Cough, forced cough will cause disease
Cough is usually the main symptom of a cold and the last symptom that disappears. The latest clinical research shows that cough after catching a cold can even last for as long as 18 days. When babies cough after catching a cold, many parents’ first reaction is to give them cough medicine. Is it really necessary to stop the cough with medicine immediately?
In fact, cough itself is not a disease, It is a symptom of many respiratory diseases, It is a way for our body to protect itself. A cough produces an exhalatory shock, Excrete secretions such as sputum from respiratory tract out of the body, It is a beneficial action. Most of the time, children cough with phlegm. If they take cough medicine forcibly, it will lead to sputum retention in the body, but it is easy to cause more serious respiratory tract infectious diseases such as pneumonia. If the baby’s cough after catching a cold does not affect diet, sleep and other daily activities, there is no need to give him medication.
If cough affects daily activities, a single-component phlegm-reducing drug can be selected for the symptomatic treatment. Smaller babies can use ambroxol syrup or acetylcysteine particles, etc. Older babies, You can also choose myrtle oil capsules, etc. At the same time, use empty palms to pat your back to help your baby excrete phlegm. When cough is severe and affects sleep, Nebulization therapy can be carried out under the guidance of doctors, The nebulized drug can be simply saline, Use it to keep the respiratory tract moist, Reduce irritation-induced cough, Or according to the symptoms, add ambroxol solution, a phlegm-reducing drug component, or salbutamol solution, a bronchiectasis drug component, to the atomizer, and may also use anti-inflammatory hormone components such as Pulmicort Respules when necessary. It should be noted that the atomized drugs are prescription drugs and need to be used under the guidance of doctors.
Cough has a lot to do with the air you breathe. If the air is too dirty or too dry, the baby coughs badly. Therefore, when nursing the baby at home, if the weather is fine, you should open more doors and windows to ventilate and keep the air in the room fresh. If the weather is bad, air purifier can be used to improve indoor air. If the air is dry, To increase indoor humidity with a humidifier, Humidifier is used to keep indoor humidity between 40% and 50%, Not too much humidity, It is easy to breed mold in the room. You can also choose to let your baby inhale water vapor to relieve cough. Put hot water in the bathroom for a while before going to bed. When the steam fills the bathroom, Take the baby in and stay for as long as possible. Let the respiratory tract be fully moistened by inhaling more water vapor, This method also helps relieve nasal congestion and cough. You can also use the steam engine that mothers steam their faces to moisten the baby’s respiratory tract, but the steam engine cannot use tap water or mineral water, but distilled water should be used. In addition, feeding more water to the baby and raising the baby’s bedside to about 30 degrees also helps relieve cough.
If the baby coughs too long after catching a cold, Cough deepens, worsens, or develops into a string of severe coughs, breathing obviously increases faster, resulting in dyspnea and [wheezing] phenomenon, so that his face is flushed or his nose and mouth are blue and purple, etc., he should be taken to the hospital to see a doctor in time, and the doctor should diagnose whether secondary bacterial infection complications occur and whether antibiotics are needed according to his condition.
Fever below 38.5 ℃, physical cooling is preferred.
Another important symptom of a cold is fever. The baby has a fever, and many parents’ first reaction is to take medicine quickly. In fact, this is wrong.
In pediatrics, there are frequent incidents of doctors and nurses being beaten. In these violent incidents, A large part of it is because the baby’s fever has not been retired in time. Parents are anxious and blame the doctor’s incompetence for the baby’s fever. They have conflicts with doctors and nurses. Parents are nervous about the baby and worry about burning the baby with fever. This is understandable, but is it really good to ask doctors to reduce the fever blindly? Don’t forget, in order to avoid conflicts with parents, some doctors may abuse dexamethasone injection or aminopyrine-containing antipyretic needle to force the baby to reduce fever, bringing new harm to the baby’s health.
Again, Fever is one of the human body’s self-protection mechanisms, It is a symptom that the human body shows in the process of mobilizing the immune system to fight infection. The body temperature is not proportional to the severity of the disease. Individuals have different constitutions, The sensitivity of thermoregulation will also be different. Some people can have a fever with a slight cold and a high fever. Some people do not necessarily have a very high body temperature even if they have a serious infection. In most cases, fever is caused by a cold, ear infection or bronchial infection. The [infection] mentioned here may be a viral infection, or it may be an infection of other pathogens such as bacteria.
The use of antipyretics only relieves the symptoms of fever, Fever-causing infections cannot be removed, This is what we often call “treating the symptoms but not the root causes”. That is, the reduction of fever does not mean the improvement of the disease. For example, A fever caused by a common viral cold, Take antipyretic to reduce fever, But the temperature may rise again in a few hours, This is normal, Repeated high fever for 3-5 days is very common. Antipyretics cannot kill the virus that causes colds. The virus that causes colds has its own life cycle in the human body. Usually 5 to 7 days. The body will automatically remove the virus, There is no need for drugs to treat. In fact, there is no specific antiviral drug. If the baby’s body is infected by bacteria and other pathogens, it needs to reasonably choose antibiotics and other drugs under the guidance of doctors to carry out [permanent] treatment. If only antipyretic drugs are used to reduce the fever for the baby, it can only relieve the symptoms of his fever, but cannot cure his disease.
Normally, Axillary temperature over 37.2 ℃, When the ear temperature exceeds 37.8 ℃, When the oral temperature exceeds 37.5 ℃, Anal temperature above 38 ℃ is defined as fever. Axillary temperature 37.3 ℃ ~ 38 ℃ is low fever, 38 ℃ ~ 39 ℃ belong to moderate fever, 39 ℃ ~ 40 ℃ belong to high heat, Above 40 ℃ is ultra-high fever. Most fevers do not need injections to reduce fever. This is true even for high fever and ultra-high fever. For the vast majority of babies over 3 months old, Fever itself is not dangerous and will not burn out the head. Therefore, as long as their armpit temperature is below 38.5 ℃, the mental state shown is good, and activities such as playing are not affected, there is no need to use drugs to reduce fever, and physical cooling for the baby can be tried first.
There are two methods of physical cooling: One is to take a warm bath, Through the way of bathing to achieve the purpose of whole body heat dissipation. When bathing the baby, The recommended water temperature is 35 ℃ ~ 37 ℃. Attention should also be paid to adjusting the temperature of bathrooms and other rooms. Don’t make the difference too much. If the temperature in other rooms is much lower than that in the bathroom, After giving the baby a bath, Dry him and then carry him out of the bathroom. Another method is to wipe the baby’s body with a warm and humid towel. The temperature of the towel is best controlled at about 37 ℃. Wipe the baby’s forehead, neck, armpits and limbs with a warm and humid towel. The principle of wiping the body with a towel to cool down is to dilate the blood vessels of the baby’s skin. Let the heat generated in his body be dissipated in time, and when wiping his body with a warm and wet towel, the water stained on his body evaporates, which will also take away some of the heat.
In addition, when the baby has a fever, he should remember to feed more water to the baby. The process of water excretion can accelerate the excretion of heat in the baby’s body. However, it must be fed several times in a small amount. Don’t feed too much at once, Otherwise, it will increase the burden on the kidneys. People with babies at home may feel the same way. It is too difficult to feed the baby plain boiled water. Every family has different living habits. Some babies come into contact with sugar, honey and other things prematurely. I don’t want to drink plain boiled water, Because after people come into contact with something tasty, Will instinctively tend to taste the taste. In order to let the baby develop the habit of drinking plain boiled water, Try to avoid exposing them to sugar water and fruit juice too early. When the baby has a fever, Will be weak, In a bad mood, I have a bad appetite, I don’t want to drink water. At this time, Parents have to find a way. For very small babies, Parents can use medicinal droppers, Feed water like medicine, Put the dropper in the baby’s mouth, Squeeze water into it, Feed a small amount several times, Although parents work harder, But it can ensure that the water is fed to the baby in time. Older babies are encouraged to drink more water. You can drink water while playing games with them, you can play a toast game with him, or you can play a game of who drinks more with him to win. Babies can easily accept your advice in interesting games. We should be wise parents and think of some ways to help babies drink water and lower their body temperature less resistently.
This article is taken from the book “Ji Lianmei Talk: Chinese Should Use Drugs This Way”, which is reprinted by the author’s authorized clove garden.