The throat of children often hurts. It is this that is one of the first "lines of defense", reacting with inflammation to the penetration of viruses, bacteria and external irritants through the nasopharynx. The local immunity of children is much weaker than that of adults, and therefore so often our babies' throats redden and a cough appears. Of course, treatment for children is different from that for adults. I would like it to be gentle, soft, not having a systemic effect on the entire body. Therefore, moms and dads often ask themselves what folk remedies can be used to cure a sore throat. Let's talk about this in more detail.
Symptoms and Signs
There can be many reasons why a child has a sore throat. This is angina, a dangerous disease caused by streptococci, and pharyngitis. Often babies have a red sore throat in chronic tonsillitis, doctors often call its main symptom "loose throat"... It often happens that the throat turns red if the child breathes polluted air, vapors of household chemicals, and poisons. It happens that a “loud”, noisy child will scream so that his larynx becomes inflamed. A red throat can also be the result of mechanical injury, burns.
All mothers know the symptoms of throat problems. This is a sore throat, tingling, pain when swallowing and talking, and, in fact, redness of the throat, more precisely, of the tonsils. They may increase in size, become inflamed, and plaque may appear.
It is the nature of the defeat of the tonsils and the accompanying symptoms that can tell parents what kind of ailment happened to the child. With angina, the baby will have a high fever, white or purulent found on bright red tonsils, in difficult cases, necrotic fragments will be clearly distinguishable on them. With pharyngitis, enlarged lymph nodes under the jaw, as well as a cough and sometimes a runny nose, are often added to similar symptoms.
With mechanical or thermal damage to the mucous membrane of the larynx, cough and runny nose will not occur, as well as high temperature, plaque on the tonsils will not appear either. In case of inflammation caused by unfavorable external factors, the throat will be red and relatively "dry", there is no abundant mucus and no proliferation of lymphoid tissue.
Knowing the cause is very important in order to properly treat a child. Angina, as a rule, requires antibiotic therapy, and a red throat does not need specific treatment from an excessive prolonged cry, it is enough to give the child rest, create calm conditions so that he speaks less, and the unpleasant symptom will recede.
What is the danger
Self-diagnosis is not a reliable way to determine the cause of a throat problem. At the first symptoms, it is better to call a doctor. After all, an untimely reaction to inflammation can lead to very serious consequences. For example, sore throat, with improper treatment or its absence, can be complicated and cause damage to the heart muscle, tonsillogenic sepsis, in which abscesses form in the internal organs, dangerous diseases of the hearing organs, and kidney damage. Pharyngitis, which is quite easy to treat, if detected on time, can turn into bronchitis, pneumonia.
When folk methods are indispensable
Alternative medicine is usually good for treating sore throat in children. However, there are conditions in which urgent and exclusively medical treatment is required under the supervision of a doctor. First of all, it is angina. Since it is most often caused by staphylococcus, the treatment should be based on antibiotics, without them it is almost impossible to stop the growth of bacteria.
Therefore, if a child has a red throat, loose enlarged tonsils, or a plaque, pustules, necrotic areas have already appeared, with a high fever and severe headache, you should immediately call a doctor. If it happened on a weekend - "Ambulance". Angina does not forgive delay.
Dr. Komarovsky will tell us about all aspects of such a disease as angina.
Folk remedies
With many other diagnoses, which are accompanied by a sore throat, sore throat, folk remedies may well act as independent methods of therapy and auxiliary ones.
The main home treatment method is rinsing. It's good if the child already knows how to do this. Usually, such a skill does not appear by itself, it should be taught. This can be done if the child is already 2 years old. At this age, the baby is quite able to understand what exactly they want from him.
If he cannot overcome his fear, do not insist, do not force gargle. You can always use pharmacy antiseptics, which are convenient to irrigate the throat, and lozenges.
There are general rules for the preparation of solutions for gargling. It is better to brew and insist them in a thermos, and give them to the child warm. The proportions for all the herbs that we will talk about are about the same - 1 tablespoon of raw materials per 250 ml of water. Be sure to filter and strain solutions and infusions. It is up to the parents to decide what to use for them, because they know for sure whether their daughter or son is allergic to any plant.
One of the options for gargling your throat is hydrogen peroxide, and Dr. Komarovsky will tell you about this method.
Pharmaceutical camomile
Due to its powerful antiseptic properties, this herb effectively helps to slow down the inflammatory process. It is better to buy it in a pharmacy as a dried collection in a cardboard box or in filter bags for brewing.
Oak bark
The astringent and antiseptic effect of this natural remedy will help to cope not only with severe sore throat, but also with stomatitis, bleeding gums, which are quite common companions of pharyngitis or tonsillitis. The tool can be bought at any pharmacy, it is inexpensive.
Plantain
This well-known plant has not only an antiseptic effect, but also promotes faster wound healing and effectively restores the integrity of the mucous membranes.
Eucalyptus
The vitamin-rich raw materials obtained from eucalyptus leaves also have a powerful antimicrobial effect. You can use not only dried or fresh leaves, but also essential oil, which is added in an amount of 2-3 drops to water or to any prepared herbal infusion.
Calendula
For the preparation of solutions, flowers of this plant are used. They can be grown in the country on their own, or you can buy a collection prepared by specialists at the pharmacy. Calendula relieves inflammation, softens and promotes faster healing of the affected areas of the mucous membrane and lymphoid tissue.
Linden flowers
This remedy is very often recommended by pediatricians to their young patients for gargling with medications, and as an independent therapy, if the problem is not too serious. In addition to rinsing, linden flowers can be added to a child's tea, since the agent, in addition to antiseptic properties, helps to increase and strengthen the child's immunity.
Propolis tincture
Children from 3 years old, provided they do not have allergies, can prepare a weak aqueous solution of propolis. Or use a pharmacy tincture by adding 2-3 ml to a glass of warm boiled water.
Honey
It can be given to eat, or you can add a small amount to the herbal infusion for gargling. Honey is not only the strongest antimicrobial agent, but also an excellent natural immune defense stimulant.
The danger of self-medication
If you do not see a doctor, the true cause of throat problems may remain unclear. And while the parents force the child to gargle with saline, the disease will smoothly turn into a chronic form and cause complications.
A large throat is not always a symptom of respiratory problems. Sometimes this is a manifestation of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, endocrine and hormonal ailments, serious problems of immunity. Self-medication in these cases will not help eliminate the underlying disease, and the symptom in the form of inflammation of the larynx will return again and again.
What not to do
The most common mistake parents make when trying to cure a sore throat in a child at home is the desire to immediately "warm" the sore spot. Compresses designed to warm children under three years of age are categorically contraindicated... You can not use such methods and temperature in children of any age.
The same prohibition applies to inhalation. Now, when almost every family has an inhaler device, mothers, not fully understanding the processes occurring in the baby's body, believe that inhaling vapors with medicine or a decoction of herbs will help quickly cure the child. However, for many throat ailments, such treatment can only harm, since heat is a very favorable environment for bacteria to multiply.
Therefore, all compresses, inhalations should be carried out only with the permission of a doctor. Without it, you can only gargle.
It is with rinsing that another myth is associated that salt and soda help to defeat inflammation. The saline solution additionally injures and irritates the already inflamed mucous membrane, and therefore it is better to refuse such solutions altogether.
Another extreme that caring parents tend to fall into is frequent gargling. You should not do this procedure too often, since the vibrating movements that are observed during rinsing have an additional traumatic effect. It is best if the child rinses the throat every 2-3 hours, not more often.
- Give your child some peace of mind. Let him speak less, not shout, do quiet things - draw, watch cartoons, put puzzles, etc. If the baby has a fever, put him to bed. If your throat hurts from screaming, rest is enough to fix the problem.
- All food for the child during the treatment of a sore throat should be mushy, liquid, without solid fragments. Grind your usual food with a blender, rub through a sieve. Avoid giving your child sour, salty, smoked, too cold or hot foods. This will only increase the inflammation.
- For angina, which is contagious, give the baby a separate dish, a towel, to exclude infection of other family members.
- Eliminate all adverse factors in the environment. Move away from household chemicals, especially those based on chlorine, and limit your baby's interaction with pets. Adult family members should smoke on the street so that the child does not inhale the smoke. Ventilate, do wet cleaning more often and monitor the room temperature and humidity.
Too dry air additionally dries mucous membranes, and too humid contributes to the active reproduction of bacteria. Therefore, the optimal parameters are as follows: air temperature - 18-20 degrees, no more, air humidity - 50-70%.
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