a hoarse voice, then this is solely a consequence of hypothermia or a cold.
Anything can cause inflammation of the larynx, and most often the cause lies in a viral infection.
The danger of this symptom, no matter what it is caused by, according to Evgeniy Komarovsky, is that any inflammatory process in the larynx in a child can lead to obstruction respiratory tract and normal ventilation.
Additional risk creates anatomical feature a child’s throat is narrower than that of adults, and therefore swelling develops much faster and more aggressively.
The appearance of hoarseness is a clear reason to consult a doctor, and the sooner parents provide consultation with a specialist, the better, because the child may experience difficulty breathing at any time. The doctor’s task is to quickly identify the cause, the source of inflammation and prescribe appropriate therapy.
Sometimes a hoarse voice is a sign of such a deadly dangerous disease, like diphtheria croup. Now that all children are required to be vaccinated against diphtheria, the incidence of cases of this disease has decreased significantly. But this possibility cannot be ruled out even in a vaccinated child. This is why you need a doctor who will first check to see if the baby has diphtheria.
In case of severe sudden hoarseness, you must call an ambulance. Before the doctors arrive, parents should provide first aid to the baby themselves, especially if there are already signs of difficulty breathing - this means drinking plenty of fluids and complete rest.
Treatment depends on the cause of hoarseness.
For acute respiratory viral infection, no specific therapeutic measures are necessary.
It will be good if parents give the child plenty of water to prevent the mucus in the nose, larynx and bronchi from drying out, and also create favorable conditions for the baby’s recovery: air humidity in the room is 50-70%, and the air temperature is 18-20 degrees.
And no heaters. Additionally, you can put it in your nose saline solution, and gargle with it.
If a child has an allergy, he will definitely need to consult an allergist, who will help determine, using special tests, the type of allergen that caused the body’s inadequate reaction. Treatment consists of eliminating the cause of the allergy. IN severe cases antiallergic antihistamines are prescribed.
In case of bacterial inflammation, the doctor will definitely prescribe antibiotics to the child. Which ones exactly will become clear upon examination and analysis of other symptoms. Typically, these are drugs of the penicillin group.
When an injury occurs, a child needs rest. And this will be the main medicine. You should play silently, and do not try to talk at any cost.
In severe cases, the doctor will recommend rinsing with furatsilin, treating the larynx with an antiseptic such as Miramistin, and inhaling with special compounds based on adrenaline, which cause spasm of the laryngeal vessels. As a result of their use, swelling decreases, the glottis opens, and breathing is restored.
Sometimes parents notice that the child wakes up hoarse in the morning and clears his throat and recovers for some time after waking up. This phenomenon is due, according to Evgeniy Komarovsky, to the fact that in the larynx, in particular in the area of the vocal cords, the natural secretory mucus dries out at night.
This happens because the baby breathes too dry air. Just moisturize it and the nighttime hoarseness will stop.
This symptom is alarming. If ARVI has already been left behind and the baby feels better, then sudden hoarseness may indicate the addition of a secondary infection, very likely bacterial. You should not wait to see whether it will go away on its own or whether difficulty breathing will still appear, but you should immediately call a doctor at home.
Every mother periodically notices that the timbre of the child’s voice has changed, the voice has become low and the child is hoarse. In children, the tissues of the upper respiratory tract are more intensively supplied with blood than in adults, therefore, any excessive impact on the vocal cords and larynx (mechanical irritation, activation of bacteria and microbes) occurs. local inflammation and swelling quickly increases, as a result of which the lumen of the glottis narrows and hoarseness appears. This condition of the baby should alert parents, as it can result in complete loss of voice and also pose a threat to health.
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The problems described above may take some time to resolve, or they will gradually resolve on their own. However, there are situations that require urgent medical care:
Any problems with the vocal apparatus are resolved by a phoniatrist. Such specialized specialists are not found in every clinic, so usually with such complaints they turn to an otolaryngologist (ENT), who treats any pathologies of the upper respiratory tract. The otolaryngologist will determine the exact reason for the child’s hoarse voice and prescribe adequate treatment. If the baby is not just hoarse, but you suspect he has one of the life-threatening conditions described earlier, first aid should be provided by resuscitators or emergency medical teams.
In most cases, a child’s hoarse voice can be treated by following a voice regimen. If problems appear after screaming, squealing, or loud crying, the ligaments will recover on their own. Some simple methods will help bring your baby back to normal faster:
If a child catches a cold, resulting in a hoarse voice, rinsing will help herbal infusions(chamomile, sage, eucalyptus) or chlorophyllipt (1 tbsp (we recommend reading: ). l. alcohol solution for 200 ml. warm water). Such procedures help reduce inflammation and pain, relieve cough (we recommend reading:). Saline and soda solutions are not recommended in this case.
Children who cannot gargle on their own are given oropharyngeal irrigation. oil solution chlorophyllipt (allowed from two years of age) using a syringe without a needle. 0.2 ml of the drug is taken into the syringe and carefully injected as deep as possible into the mouth.
For infants, it is better to lightly lubricate the inflamed area with a gauze swab soaked in the same preparation. Chlorophyllipt has an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect, and also accelerates the restoration of damaged mucosa.
At respiratory diseases inhalations with solutions of medications and decoctions are often used medicinal plants. It is most convenient to carry out these procedures at home using a special device - a nebulizer. The nebulizer generates fine, safe steam, which is more comfortable for the child than hot steam from a pan or kettle. The temperature of the solution for inhalation should not be too high to prevent burns to the respiratory tract. To consolidate the effect of inhalations, rinses and irrigations, it is recommended to refrain from drinking and eating for 15-20 minutes after them.
Before carrying out any medical procedures at home, you should consult a doctor, especially if the child is under two years old. Any folk remedies, including herbs, can cause an allergic reaction, so it is advisable to check in advance the possibility of such a problem.
Any medications for the treatment of children should be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the patient’s age and its results laboratory research. Medicines used for throat problems are divided into the following groups:
Treatment of a hoarse voice is most convenient and effective if you use a nebulizer (inhaler). Famous pediatrician E.O. Komarovsky notes that inhalations are not recommended for children infancy, since they do not know how to cough effectively. In children over 12 months of age, the consequences of acute respiratory infections, especially cough, can be successfully treated with this method. Most often, doctors prescribe inhalation with saline solution, mineral water, aminophylline, ambroxol. Inhalation solutions have a systemic effect.
Children often suffer from respiratory diseases much more severely than adults. This is due to the structural features of their respiratory system. Thus, children are more likely than adults to lose their voice during illness. What to do, if the child's voice disappeared?
Usually loss of voice is a symptom of laryngitis, inflammation of the larynx. Laryngitis in most cases does not occur on its own, but in connection with a cold or infection. In children, laryngitis leads to loss of voice more often than in adults. This is due to the fact that children have more blood vessels in the mucous membrane of the larynx, and the trachea is narrower. The voice disappears because inflammation takes over the vocal cords, leading to their swelling.
If your child's voice has disappeared, the first thing you should do is see a doctor.. Laryngitis can accompany not only a relatively harmless cold, but also, say, whooping cough, which is very dangerous for young children. And one of the advanced forms of laryngitis - acute stenosing laryngotracheitis - can cause sudden attack, which without timely medical attention can lead to respiratory arrest.
The doctor will examine the child and prescribe necessary treatment both the underlying disease and laryngitis. However, there are a number general recommendations which you need to follow if your child’s voice has disappeared. The first recommendation is silence. The child should try to speak as little as possible. Whispering is also contraindicated - the vocal cords when whispering strain no less than during a normal conversation. You can, for example, play “silence” with your child.
Gargling is not recommended for laryngitis.: The child’s larynx is narrowed and inflamed, so it still won’t get enough medicine. On the contrary, attempts to “gurgle” the medicine will further irritate the mucous membrane of the larynx, which is already inflamed, and strain the vocal cords.
That's why It is better to replace rinsing with inhalation. You can do inhalation with soda and eucalyptus oil or based on a decoction medicinal herbs(for example, chamomile with linden and eucalyptus, taken in equal proportions). If the child is old enough, pour the broth into the pan, sit the child down and cover him and the pan with a large towel - let him breathe in the steam.
If the child is small, it is better to use a special inhaler. And if you don’t have an inhaler, fill the bathtub hot water, add eucalyptus oil (it’s best to drop it on sea salt, and add it to the bath) and take the child there. There is no need to put it in the bath, just let it breathe in the steam! If there is one, you can put it in the room where the child is lying and turn it on.
Also Drinking plenty of warm drinks will help improve your condition.. Heat a glass of milk to a temperature of approximately 40 degrees, add 2 tsp. honey (if the child does not have allergies) and 1 tbsp. l. melted butter. Let your child drink milk with butter and honey 2-3 times a day, and then wrap a warm scarf around his neck for half an hour. The rest of the time you can give warm tea. The drink should be warm, not hot - hot will only make the problem worse!
During laryngitis, the child must follow special diet. You should not give him salty, hot, spicy, very hot or very cold food.. Additionally, the doctor may also prescribe for the child antihistamines or other medications if necessary.
We would like to draw your attention once again: When a child’s voice has disappeared, the first thing you need to do is see a doctor! Laryngitis can lead to serious complications, if you self-medicate. All of the above recommendations should be followed if the doctor examined the child and confirmed that there is no danger. If there is a risk of complications, the doctor may prescribe specific treatment and even recommend hospitalization.
Hoarseness in a child is quite common and is a symptom of inflammatory processes occurring in the larynx. various reasons. When symptoms appear, it is necessary to diagnose the condition by a specialist, because hoarse voice may indicate serious airway damage that can cause breathing problems. The treatment method, including inhalation, is chosen depending on the provoking factors and the severity of the condition. To get rid of unpleasant symptom There is a large list of medications.
Hoarseness in a child is dangerous because it can be caused by an inflammatory process in the larynx, which can cause difficulty respiratory process and disrupt normal ventilation. An additional risk arises because children have narrower throats than adults, so even seemingly normal hoarseness and throat swelling can be more aggressive.
Hoarseness in children is not considered an independent disease, but is classified as a condition that is caused by certain factors. Some of them are harmless, but there are also causes that are dangerous to health and life.
The most dangerous and least probable cause Hoarseness in a child is due to diphtheria croup. Today, all children are vaccinated against diphtheria, which makes it possible to minimize the incidence of this disease. But you should not completely exclude the possibility of infection, since this can happen even in a vaccinated baby.
If severe hoarseness occurs, you should call ambulance. Before arrival medical workers Parents should provide the child with plenty of fluids and complete rest.
After determining the cause hoarse voice the doctor prescribes certain medications. Their action is aimed at restoring and facilitating the respiratory process. Depending on the factor of the inflammatory process, they can use:
If infection It has bacterial origin, then the child is prescribed a course of antibiotics. The drug is selected based on the results of culture and antibiogram. The following medications may be prescribed to children:
Along with taking antibiotics, probiotics must be given to restore the microflora. This is due to the fact that antibacterial agents They kill not only pathogenic microorganisms, but also beneficial ones involved in digestion. As a result, the child experiences diarrhea, colic and bloating.
Separately, there is the drug Bioparox, produced in the form of a spray and affecting the mucous membrane of the oropharynx. The medicine is approved for children from 2.5 years old; it allows you to destroy pathogenic microbes and reduce inflammatory processes.
If the cause of hoarseness is viral infection has affected the larynx, the child is prescribed antiviral drugs. They have a detrimental effect on the causative agent of inflammatory diseases and strengthen the immune system. From this group of drugs there are: Groprinosin, Tsitovir, Aflubin, Amiksin, Influcid, Remantadine, Nazoferon.
The most in an effective way quick fix hoarseness is inhalation. For this you can use a special nebulizer, but only under the condition that:
The inhaler can be refilled with the following solutions:
If inhalations are carried out using regular herbal decoctions, then the irrigation method should be normal. In these cases, it is not recommended to use nebulizers due to their severe contamination.
To prepare a remedy for restoring breathing from medicinal plants, you can use the following recipes:
Honey for sucking or adding to warm tea or milk.
If your throat is hoarse, you can effectively use gargles:
As with colds, warming the feet is effective if the child does not have a fever. You can add mustard to the solution for foot baths in a ratio of 25 grams per 3 liters of boiling water. A procedure lasting 7-10 minutes will soften the inflammatory process in the throat and help restore the voice. It is not recommended to warm up the larynx itself, since hyperthermia can provoke purulent inflammation in surrounding tissues.
When hoarse voice You should definitely seek help from a doctor. There is no need to delay visiting a specialist, as the child’s condition can worsen sharply. It is necessary to promptly and quickly establish the cause of the voice disorder and take measures to eliminate it, because it can provoke suffocation.
It’s rare that a mother will remain calm if her child’s voice weakens and a cough appears. Home remedies are used - warming up, giving the baby hot milk with butter and honey, tea with lemon. These measures can have the opposite effect - the condition will worsen and the temperature will rise.
To know what happened to the child and how to treat him, you need to contact a pediatrician. The only symptoms - hoarse voice and cough - cannot be the basis for making a diagnosis. The condition is assessed based on the clinical picture: how the baby coughs, whether sputum is produced, whether the temperature has increased, whether there is a rash on the body or not.
When compiling therapeutic regimen all signs of the disease are taken into account.
A hoarse cough is not only caused by a cold.
The same symptoms occur:
And yet the most common cause The fact that the child suddenly becomes hoarse or speaks in a deep voice and coughs frequently is a cold. The patient may experience tracheitis, laryngitis and pharyngitis. The symptoms of these diseases are similar, but the treatment has some nuances.
During the disease, the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx becomes inflamed, and the lymph nodes and tonsils may be affected. Causes disease by introducing infection of various etiologies, more often respiratory route, or respiratory contact with an allergen.
Signs of the disease:
In children, the disease may occur due to various infections- for measles, rubella, scarlet fever.
The etiology and signs of tracheitis largely coincide with the symptoms and clinical picture pharyngitis, only the tracheal mucosa is involved in the inflammatory process. If treatment is not started at this stage, the infection will go deeper and affect the bronchi.
This happens more often in children - in rare cases, acute respiratory viral infections affecting the nasopharynx are avoided without the development of a complication - bronchitis. Babies have an increased metabolism.
The most dangerous colds, in which the voice becomes hoarse and a barking, hoarse cough appears in children - this is laryngitis. During the disease, the larynx is affected, and the vocal cords are involved in the inflammatory process.
Under the influence of pathogenic flora, inflammation occurs, which causes:
The lumen of the larynx narrows, hemorrhagic rashes may appear, and mucus production increases.
If the epiglottis and trachea are affected, the disease is called laryngotracheitis. A dry cough is replaced by a wet cough within 2-3 days, but the voice becomes rougher. If you start treating the disease at the first symptoms, then in 7-10 days it can be completely eliminated.
Laryngitis is especially dangerous for children - it can provoke dangerous complication- false croup. The baby can suffocate at any time - the glottis is very narrow, and if swelling occurs, it quickly closes. Total loss voices at false croup does not occur in children.
True croup develops gradually:
Already at stage 2 of stenosis due to respiratory failure Children develop hypoxia and cyanosis of the skin.
At the first sign of false or true croup– hoarseness and barking cough- need to call urgently "ambulance". It is impossible to stop stenosis with home remedies - the child may suffocate.
In order to prevent a dangerous condition, treatment should begin as soon as hoarseness begins to be heard in the voice and coughing appears, indicating a sore throat.
Laryngitis is not an independent disease - it occurs against the background of acute respiratory viral infection or allergies. Therefore, you should immediately tune in to complex therapeutic measures.
Prescribed:
It is necessary to use funds local action, which stop the activity of pathogenic flora and eliminate irritation of the larynx.
The most common remedies for laryngeal edema: "Gexoral", "Inhalipt", "Cameton", "Tantum-Verde". They are available in aerosol form. You can gargle with solutions "Miramistina", "Chlorophyllipta", "Chlorhexidine".
Softens the larynx and eliminates dryness lozenges - "Doctor MOM", "Lisobakt", "Strepsils", "Septolete".
Most effective action provide lollipops with menthol or mint. The larynx can be treated "Lugol" and oil solution "Chlorophyllipta".
All drinks must be warm:
When purchasing a ready-made collection for laryngitis, you must pay attention to the composition: it must contain components of anti-inflammatory and mucolytic action. The faster dry nonproductive cough will be replaced by wet, the easier the patient’s condition will be.
Should not be used if you have a hoarse cough. soda solution or decoction oak bark for gargling - these products have a drying effect. Also, you should not overuse honey - in large quantities it irritates the mucous membrane.
Inhalations help effectively. Contraindications for procedures – heat, tachycardia and high blood pressure.
The best means for inhalation are alkaline mineral water or saline solution. It is best to add a few drops to a steam inhaler essential oil eucalyptus, lemon, orange, mint or coniferous trees. You need to breathe through your mouth. Water should not be heated above 55ºС, otherwise there is a risk of burns.
For children, it is better to choose mashed potatoes as a means of inhalation.
If there is no fever, you can put a warm compress on your throat. The best warming compresses are made on alcohol based– for children, vodka is diluted with water in a ratio of 1/3.
If a child’s voice becomes weak and a cough appears due to an allergy, then it is necessary to eliminate contact with the allergen and relieve irritation of the larynx using any of the methods described above: medicines or folk remedies. Medicines should not be used with antimicrobial effect and warming procedures.
The patient should not try to speak in a whisper. Until your voice is restored and the debilitating cough disappears, it is better to remain silent. You should refrain from consuming hot spices and cold drinks during this time.
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