A child who, due to age, can complain of sore throat, greatly simplifies the task for parents and doctors. A baby does not know how to express in words his emotions, including pain, and it is not so easy to guess what is bothering the baby. In this article, we'll show you how to tell if your baby has a sore throat and how to help him.
Symptoms and Signs
Despite the fact that an infant cannot directly point out the source of discomfort, he will do his best to make it clear that he is feeling bad. In response to a sore throat, your baby's behavior will change. He will sleep worse, the usual daily routine will be disrupted, if it was installed by his mother. Sleep usually becomes episodic. Even if the baby falls asleep, then after 30-40 minutes he wakes up again and begins to be capricious.
If the sore throat interferes with swallowing normally, then the child may refuse to eat at all. At the same time, he will experience a feeling of hunger.
He will take the offered breast or bottle with the mixture willingly and greedily, but after a few seconds he will throw it and start screaming and crying. Feeding a toddler with a sore throat is an incredibly difficult task.
The child will be capricious, cry and be indignant outside the meal, because from time to time he needs to swallow saliva. If this process is quite painful, then it will certainly be accompanied by crying.
A symptom such as increased salivation is difficult to consider diagnostically important. In many children, long before 4 months, when the first tooth is expected to appear, drool begins to flow, and this is a variant of the physiological norm. Even if salivation started at 3 months, and the first tooth appeared at 7-8 months.
It should be noted that with inflammation in the throat area, the baby actually increases the volume of saliva secreted.
The fact is that saliva is the main antiseptic provided by nature for inflammation in the oropharynx. That is why the body, in response to the penetration of pathogens, reacts with increased production of saliva.
Sometimes the sore throat is preceded by a runny nose. In an infant, nasal congestion is not always painful due to the narrowness of the nasal passages. But at the time of violation of nasal breathing, the baby breathes through the mouth, the mucous membranes of the larynx and tonsils dry out, and inflammation begins.
It should be noted that in addition to weak immunity, infants have another factor that contributes to the occurrence of ENT diseases. They have very loose mucous membranes. Getting on them, viruses and bacteria multiply faster, the disease progresses rapidly.
Diagnostics
If the above changes have occurred in the behavior of the baby, the mother needs to conduct a preliminary examination of the baby in order to confirm or exclude sore throat as a cause of concern. The only informative way is to look at the throat. It should be carried out carefully, with clean hands, using a medical spatula or a teaspoon. No need to press hard on the root of the uvula - the baby will reflexively vomit. It is best to lightly press the center or tip of the tongue and slightly tilt the baby's head back. Use a flashlight for a better view.
On examination, they evaluate:
general view of the mouth and throat;
color of mucous membranes;
the presence or absence of puffiness and redness;
the size and color of the tonsils;
the color of the back wall of the larynx.
A healthy child's mouth and throat are pale pink in color. A small white coating is possible on the tongue - this is normal for a baby who is mainly on a milk diet. There is no swelling in the norm. Exceptions are gums if teething is expected soon. The tonsils are not enlarged, their color is even, pink. There are no blood vessels on the back of the throat, redness.
If the cause of concern for the little one is in a sore throat, then the mother will be able to see enlarged tonsils, a large amount of plaque that covers not only the tongue, but also the inside of the cheeks, palate, and the back wall of the larynx.
Redness can be observed in the area of the tonsils, both palatine and pharyngeal, on the back of the pharynx. The appearance of ulcers, vesicles, pustules, caseous plugs (commonly referred to as casios) can be added to the color change.
It is imperative to probe the submandibular and occipital lymph nodes, they can be enlarged. The temperature can be from subfebrile (37.0-35.7) to high (with angina - up to 40.0 degrees), in some cases the temperature can generally be normal.
If the mother did not find such alarming visual signs, she should visit the pediatrician with her child in order to start looking together for another cause of restless behavior, appetite and sleep disorders. If the throat is really sore, the doctor should be called at home to prevent the spread of infection in case the baby has a contagious ailment.
It is impossible to hesitate with treatment - untimely treatment for ENT diseases can lead to chronic forms of diseases, complications, impaired pulmonary respiration, which can cause suffocation. If the child wheezes, you should immediately call the ambulance.
Possible reasons
In a newborn child, up to about six months of independent life, innate maternal immunity acts. After 6 months, his own immune system begins to gradually "learn". And this happens when faced with viruses and bacteria. Nature has not invented another, safer and more painless way.
Thus, the risk of contracting viral or bacterial infections increases after six months., but in the first half of the first year of life, anything can happen too.
The most common cause of sore throat in infants is respiratory viruses... It is quite problematic to "pick up" them on a walk, especially in cold weather, but it is very simple - in crowded places - clinics, shops, in public transport. Viruses that penetrate through the nose can pass further, "settling" on the mucous tissues of the larynx, on the lymphoid tissue of the tonsils.
Children under one year old learn the world not only with their eyes, ears and tactile, but also taste. Partly because of this, and partly because of the itching during teething, babies drag absolutely everything that falls into their hands into their mouths. Together with a toy or other object, the crumb may well bring bacteria into the oral cavity, which live almost everywhere. Particularly dangerous are streptococci and staphylococci, which cause severe sore throat. Bacterial and fungal infections of the oropharynx can also occur as a result of contact with an adult carrying the bacteria or with food, such as water.
During the teething period, the child may also have a sore throat. This is due to the work of local immunity. Since there is a painful gum in the oral cavity during this period, when an infection joins, the situation deteriorates significantly.
Allergies are another fairly common cause of oropharyngeal disease in infants. Most often, an inadequate reaction of the body develops to chemicals that are contained in detergents and washing powders, with which the mother does the cleaning and washes the baby's diapers and bedding. Dry air, heat in the apartment is another factor in the appearance of inflammatory processes in the respiratory organs.
Treatment
A doctor should treat a child up to a year in all cases. Self-medication is unacceptable, since the risks for the life of the baby are too great.
That is why it is important to consult a doctor immediately after detecting problems with a throat. He will be able to determine what kind of disease happened to the baby. Laboratory capabilities will help the specialist in this - a throat swab is subjected to a thorough examination in order to detect a specific causative agent of the disease.
As soon as a virus, bacteria, fungus or allergen becomes known, the child will be prescribed appropriate treatment. Quite often, infants with serious infectious diseases, manifested, including sore throats, are recommended to undergo therapy in a hospital under the round-the-clock supervision of doctors. If the reason is not so serious, and the pediatrician is sure that the mother will fulfill all the appointments, then the child can be left to be treated at home.
Throat viral lesions
With such ailments, no special treatment is needed, although most pediatricians try to "just in case" prescribe antiviral drugs - "Viferon" in candles and other preparations in syrup or drops. These drugs do not have clinically proven efficacy, and therefore, together with homeopathic antiviral agents, they are agents that do not harm at best. It is not worth waiting for the benefit. After a few days, the immune system will cope with the virus on its own, and taking medications does not affect the speed of recovery in any way.
If the child has a severe infection, he will be hospitalized, where antiviral drugs with proven effectiveness will be injected intravenously.
There are few of them, and they are all serious medicines that are not advertised on TV as "a quick and reliable remedy for influenza and SARS." If they were not sent to the hospital, there is practically no need for antiviral drugs.
And there is a need for proper baby care. He must breathe humidified air, drink warm water more often. If he refuses to suck it from the bottle, you need to pour it into your mouth with a spoon. Saline solution should be instilled into the spout to prevent drying out of the mucous membranes (1 teaspoon of salt per liter of water).
In case of severe inflammation, the doctor may recommend treating the child's throat with balm "Vinilin"pre-irrigated with antiseptic Miramistin. "Vinylin" can be used only if the child is not allergic to medications. For the smallest, pediatricians recommend mixing the drug with sea buckthorn oil in a 1: 5 ratio.
Bacterial and fungal diseases
With bacterial inflammation of the throat and oral cavity, the baby and the mother are likely to be hospitalized, because the treatment of most of these sore throats, candidiasis and even pharyngitis caused by bacteria requires the mandatory use of antibiotics.
Babies under one year old usually begin treatment with a drug of the penicillin group. Additionally, they may recommend treating the throat with "Vinylin" or an oil solution "Chlorophyllipt", which shows high efficiency against staphylococcus, which, as you know, can be destroyed by not every antibiotic.
Fungal diseases can be successfully treated at home and will include treatment with antifungal agents such as "Chinozol" and taking antifungal drugs by mouth. You can find out what medications will be prescribed after determining the type of fungus.
Useful Tips
During the period of massive growth of respiratory viral infections, it is not worth visiting with a child up to a year in a place where many people are at the same time Walking is useful, but only where there is a lot of fresh air, and there are almost no potential virus carriers - in the park, square.
Wash your baby's underwear and clothes with hypoallergenic powders... Rinse the garments additionally after washing. This will reduce the risk of allergic inflammation of the oropharynx.
To protect the infant's throat, you need to maintain sufficient humidity. It should not exceed 70%, and should not be lower than 50%. Heaters in the children's room dry the air a lot. You do not need to place them indoors.
Preventive vaccinations should be done on time... Usually, by 10 months, the baby is already vaccinated against most severe infections.
For information on how to treat a sore throat, see the next video.
