Every year in the autumn and winter, when the incidence of respiratory diseases is high, you look around at this child, either coughing and coughing, or a small snot sucking and sucking, and the parents who take leave in the school group are connected.
Oh, you don't have to say, children nasal congestion, runny nose all winter is not good, are about to die.
Taking medicine is not good, the child's nose is not ventilated, sleep is not good at night, the mental state is poor during the day, the temper is poor, the kindergarten this semester is basically playing soy sauce, the old mother is already on the verge of collapse.
Common symptoms: such as fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, talk about nasal congestion and runny nose today.
Although the nasal congestion and runny nose do not look serious, but it can't stand it uncomfortable, a day or two is fine. But sometimes children don't see a good nose in the winter, and the nose is not ventilated and always dragged out and will lead to big problems.
Closer to say, sleep at night is not good, during the day poor spirit, resulting in children emotional irritability;
Farther away, the nose is not smooth, it is easy to breathe. Long-term mouth breathing, not only easy to induce oral diseases and respiratory diseases (such as chronic gingivitis, chronic pharyngitis), but also change people's appearance, make people ugly.
More seriously, long-term nasal congestion and insufficient oxygen supply to the brain may also affect the baby's IQ development.
Therefore, although the symptoms of nasal ventilation are small, they cannot be ignored, and many people have a misunderstanding, thinking that as long as the nasal congestion and runny nose are colds, in fact, there are many reasons for nasal congestion and runny nose, and only by first finding the real cause of nasal congestion can the symptoms be solved.
Common causes of nasal congestion and runny nose are rhinitis
There are three most common types of rhinitis in children: acute rhinitis (i.e., colds caused by common upper respiratory tract infections), allergic rhinitis, and sinusitis.
The main symptoms of the three types of rhinitis are nasal congestion and runny nose, how do we distinguish them?
01
Acute rhinitis (cold)
Usually caused by bacteria, viruses caused by the upper respiratory tract infection, although its initial symptoms are nasal congestion, runny nose, but later will be accompanied by other symptoms such as cough, sore throat or fever, snot will usually gradually change from a clear watery nose to a yellow-green thick nose.
Colds are self-limiting diseases, usually lasting 7-14 days, and the child will gradually lighten until he recovers.
02
allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is also more common in children after 2 years of age.
According to statistics, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) in children in China is 15.79%, and the prevalence in some areas is even as high as 20.42%, and shows a trend of increasing year by year, that is to say, every 6-7 babies will have allergic rhinitis.
The main symptoms are nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing (mostly clear watery nose), and the symptoms are mainly concentrated in the nose. It is rare to have other complications, and a small number of patients with allergic rhinitis can cause cough due to nasal reflux stimulation of the throat, but there will be no symptoms such as fever and sore throat.
Moreover, the onset cycle of allergic rhinitis is very long, generally more than two weeks.
Basically, if the child has nasal congestion and runny nose for more than 2 weeks, it is recommended to go to the hospital to see the ear, nose and throat department, if the symptoms persist for more than a month, it is basically unrelated to the cold.
Allergic rhinitis is generally caused by contact with allergic substances (children's allergens are mostly pollen, dust mites, animal dander, etc.), the most important thing is to avoid allergens + daily use of normal saline to clean the nasal cavity, which can greatly alleviate symptoms.
03
sinusitis
The sinuses are some of the cavities around the nose that communicate with the nose through small openings to aid in pronunciation and help warm and moist air.
Sinusitis is generally an inflammatory lesion of the sinuses caused by viral, bacterial, fungal infections, or allergic reactions.
Symptoms such as nasal congestion, nasal mucosal congestion, and thick nasal discharge are often present, and sometimes accompanied by fever. Moreover, it is possible for children to develop sinusitis in the process of catching a cold or allergic rhinitis.
Allergic rhinitis is mostly watery nasal discharge, while sinusitis is mostly viscous yellow-green nasal discharge, simple viral sinusitis is generally self-limiting, without special treatment, usually in 7-10 days will gradually improve.
However, if it is acute bacterial sinusitis, it should be treated in time, how to judge:
Purulent nasal symptoms such as runny nose or accompanied by cough that persist for more than two weeks without abating;
A large amount of yellow-green snot flowing for 3 consecutive days, accompanied by fever (maximum temperature of 39° or more);
After the recovery period of the cold (that is, the symptoms begin to ease), there is a sudden flow of viscous yellow-green snot, accompanied by symptoms such as fever and cough.
In this case, it is likely to be acute bacterial sinusitis, it is recommended to go to the hospital, according to the doctor's advice.
2. Adenoid hypertrophy
Adenoids, also known as pharyngeal tonsils, are the lymphoid tissues of the nasopharynx, and it and the tonsils that we often hang on the lips are the guardians that help humans fight foreign viruses and bacteria.
Inflammation of the nasopharynx or inflammation of the nasal cavity and tonsils that affect the nasopharynx, stimulate the adenoids to develop pathological hypertrophy, and cause corresponding symptoms of the disease, called adenoid hypertrophy.
When the upper part of the nostrils is enlarged and blocked by 50% of the children's adenoids, it will directly cause the destruction of the airflow barrier in the intranasal valve area, resulting in nasal congestion and oral breathing.
Moreover, adenoidal hypertrophy prevents the mucus in the sinuses from draining, which may repeatedly lead to sinusitis.
However, adenoidal hypertrophy is difficult to see with the naked eye and needs to be diagnosed by a nasal mirror or X-ray.
In general, the main manifestation of adenoidal hypertrophy is nasal congestion and poor breathing, especially at night, which is more severe, usually manifested as sleeping and snoring, breathing with the mouth open.
If the child rules out colds, allergic rhinitis, etc., and still breathes with his mouth open for a long time, he should consider the problem of adenoidal hypertrophy.
If you are not sure whether your child is breathing with his mouth open at night, you can simply test it:
1. Fog mirror test method
You can take a mirror and place it under the baby's nose and under the mouth in turn to see if there is any fog on the mirror:
If the area of fog generated under the nose is larger, it is the nose breathing;
If the area of mist generated under the mouth is larger, it is the mouth breathing;
2. Paper strip test method
Take a little cotton wool or toilet paper and roll it into a thin and soft strip of paper, and place it in front of the mouth and in front of the nostrils, as close as possible to see if it flutters.
If the cotton wool/slip of paper flutters badly in front of the nostrils, it is nose breathing;
If the cotton wool/note in front of the mouth flutters violently, it is the mouth breathing;
3. Lip closure test method
After the baby falls asleep, you can manually close the baby's mouth for a few minutes to see if the baby is struggling with this move.
If you struggle, you are blocking the ventilation channel and you are breathing with your mouth;
If you still sleep steadily, you may be breathing through your nose and opening your mouth only temporarily.
When it comes to hypertrophy, people must think of surgery, so does it need surgery?
It is generally necessary to check the degree of hypertrophy and the condition of the blockage.
If it is not serious, it can be observed conservatively; if the blockage is serious and affects sleep, the indications for surgery are already clear, then there is no need to hesitate if there is no better way than surgery.
Specifically, according to the diagnosis and treatment results, consultation with doctors, do a good job of pros and cons analysis.
After talking about the reasons, let's take a look at the way to relieve nasal congestion
For pathological nasal congestion and runny nose, we mainly have to decide the specific treatment plan according to the symptoms and causes, but some daily nursing methods can still be available, which can alleviate symptoms to a certain extent and make children more comfortable.
1. Clean your baby's nasal cavity with physiological saline
Whether it is nasal congestion caused by a cold or allergic rhinitis, you can give your child a normal saline to wash the nasal cavity.
Small babies can use saline drops, and older babies or receptive children can use nasal sprays or nasal washers to clean the nasal passages.
▲ The correct use of nasal spray
For cases where the nose is sticky and thick, or if the sinusitis is serious, the effect of nasal spray may not be obvious, and the most direct method is to wash the nose with saline.
In this way, the nasal discharge and dirty things in the nasal cavity can be rinsed out to alleviate the baby's symptoms, and the bacteria and viruses in the nasal cavity can also be brought out, which will promote the child's recovery to a certain extent.
2. Keep the humidity appropriate
The humidifier can be opened appropriately to maintain humidity in the room by 50%-60%, which can reduce the irritation of air to the respiratory mucosa.
Babies with severe nasal congestion and runny nose can stay in the steam-filled bathroom for 2 or 3 minutes, which can moisten the nasal cavity and respiratory tract and make the child more comfortable.
3. Raise your upper body when your baby sleeps
For children who do not have pillows before the age of 1, in order to avoid suffocation of newborns, it is recommended to directly raise the upper body.
Note that the auxiliary objects are placed directly under the mattress (shown in the picture below), especially for children who are not flexible in turning over, and must not leave debris on the bed that may cause suffocation.
After one year of age, a pillow-pillow baby can thicken the pillow by one layer.
Every time CC nasal congestion, we add a layer to her pillow or sleep directly on the adult's pillow, and the mothers do not have to be too glassy, and occasionally two days have little impact on the child's cervical spine.
4. Encourage your baby to sleep on their sides
In this way, at least one side of the nose is ventilated, and it is not easy to sleep until it is half awake.
Babies who are not flexible should ensure that there are adults around when sleeping on their sides.
Of course, based on the symptoms of nasal congestion and nasal discharge alone, we cannot be 100% sure of the condition.
It is also necessary to combine other symptoms (fever, mental state, sneezing, etc.) to make specific judgments, but master some basic common sense, at least can achieve neither anxiety blind panic to seek medical treatment, nor delay the child's condition because of ignorance.