What types of runny nose do children have and how to treat them? Carrot and beet juice. Non-infectious causes of runny nose in children

If a runny nose in an infant should be treated immediately after it occurs, because the baby cannot eat and sleep properly due to a stuffy nose, then rhinitis in children older than one year requires accurate diagnosis and a balanced approach.

Is a runny nose a disease?

Rhinitis, or runny nose, is an inflammation of the nasal cavities in acute or chronic form, expressed in impaired free breathing. The main purpose of the nasal mucosa is to protect the respiratory organs from the penetration of bacteria, viruses and other pathogenic organisms.

Normally, they remain in the mucus of the nasal passages, and are then removed using the ciliated epithelium. If a child develops a runny nose, it means that the protection is weakened by the following factors:

• Hypothermia of the body;
• Irritation from strong odors;
• Dusty or dry air;
• Exposure to cold air.

Having overcome the protective barrier, the virus penetrates the cells of the nasal mucosa, matures and multiplies inside them, and subsequently destroys them. When bacterial flora joins the contents of the nasal passages, the runny nose moves to the next stage of its development.

If you cannot quickly get rid of a runny nose, it becomes chronic. In this case, infiltrates appear on the mucous membrane, it hypertrophies or partially atrophies.

Such ENT pathology is almost never diagnosed, as separate disease. Most often, chronic or acute rhinitis in children is a symptom of a viral, bacterial infection or allergy.

According to medical statistics, every child of preschool or primary school age suffers from 4 to 9 cases of runny nose per year.

Don't underestimate the possible consequences prolonged rhinitis:

• Slowing down the rate of physical and mental development of the child;
• Decreased academic performance among schoolchildren;
• Sinusitis;
• Pneumonia;
• Bronchial asthma;
• Otitis media.

Diagnosis and treatment of runny nose in children is carried out by a pediatrician or pediatric otolaryngologist. For in-depth examination and specific treatment You may need to consult an allergist or pulmonologist.

Causes of a runny nose

Most often, rhinitis in children is caused by rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, influenza viruses, streptococci and staphylococci, and pathogens of respiratory infections. Rarely, a runny nose can be caused by fungi and bacteria that provoke the appearance of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, as well as chlamydia and mycoplasma.

The main causes of children's runny nose:

• Infection of a child with influenza, adenovirus infection, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough, meningitis, measles;
• Decline protective function nasal mucosa due to tonsillitis, sinusitis, inflammation of the adenoids;
• Side effect of vaccination;
• Catarrhal diathesis;
• Exposure to allergens (pollen, house dust, animal dander, food);
• Anatomical features (nasal polyps, deviated nasal septum);
• Disorder of neurovegetative regulation of blood supply to the nasal cavity due to long-term use of vasoconstrictor drugs;
• Vascular neurosis.

Causes possible complications rhinitis is associated with age-related features of the anatomy of the upper respiratory tract. If a one-year-old child maxillary sinuses are absent, then in children of early preschool age they are just beginning to form.

At 5-8 years old their size is minimal, optimal size maxillary sinuses reach by age 16. As a result, improper treatment of rhinitis in children under 7 years of age is complicated by otitis media, and in adolescents – by sinusitis.

Classification of rhinitis and its symptoms

If we classify rhinitis in children according to the form of its course, we distinguish acute and chronic. The division of cases of rhinitis according to the course of the pathology is seasonal, paroxysmal and constant.

In acute form pathological process is developing rapidly. A burning sensation, itching appears in the nose, the nasal passages become blocked, and copious mucus flows from them.

The child begins to sneeze, tears flow from the eyes, and a headache appears. The continuous flow of mucus with a prolonged runny nose leads to irritation of the wings of the nose and the skin of the upper lip.

Since the natural drainage of the nasal cavity is disrupted and the ciliated epithelium does not perform its functions, bacterial flora actively develops in the nasal passages. This can be judged by the changed color of the mucous discharge - it becomes yellow- green color, becomes cloudy.

After a few days, acute symptoms subside, the volume of mucus decreases, and nasal breathing improves. If it is possible to prevent a runny nose at an early stage, by 6-7 days the symptoms of rhinitis subside, and the acute form ends with recovery.

A child’s cough and hoarse voice against the background of the symptoms described above indicate that the infection has penetrated into the pharynx, larynx, trachea, or lower into the bronchopulmonary region. Such complications are common in weakened children with reduced immunity.

The main types of runny nose in children - classification by etiology:

The symptoms are less acute - nasal breathing is impaired, one or the other nostril is alternately blocked, mucopurulent discharge is constantly present. When mucus flows into the nasopharynx, the child snores in his sleep, begins to cough, and may vomit.

Nasal breathing is constantly difficult, headache, hearing, voice and smell impairment are noted. Hypertrophic prolonged runny nose in a school-age child leads to increased fatigue and decreased academic performance.

Diagnosed in junior schoolchildren and adolescents due to impaired regulation of blood supply to the nasal cavities. Symptoms: profuse mucus, frequent sneezing, periodic nasal congestion, tachycardia, sweating, headache attacks.

Seizures vasomotor rhinitis occur after stressful situations, due to temperature changes, sudden changes in the external environment.

Atrophic rhinitis (ozena), or fetid runny nose.

Nasal breathing is impaired, viscous mucus and rough crusts accumulate in the nose. unpleasant smell. With atrophy bone walls the nose may become deformed.

It occurs as a reaction to the introduction of an allergen into the body - more often pollen from plants, trees and cereals, less often - house dust and mold fungi. The child often sneezes, has an itchy nose, and copious discharge from the nose, sleep and appetite are disturbed.

The pathological process is not limited only to the nasal cavity, it affects the maxillary sinuses, so a more accurate name for such a runny nose is rhinosinusitis.

Approximately 40% of all cases of runny nose in children are caused by allergens. Therefore, if you are wondering why your child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time, you should consult an allergist.

How to treat a child's runny nose?

Since rhinitis is most often a symptom of some pathology, the main attention is paid to the treatment of this disease. For a runny nose caused by a cold, the drug Grippferon in the form of drops or spray has an excellent antiviral and immunomodulatory effect.

The choice of treatment regimen for a runny nose depends on the age of the child, on the anatomical features of the respiratory system of preschoolers, primary schoolchildren and adolescents.

Treatment of runny nose in preschool children (from one year to 7 years)

If rhinitis is caused by viruses, the most effective remedy for viral runny nose for preschool children - wait-and-see tactics. It is worth being patient and waiting for 4-5 days until the child’s immunity suppresses the viral infection on its own.

Refusal of medications in this case will allow the immune system to strengthen and subsequently avoid frequent relapses of rhinitis.

How to ease breathing with a runny nose in children 1-7 years old:

• Ventilate the child’s room more often;
• Maintain stable humidity%;
• Do not force feed your baby if he has no appetite;
• Remove excess mucus;
• Provide the child with plenty of warm drinks.

If after 5 days the symptoms of rhinitis do not subside, drug treatment is used. At this age, you should avoid rinsing your nose when you have a runny nose, since the drug, administered under pressure into the nasal passages, along with infected mucus, easily penetrates into the middle ear and causes otitis media.

For symptomatic treatment vasoconstrictor children's drops with anti-inflammatory and anti-edematous effects are used. It is important to remember that drugs of this type are not used for longer than 5 days to avoid addiction.

Effective drops for the common cold for children from one to seven years old:

If rhinitis is caused by excessive dryness in the room, rinsing the nose at night and during the day will help ease the child’s breathing. saline solutions(Aqua Maris, Physiomer). It is important to use this children's remedy for a runny nose in the form of a nasal shower - do not rinse with it, but just irrigate the nose.

Steam inhalations are very effective if a runny nose persists for a long time in a child 3-7 years old and older. Infusions are used for inhalation medicinal herbs(sage, chamomile, coltsfoot, eucalyptus, licorice).

Traditional methods of treating childhood rhinitis such as instilling the following drugs into the nose are widely used:

• Sea buckthorn, black cumin, rosehip oil;
• Carrot juice with olive oil;
• Beetroot juice.

Applying folk remedy from acute or chronic runny nose in children, you should make sure that the baby does not have allergies. If a child snores after a runny nose, or develops a cough or sore throat, apply rubbing with Doctor Mom (from 3 years of age), or Erespal orally in the form of syrup or tablets.

Treatment of allergic rhinitis begins with eliminating the allergen, removing prohibited foods from the menu, and stopping contact with animals.

Treatment for this condition includes the use of antihistamines in the form of tablets (Desloratadine, Clarotadine, Fenistil), glucocorticosteroids (Nasonex), Vibrocil drops with antiallergic action.

Treatment of runny nose in children 8-16 years old

How to treat an incipient runny nose in a teenager or a child of primary school age? To remove mucus and prevent sinusitis in children of this age, the nose is washed with an isotonic solution. For the same purposes, the nasal cavity is irrigated with antiseptics (Protargol) and vasoconstrictors based on oxymetazoline.

To rinse the nose use:

• Saline solution (1 tsp per 1 liter of water);
• Decoctions of medicinal herbs (calendula, St. John's wort, coltsfoot, chamomile), oak bark.

Otherwise, the treatment of rhinitis does not differ from similar therapy in young children.

Uncontrolled treatment of a prolonged runny nose causes atrophy of nasal tissue, allergies, and drug-induced rhinitis in children. To prevent relapses, infections should be treated in a timely manner, the child should be hardened, and harmful factors should be eliminated.

A nutritious diet, exercise, and an optimal microclimate in the premises where children are located will significantly reduce the likelihood of relapses.

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How to quickly cure a runny nose in children

The most common cause of a runny nose is an acute respiratory viral infection that enters the body through contact with a sick person after hypothermia. Children begin to suffer from frequent runny noses when visiting children's groups in kindergartens and schools. Allergic rhinitis has been very common in children lately.

It is not possible to get rid of a runny nose quickly, since in most cases it is caused by a viral infection. There are no drugs against viruses (viruses cannot be killed); widely known antiviral drugs only alleviate the symptoms of the disease. Therefore, while the immune system produces protective antibodies, we can only alleviate the symptoms of a runny nose.

You can start treating a child’s runny nose only if you are sure there are no complications!

How to treat a runny nose quickly

With a cold, snot is accompanied by other signs of illness: high fever, intoxication, cough, muscle and throat pain; with allergies, lacrimation, itchy eyes and nose, and sneezing are disturbing. The listed symptoms interfere with leading an active lifestyle, reduce the child’s appetite, and force him to refuse to attend kindergarten and school.

Therefore, treatment of the disease should be comprehensive: drink plenty of fluids, eat foods rich in vitamin C (citrus fruits, black currants, bell pepper, cranberries and rose hips), maintain the air temperature in the child’s room no higher than 22 degrees (the colder the better). Constantly moisturizing your nose with saline drops will help destroy the virus and relieve the symptoms of a runny nose.

How and how to quickly cure a runny nose in a child:

Antiviral

You can try to stop the initial signs of a runny nose with the help of antiviral drugs. Taking them from the first days of illness softens the main symptoms of a cold. The choice of drugs is wide - Viferon (allowed from the first year), Anaferon, Groprinosin, Arbidol, etc. The choice of the most suitable drug, taking into account other symptoms of the disease and the etiology of the virus, is made by your pediatrician.

However, antiviral drugs are not recommended for regular use. They are intended for frequently ill children if a runny nose begins simultaneously with fever and severe intoxication. Rarely ill children do not need to stimulate their immune system; their body itself can cope well with a viral infection.

Remember how much antiviral tablets, antibiotics and other medications you did not force your child to take, his runny nose will not end faster than in 5-6 days.

Nasal rinsing

The best way to treat a runny nose is to remove snot and rinse the nose. Saline solutions are close in composition to physiological ones; they moisturize the nasal mucosa, wash away secretions, and normalize the functioning of epithelial cells. You need to drip them into the nose 4-6 times a day; if there is heavy discharge, you can do it more often; they will not harm even a baby. In babies, snot is removed with an aspirator, and children after 2 years of age should be taught to blow their nose.

For older children, you can prepare a nasal rinsing solution yourself by stirring a level teaspoon of sea salt in a liter of boiled water. The child should suck the solution into one nostril and blow it back out. If the child does not agree to rinse the nose, do not force it - buy a pharmacy saline spray and use it.

When using factory pharmacy sprays - Humer, Quicks, Dolphin, Aquamaris - the nose breathes more freely and is not bothered by copious liquid discharge. Regular irrigation of the nose with saline sprays will allow you to completely abandon vasoconstrictor and antiviral drugs, reduce the frequency of colds and relapses of chronic runny nose.

Clearing the nose of snot and rinsing with isotonic solutions is the main and, one might say, the only treatment for a runny nose in infants.

Onion and garlic

In children over 6 years old, onions and garlic will help get rid of a runny nose. You need to sniff a napkin with chopped garlic and onions, eat 2 cloves of garlic a day. To breathe in garlic vapor effectively, you need to place plates of chopped garlic around the house.

If a child attends school, you need to hang a bag of chopped garlic on his chest. It is advisable to change the garlic every 3 hours. The method really works!

Antihistamines

The first way to combat an allergic rhinitis is to eliminate contact with the allergen, and then take an antihistamine tablet. Antihistamines are not used for infectious rhinitis, as they dry out the mucous membrane, which further intensifies the runny nose and discomfort in the nose.

Warm

For children over 3 years old, hot baths for the feet and hands can quickly relieve the symptoms of a runny nose. You need to steam your limbs for no more than a minute, after which the feet are covered with turpentine and wrapped in a warm blanket.

Vasoconstrictors

Vasoconstrictor drops will not shorten the duration and severity of the disease, but they will effectively and quickly help get rid of a runny nose and congestion. They can be used only in case of severe congestion and for no more than 3 days, since addiction to them quickly develops, the risk of side effects is high, and they are not at all safe for children under one year old. First, the nose must be cleared of snot and rinsed with saline solution.

For children, we recommend using Xylometazoline, Nazol Baby or Nazol Kids drops. Children under 2 years old are allowed nasal drops - the spray can provoke an attack of suffocation. Older children only need to buy a spray - it is dosed, penetrates better into the walls of the nose, and is less likely to cause side effects.

Inhalations

Inhalations normalize nasal breathing and relieve swelling. For inhalation in young children, you can use a nebulizer. In the treatment of school-age children, inhalations over a decoction of chamomile, eucalyptus, sage or over hot water with a few drops of essential oil are widely used. coniferous trees, mint or sage oils.

Massage

Effective for runny nose and nasal congestion acupuncture massage pain points. You need to massage and press two points along the edges of the bridge of the nose, at the inner corners of the eyebrows and in the pits near the nostrils. This massage is very important for children under one year old, drug treatment which are unsafe and undesirable.

Carrot and beet juice

The juice safely and effectively helps to overcome both thick and runny nose. The juice should be squeezed daily, used fresh, diluted by half before use. boiled water. Drip instead of nasal drops.

Children do not have vital situations when they need to get rid of a runny nose urgently; rather, it is a whim of worried parents. All your baby needs when he has a runny nose is to stay home for a couple of days, lie in bed and drink a lot of warm liquid.

If a runny nose is not accompanied by a temperature, or it does not exceed 37.5 degrees, then you should not skip walking outside. Cool, humid air is destructive for viruses; it will stop a runny nose, you will feel relief, and the body will receive the missing amount of oxygen.

What not to do

Procedures that may harm the child’s health:

• Avoid heating the nose and sinus areas. Heat is contraindicated at elevated temperatures and purulent processes.
• Blowing your nose loudly and for a long time can be harmful to children. In children under 5 years of age there is a risk of loss of consciousness.
• Prescribe antibiotics and antiviral agents unnecessarily.
• Use vasoconstrictor drugs for more than 3 days.
• Drip undiluted juices of medicinal plants into the nose, take medicinal tinctures orally.
• Use one scarf throughout the day. Viruses and bacteria come out with secretions, so you need to wipe your nose with disposable, preferably wet, wipes. To avoid maceration on the skin, apply dexpanthenol or a baby cream that relieves irritation under the nose.

When it is impossible to get rid of a runny nose quickly

There are cases of chronic runny nose, from which it is impossible to get rid of quickly:

• In case of chronic inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx - chronic pharyngitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, adenoids. These diseases need to be eliminated with long-term therapy.
• With polyposis and adenoiditis, with a deviated nasal septum, thickened nasal turbinates, only surgical treatment can get rid of a runny nose.

When to call a doctor

A runny nose is not a terrible disease, and most parents cope with it themselves without medical help. But there are situations when it is extremely undesirable to neglect a doctor’s examination:

1. If the snot does not go away within a week, the temperature rises again, nasal congestion, chills and weakness appear.
2. If your child begins to complain of ear pain or painless discharge from the ears. Constant colds lead to chronic otitis media and hearing loss in children. Boys are more susceptible to this.
3. If the child is very lethargic, blood-streaked discharge begins to come out of the nose.
4. A child under one year of age should be examined by a doctor if there are any signs of a cold.

When treating your child with vasoconstrictors for a long time, remember that the consequences of these drops may have to be treated for much longer. After all, it takes at least 2-3 years to restore the mucous membrane after getting used to vasoconstrictors and developing medicinal rhinitis. Therefore, treat the disease, use methods of prevention and destruction of the virus, and only in this case will intoxication and snot not torment your baby.

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• Nasal congestion (18)
• Medicines (32)
• Treatment (9)
• Folk remedies (13)
• Runny nose (41)
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How to cure severe, prolonged or chronic runny nose in children - medications and folk remedies

Children often get colds, especially during the cold season. At the first signs of nasal congestion, parents wonder how to treat a runny nose in a child so that the disease does not become protracted or chronic stage. The modern pharmaceutical market offers a wide selection of drugs for the treatment of inflammation of the nasal mucosa caused by various factors.

What is a runny nose

Rhinitis is an inflammation of the nasal mucosa. A runny nose rarely manifests itself as an independent disease; more often it is a manifestation of a cold or allergic disease. The following causes of rhinitis are identified:

• bacterial, fungal, viral infections;
• allergic reactions;
• nasal injuries;
• poor circulation in the respiratory tract;
• irritation of the nasal mucosa by chemicals.

Rhinitis can cause breathing problems, which causes problems falling asleep in children, problems with smell and taste. There are several types of runny nose, which are distinguished depending on the cause of occurrence and stage of progression:

• acute rhinitis;
• atrophic rhinitis;
• allergic rhinitis;
• chronic rhinitis;
• atopic rhinitis;
• vasomotor rhinitis.

Treatment of runny nose in children

The causes of rhinitis include teething, allergic reactions, and hypothermia. The method of therapy depends on the age of the child. Regardless of the cause and degree of development of the disease, it is necessary to provide humid air in the room. If a runny nose occurs due to teething, parents should rinse and moisten the child’s nasal passage with saline solution. Children in the first months of life are not able to breathe through their mouths, so one should not ignore nasal congestion, which leads to swelling of the mucous membrane.

If allergic rhinitis and sneezing occur, contact with the allergen should be completely avoided and antihistamines should be used. According to doctors' indications, it is possible to cleanse the blood of toxins and allergens. Rhinitis accompanying ARVI often requires drug treatment. The answer to the question of how to treat a runny nose in a child should be answered by a doctor; self-medication is dangerous to health.

Medication

The speed of recovery depends on the competent selection of medicinal procedures and strict adherence to the doctor’s recommendations. The following groups of medications are used to treat a runny nose:

1. Preparations with local antibacterial action. Used in case infectious causes diseases. Antibiotic treatment is effective for sinusitis, purulent and prolonged rhinitis. Not recommended for the treatment of rhinitis in infancy.
2. Homeopathic and immune medicines. Prescribed to patients with ARVI, they help relieve swelling of the mucous membrane and relieve nasal congestion.
3. Vasoconstrictor medications. Used in combination with antihistamines to treat allergic forms runny nose Not used for children in the first months of life.

For local treatment of rhinitis, it is effective to use ointments, drops, preparations in the form of nasal sprays, and solutions for inhalation. Tablets are used for general strengthening body and eliminate inflammatory processes. Inhalations and sprays are suitable for treating school-age children. When a child breathes in pairs, breathing becomes easier and swelling of the mucous membrane decreases.

Folk remedies

Treatment of rhinitis in children with folk remedies consists of inhalation, rinsing the nose, and drinking warm water. A decoction of birch buds, verbena officinalis, raspberry fruits or thyme flowers is taken orally for general strengthening of the body. To relieve inflammation, the juice of medicinal plants is instilled. Pieces of bread, potato and onion peelings, essential oils are used for inhalation. If a runny nose is not accompanied by a fever, you can steam your feet, warm your feet, the main thing is to add hot water.

How to treat a runny nose in children

How to treat a runny nose in a child depends on the origin of the disease and the age of the patient. Children of the first three years are not recommended to use inhalations, sprays, aerosols and tablets. You should use vasodilator drops with caution, as they are addictive and can cause spasms of the nasal vessels. The course of treatment must be prescribed by a medical professional.

Allergic

How to cure a child's runny nose caused by allergies? One of the best remedies is Allergodil. This is a nasal spray with pronounced antiallergic and anti-edematous activity. Main advantages this tool are that the drug is not addictive and provides a quick effect. The main disadvantage of these drops is that the azelastine included in the composition causes fatigue, nausea, and asthenia.

Catarrhal

Treatment of a runny nose in a child caused by colds is complex, using vasoconstrictor drugs, one of which is Nazivin. The product comes in the form of drops or spray. An important advantage is that the drug quickly relieves swelling of the respiratory tract, effectively fights bacterial infections, and removes cold symptoms. The disadvantage of the medicine is that with prolonged use the effectiveness of the drug decreases.

At home, you can make excellent cold drops yourself using fresh Kalanchoe juice, aloe, honey, eucalyptus oil, chamomile infusion and herbal decoctions. Cotton swabs with beet juice are often used, which help to significantly alleviate the condition. Before treatment, try the drops on adults to protect the child from possible negative consequences.

Chronic

Vibrocil nasal spray is used to treat chronic rhinitis. This is a combined drug that has an anti-allergic and vasoconstrictor effect. This remedy has a wide range of uses, it treats not only transparent discharge, but also thick mucus that occurs when the maxillary sinus is inflamed. It has no exact analogues, which is a definite plus. The downside to using the product is that the course of treatment should not exceed 7 days; long-term treatment can cause drug-induced rhinitis.

Beginning

When treating an incipient runny nose, drops are prescribed that have a complex effect on the body. One of these drugs is Interferon. Positive point the use of the drug is that it can be used even to treat newborns, it strengthens the immune system, kills viruses, prevents them from being absorbed into the blood, and is suitable for the prevention of a runny nose. Interferon expensive product, this is its disadvantage.

Long

If you don’t know how to cure a persistent runny nose in a child, try Pinosol. The drops contain natural essential oils and vitamin E. The advantage of the drug is that it kills bacteria, completely eliminates germs, treats sinusitis, and is suitable for treating children over two years old. Negative point of Pinosol for the treatment of prolonged rhinitis - high probability allergic reactions in children to the components of the drops.

Frequent

Constant mucous discharge occurs due to weakening of the body, so general strengthening drugs, such as Grippferon, are used for treatment. These are anti-inflammatory, antiviral and immune-strengthening drops. The advantage of the drug is its composition; this medicine can be used at all stages of pregnancy. The disadvantage is that Grippferon dries out the nasal mucosa.

In folk medicine, sea salt solutions are used to moisturize and rinse the nasal cavity. It is necessary to dissolve half a spoon of salt in a glass of clean water and drip several times a day. Cold remedies prepared with onion juice or garlic have a good effect; they can replace antiviral drugs. It is recommended to make such infusions based on vegetable oils, which will remove severe congestion.

How not to treat a runny nose in young children

Only a doctor can tell you how to properly treat a runny nose in children, so do not self-medicate. Small children should not rinse their nose herbal compositions, for these purposes it is better to use saline solutions. You should not put breast milk in your nose or use the medicine in the form of a spray. Treatment with tourniquets is absolutely not suitable for infants; such treatment methods can cause mechanical damage nasopharynx of a little man.

Video

The information presented in the article is for informational purposes only. The materials in the article do not encourage self-treatment. Only a qualified doctor can make a diagnosis and make recommendations for treatment based on the individual characteristics of a particular patient.

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treatment of colds

• Respiratory diseases
  • Cold
  • ARVI and acute respiratory infections
  • Flu
  • Cough
  • Pneumonia
  • Bronchitis
• ENT diseases
  • Runny nose
  • Sinusitis
  • Tonsillitis
  • A sore throat

How to treat a runny nose in a 9 year old child

How to properly treat a runny nose in a 3-year-old child?

The child is three years old when he enters kindergarten. Acclimatization in a new place and with a new team is accompanied by colds. You can often hear mothers complaining about a constant cough and runny nose. Moreover, there are cases that a child gets sick several times in a month. And he suffers most often from rhinitis. How to treat it correctly at this age is described further.

Features of treatment

Basically, a runny nose does not require serious treatment, therefore, by observing certain conditions for caring for the baby during the period of illness and using known medications and folk remedies, it can be successfully eliminated.

You can alleviate a child’s illness by creating the necessary conditions:

• maintain the air temperature in his room between 18 and 22 0C;
• increase indoor humidity levels to prevent dry nasal passages;
• Before the baby goes to bed, the pillows should be positioned so that his head and shoulders are raised. Thanks to this, mucus will not accumulate and wake him up during sleep;
• From the age of two, you need to teach your child how to clean his nose correctly, warning him to blow his nose alternately, first from one and then from the other nostril. Clearing both nostrils at the same time can lead to the development of acute otitis media;
• tell the baby that you should not draw mucus into yourself so that the infection does not get deeper into the nasopharynx;
• change his handkerchiefs more often so that he wipes his nose with dry handkerchiefs;
• if the baby cannot clean his nose himself, then help him do this with the help of an aspirator or rubber bulb;
• Give him plenty of warm water or other drinks to drink. If he doesn't want to eat, don't force him to do it;
• Treat your baby kindly, play and entertain him so that he is distracted from the disease.

The video explains how to treat a runny nose in a 3-year-old child:

Therapies

To treat children over three years of age with a runny nose, pharmacists offer many medications. There are also alternative treatment methods in the form of physiotherapy, inhalations and foot baths.

The clinic may prescribe a course of physiotherapy:

At home, they can be completely replaced by inhalations, which can be carried out the old fashioned way over a saucepan or using a purchased nebulizer. It must be purchased in accordance with the age of the child and the most common disease. Follow the link to read how to choose an inhaler for a child. It would be better if it comes with two masks: for children and adults. Then the whole family can use the drug.

Ultraviolet irradiation devices can be eliminated in 4 procedures. They are also good for quartzing a room.

Inhalations

Using special devices, the medicine is sprayed in the form of an aerosol and penetrates deeply into the nasopharynx. The duration and required treatment regimen is selected according to the instructions. The agent for infusion into the device is prescribed by the doctor based on the diagnosed disease. The nebulizer can be used even by newborns. And three-year-old children will like using it more than taking other medications or using nasal drops. Just before you start using it, you need to explain to your child how to use it correctly. Use your example to demonstrate to your child how to put on a mask. To use it, you need certain solutions of various formulations.

A 0.9% saline solution is effective and available for use. It can be replaced with high-alkaline Borjomi water. But before pouring them into the device, they must be heated to a temperature of 300C. This remedy will help the child get rid of accumulated crusts in the nose and eliminate the feeling of dryness.

For the treatment of serious diseases accompanied by acute runny nose, Lazolvan or Ambrobene is prescribed. With their help you can liquefy mucus and remove it out. One portion of the medicine is diluted with the same amount of saline and poured into the nebulizer. Such therapy should last no more than five days. Children 3 years old are prescribed 1 ml of the composition at a time. The procedure is repeated twice a day. The link describes in detail what to use for inhalation when you have a runny nose using a nebulizer.

Drops

Vasoconstrictor medications can relieve a severe runny nose, but cannot cure it. They, acting on the nasal mucosa, cause vasoconstriction, and after this the swelling decreases, due to which air could not freely enter the nasal passages. The mucus becomes less fluid and does not irritate the mucous membrane as much. These include:

• Nazivin - contains 0.05 mg of oxymetazoline. Its container has a convenient pipette – a dispenser, with which you can accurately dose the medicine. For children three years old, 1 drop should be instilled into each nostril three times a day. Here you can read the instructions for using Nazivin for children.
• Vibrocil. Vibrocil nasal drops for children have an anticongestive and antiallergic effect. It is instilled two drops into each nasal passage 4 times a day.
• Otrivin - xylometazoline. Children's drops Otrivin relieves swelling, improves breathing with nasal and paranasal sinus congestion. Apply 2 times a day, 2 drops in one nasal passage.

The course of treatment with vasoconstrictor drops should not exceed a week.

To prevent the mucous membrane from drying out, moisturizing preparations are used. Most of them contain sea water, so they carefully cleanse the passages of mucus without irritating their walls. The following are considered popular:

• Aqua Maris contains a large amount of minerals and salts. Fully natural preparation, which can be used even for infants. It is used four times a day at equal intervals, two drops are instilled into one nasal passage. Here you can read more about the use of Aqua Maris nasal drops.
• Salin has a local effect and does not have a bactericidal effect. Most often it is used for complex treatment. Eliminates manifestations of inflammatory and infectious diseases of the nose. Its active substance is sodium chloride. It is used two or three times a day. Bury once in each passage.
• Aqualor contains minerals and natural components. They need to do nasal rinses. Minimal amount use the drug four times a day. If this is the initial stage of the disease, then more washes can be done. It can be used for nasal hygiene, so the duration of use is not limited.

Moisturizers can be used as needed, the indicated dosages may vary depending on the complexity of the disease.

In the video, treatment of a runny nose in a 3-year-old child:

Traditional methods of treatment

At home, without medications, a runny nose can be treated in all possible ways, which are known from grandmothers.

With severe nasal congestion, the juice of a home flower, Kalanchoe, often helps. You need to tear off a leaf from it and squeeze out a little juice. Then it must be diluted with water in a ratio of 1:2. Take half a pipette and instill some drops into your baby. When instilled, the child will begin to sneeze intensely, and at the same time, all the accumulated mucus will come out. Just don’t instill too much medicine so as not to injure the mucous membranes. It is better to put medicine into the nose little by little, but often.

Honey will help eliminate a runny nose in the initial stages. You should give the child a piece of honeycomb or strand to chew. The baby should chew it for at least five minutes. If the moment of onset of rhinitis is missed, then you can drip a mixture of honey and beet juice in a 1:1 ratio. Each nasal passage is treated three times a day, instilling 1 - 2 drops.

Inhalations without a nebulizer can be performed over hot potatoes. This recipe is familiar to everyone since childhood. How to breathe over potatoes when you have a cold? To carry out the procedure, you need to boil the root vegetable and let the baby breathe in its vapors, covering the dish and his head with a thick cloth. This product can be replaced with regular hot water with added essential oils– pine, eucalyptus or fir and breathe in their vapors. All these steam treatments The child should be under the supervision of his parents so that he does not get burned.

To make a final decision on the choice of funds, you should still seek help from a pediatrician. Three years is a dangerous age, at which any disease can become acute, and sometimes, as a result of improper treatment, acquire chronic forms. And to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures, one of which is hardening the growing organism. Also read what to do if your child’s runny nose doesn’t go away. Here you will find Dr. Komarovsky’s opinion on whether a child with a runny nose can go for a walk. You may also be wondering if a runny nose without a fever is contagious.

What to do when a child’s runny nose does not go away?

A runny nose in a child is a fairly common phenomenon, which often causes a lot of trouble for parents immediately after the birth of their baby. Usually this process is easily treatable, but sometimes a child’s runny nose does not go away even within a month, which indicates the seriousness of the disease. On average, the duration of rhinitis is 5-7 days, but if certain complications develop, the inflammatory process can drag on for a long time.

When does a persistent runny nose occur?

If a child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time, otolaryngologists diagnose chronic rhinitis. In this case, there is inflammation of the two nasal passages, which is not so easy to cure. However, a prolonged runny nose is not always a symptom of chronic rhinitis; often this sign indicates the development of influenza, allergies, infectious diseases, respiratory tract dysfunction, and adenoiditis. In some cases, nasal discharge occurs against the background of a nasal injury, then treatment of a runny nose does not bring relief to the patient and does not help reduce the secretion.

As a rule, a prolonged runny nose, which is a consequence of acute rhinitis, occurs in the cold season during epidemics of respiratory viral or colds. When asked by parents why their child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time, pediatricians, as a rule, point to improper treatment of the disease or its absence at all. It is a mistaken opinion that a runny nose does not pose any danger to the human body, and therefore it will go away on its own. The inflammatory process in the nasopharynx adversely affects other internal organs, especially the bronchi, lungs and heart. Parents should seek emergency medical help if their children have these symptoms:

• prolonged runny nose, which has been observed for more than 10 days;
• constantly stuffy nose, breathing through the mouth;
• decreased or complete loss of the sense of smell;
• presence of yellow or green thick nasal discharge;
• itching in the nose;
• lethargy, feeling tired;
• headache;
• deterioration of sleep.

All these symptoms indicate a prolonged runny nose, requiring compulsory treatment. Contacting a specialist will help you avoid serious consequences chronic rhinitis.

In children infancy persistent runny nose, manifested by clear discharge liquid mucus from the nose, indicates development allergic reaction body. If this phenomenon is observed immediately after the birth of the baby, most likely the cause of the runny nose is physiological process, occurring in the body of a newborn. In this case, a prolonged runny nose does not require treatment; parents only need to take certain measures aimed at caring for the child’s nose.

To prevent recurrence of rhinitis, it is necessary to strengthen children's immunity. The child will benefit from walks in the fresh air, trips to the sea, to the mountains; parents should enrich the baby’s diet with healthy food, giving preference to fresh vegetables and fruits. You can drink it if necessary multivitamin complex prescribed by a pediatrician. If a runny nose does not go away for a month or more, there are serious reasons for concern, because the inflammatory process can lead to the development of sinusitis or otitis media.

What should the treatment be?

In order to properly treat a protracted inflammatory process in the nasopharynx, you need to understand the cause of its development. You should know that when treating young children, you should avoid the use of potent medications that can cause serious complications in a child's body.

Treatment of allergic rhinitis

Prolonged allergic rhinitis must be treated by eliminating the allergen. The following items can cause an allergic reaction:

• down pillows;
• bed dress;
• Pets;
• flowering plants and trees;
• dust;
• Stuffed Toys;
• chemical substances.

It is necessary to remove all objects that provoke a painful state of the body from the child’s room, ventilate the room daily and carry out wet cleaning in it. Almost always, simultaneously with a runny nose and allergies, nasal congestion occurs, caused by swelling of the mucous membrane. The most dangerous thing for a baby’s life is swelling of the larynx, which can also occur against the background of an allergic process in the child’s body. To avoid this unpleasant consequence, children are prescribed antihistamines - Claritin, Citrine, Suprastin, Diazolin, Erius and some others.

Treatment of infectious and viral rhinitis

Sometimes a child’s runny nose does not go away for a month if the disease is viral or bacterial origin. This process is much more dangerous than allergies, since the infection can spread to other parts of the respiratory system. In case of a viral disease, to eliminate a runny nose, specialists usually prescribe Interferon, Arbidol, Aflubin, Anaferon.

If you start treating a runny nose on the 10th day from the moment it appears, when the disease is not yet very advanced, you can use traditional methods. Parents should be aware that traditional medicine can be used with absolute confidence that they will not cause an allergic reaction. Rhinitis in children can be cured using the following treatment procedures:

• inhalation;
• warming up the sinuses;
• warm foot baths;
• rinsing the nose with saline solution;
• instillation of essential oils, decoctions and infusions into the nose medicinal herbs;
• acupressure.

If a child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time, despite its treatment, an in-depth examination of the baby’s body should be carried out in order to identify the pathologies that provoked the development of such a process.

How to treat a runny nose in a 9 month old child.

Answers:

Rhinitis or runny nose is inflammation of the nasal mucosa. A runny nose can be either an independent illness or a symptom of many infectious and allergic diseases. Hypothermia contributes to the occurrence of a runny nose.

There are several good folk recipes for fighting a runny nose:

1) Mix 1 tablespoon of fresh carrot juice and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil(olive or sunflower), which must first be boiled in a water bath. Add 1-3 drops of garlic juice to the mixture. Prepare the mixture daily. Place a few drops in each nostril 3-4 times a day.

2) Place boiled or fresh beet juice into the nose a few drops 4-5 times a day or rinse the nose 2-3 times a day with beet broth. You can add honey to the decoction. Cotton swabs soaked in beet juice, which are inserted into the nostrils 3-4 times a day, help.

3) Mix Kalanchoe juice and honey in equal parts. Drinking lemon balm or St. John's wort infusion is a great way to relieve nasal congestion.

4) Instill aloe juice 3-5 drops into each nostril 4-5 times a day, tilting your head back and massaging the wings of the nose while instilling.

5) Mix 2 parts honey and 1 part peppermint oil(sold in pharmacies). Lubricate mucous membrane nose

6) Mix the onion, mashed into a paste, in a 1:1 ratio with honey. Take 1 teaspoon of onion-honey mixture 3-4 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The mixture will be more effective if you use onion juice instead of gruel.

7) Grate the beets on a fine grater and squeeze out the juice. Leave for a day in a warm place. Place slightly fermented juice into the nose, 3-4 drops 3 times a day.

8) An excellent remedy for a runny nose is a hot foot bath with the addition of mustard (1 tablespoon of mustard powder per 7-8 liters of water), as well as baking soda and salt.

9) Pour 6 dry tablespoons of burdock herb (sold in pharmacies) 1 liter. water, boil for 3 minutes. Infuse, wrapped, for 4 hours and strain. Use warm to irrigate the nasal cavity with a severe runny nose.

10) Mix Kalanchoe juice and St. John's wort oil (sold in pharmacies) in equal proportions. Lubricate your nasal passages with this mixture several times a day. It is good to combine with inhalations of St. John's wort decoction.

11) Pour the grated onion pulp into a glass of hot vegetable oil. Leave, covered, for 6-8 hours, strain. Treat the nasal mucosa with this oil if you have a severe runny nose.

12) Pour 50g. pine buds with cold water, cover with a lid, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain. For severe runny nose, drink 5-6 times a day with honey or jam.

13) Pour 10g. crushed black poplar buds with 1 cup boiling water. Leave for 15 minutes and strain. Drink 0.3 glasses 3 times a day.

14) Pour 1 tablespoon of peppermint herb into 0.5 liters. boiling water, leave, covered, for 1 hour and strain. Take 0.5 cups of hot infusion, sweetened with honey. Also rinse your nose with this infusion.

Evgeniy Malyshev

BEHEPA

Protorgol, mother's milk.

rinse with drops of aquamaris and drip protorgol.

Michal Mikhalych

I always argue with my wife about this and I think the main thing is the warmth of the feet. My life experience from the Army.

iodine mesh on calf muscles and an iodine cross on the heels. roll a warm egg on the bridge of your nose. It helped my daughter right away. Everything is safe.

Elena the Wise

Instill breast milk if available.

Vladislav Ozyabkin

Drops up to a year, my wife liked Adrianol drops, you can use chamomile, fresh beet juice, if you don’t have a fever, you can spread warming ointment on your feet and put on socks, that’s what we did.

Storyteller!)

They suggested to me to brew chamomile and drop 2-3 drops, but I haven’t tried it yet.

anginsan

You can treat the propole with water infusion. In our Tentorium it is called “APV”.

How can you treat a runny nose in a 6 month old baby?

How to treat a runny nose in a 6 month old baby? This question worries many parents. A runny nose is an inflammation of the nasal mucosa. This disease occurs due to viruses or various microbes, hypothermia, dust and gas contamination in the air. The first symptoms include dryness in the nasopharynx, as well as a burning sensation. Then profuse mucous discharge occurs.

Features of a runny nose in children

From the moment a newborn baby appears in the house, parents have a lot of questions, especially regarding problems with caring for him. But complete panic occurs among all family members when snot appears in a small baby. How to treat a runny nose in a baby? Parents, remember that first of all you should go to your local doctor. Only he is able to prescribe correct and qualified treatment.

As soon as you discover your baby has a stuffy nose, you will have to start taking steps to treat a runny nose immediately. This speed is due to the fact that the nasopharynx of a one-year-old child is not fully developed, and rhinitis can lead to great complications in the future. It is worth noting that a simple runny nose can easily develop into a chronic one, and in the future there will be complications in the ears. And the child will eventually get otitis media.

It happens that a newborn sniffles or has difficulty breathing. This problem may not be due to the fact that he has a runny nose. This rule especially applies to children under one year old who have nasal congestion - physiological phenomenon. To quickly cleanse the nasal passages, it is necessary to carry out daily hygienic care. So don’t rush to the pharmacy to buy drops, but try to clean his nose twice a day.

Young parents should remember that dryness in the nasal mucosa is unacceptable. But a small amount may be present.

Do not suffer from fanaticism and do not go to extremes and be able to distinguish whether treatment is necessary or not.

Treating a runny nose in a six-month-old baby

How to cure a runny nose? Nowadays medicine does not stand still, and manufacturers are constantly making new products to treat the common cold not only for adults, but also for infants. Just remember that it is strictly contraindicated to self-medicate children at this age, so contact your local pediatrician for help.

To make the right decision on the use of medications in the nose for a six-month-old child, it is necessary to take into account all the manifestations of rhinitis in him. If there is an increase in body temperature, then we can safely say that an inflammatory process has begun in the body, and for such a disease it is recommended to adhere to a home regime and not bathe the child.

Drugs for the treatment of rhinitis in children

At such an early age, the best remedy is drops, not sprays. You can apply nasal drops with the following drugs:

Taking the first group of medicinal drops is not advisable for a baby; generally, pediatricians prescribe them only if nasal congestion lasts more than three days. Mostly vasoconstrictor drugs such as Nazol Baby and Nazivin 0.01% are prescribed.

To remove viscosity and moisturize the nasal mucosa, medications based on sea water and saline are prescribed. Do not forget about such drugs as Interferon and Grippferon, which are prescribed during viral rhinitis.

The most common remedy is Nazol Baby. This is a special product that is intended for babies under one year of age. Available in a convenient bottle, it is recommended for use by children under 6 years of age. Doctors prescribe it to patients when:

• runny nose due to virus or bacteria;
• allergy;
• sinusitis and chronic rhinitis;
• acute otitis media

"Nazivin 0.01%" is prescribed during swelling of the mucous membrane and infectious inflammation of the respiratory system. It is worth noting that when it happens allergic edema nasal mucosa, it is also often remembered.

Interferon actively fights viruses and bacteria that attack the child’s body during seasonal illnesses.

"Grippferon" is considered an antiviral and immunomodulatory drug, which is prescribed during acute respiratory viral infections and seasonal colds. Doctors also recommend using it as a prophylactic.

Pediatricians prescribe Aquamaris to children during acute and chronic rhinitis.

Aqualor is usually prescribed to patients diagnosed with influenza and acute respiratory diseases. This medicine contains sea water.

Saline solution is used mainly for the manufacture of medicines for the common cold. Thanks to this remedy, you can achieve liquefaction of mucus, and your breath instantly becomes clear.

A saline solution prepared from sea salt. Thanks to it, you can relieve inflammation, kill infection, soften dry crusts from a runny nose. To prepare this solution, you need to take 1 teaspoon of salt and dilute it in a liter of warm water. Many people recommend using 1 teaspoon per glass of water, but the above proportion is suitable for an adult.

Chamomile can kill bacteria inside the nose and relieve inflammation. To do this, you need to prepare a decoction. Pour 1 tablespoon of flowers into a glass of water, boil everything thoroughly and let it brew for half an hour. After this, the decoction can be used to cleanse the nose. Just strain it before using.

Dear caring parents, remember the one and only and main rule that drops for putting a small nose in mandatory should be at room temperature and can only be used once every three hours.

Pediatricians generally do not recommend using Naphthyzin and Galazolin for such small children, as they first narrow and then expand the nasal mucosa. Such drugs are prescribed when a child experiences severe, profuse nasal discharge. If there is simply congestion in the nose without any discharge, then it is strictly forbidden to use such medications, as in the future this will lead to the formation of necrosis and tissue ulcers.

Parents, remember that using the same drops for more than ten days is strictly prohibited.

It is recommended to change them periodically. Sprays are not ideal option for children under one year of age, since the sinuses are small and wide. And if you use a spray, otitis may result as a result, since the medicine can get into the ear.

Runny nose and fever in a child, how to treat?

A child has a runny nose accompanied by a high fever inflammatory process nasal mucosa. The nasal cavity has a large number of nerve endings; they are connected to different systemic organs. When the disease occurs, the nose may burn strongly, dryness is observed, the child constantly sniffs and has a sore throat.

Symptoms of a runny nose with fever

At the beginning of the disease, the child weakens, is constantly lethargic, and is bothered by a severe headache. After 2 days, a large amount of nasal discharge appears; it can be transparent, liquid, and in severe cases it becomes green and thick.

The temperature jumps to 38 degrees. The mucous membrane is swollen, breathing becomes difficult, problems with smell and taste arise. Sometimes there is stuffiness and noise in the ears.

If a runny nose with fever occurs in a newborn, the mucous membrane swells and narrows, and respiratory function is impaired. All this leads to the fact that the child cannot fully feed from the breast and breathes through his mouth. The child is constantly restless, sleeps poorly, does not eat enough, and is losing a lot of weight. It is dangerous when a child begins to choke in his sleep.

Causes of runny nose with fever

A runny nose in a child can be infectious or non-infectious. The latter occurs when a bead enters the nasal passage. Most often, a runny nose is infectious and occurs due to ARVI or influenza. Viruses disrupt the condition of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. They are permeable. A bacterial infection may occur, then the temperature rises to 39 degrees.

Rhinitis is characteristic of the autumn-winter period, when the child becomes hypothermic. Hypothermia of the feet is dangerous.

In some situations, a child with a runny nose and fever is triggered by an allergic reaction to smoke, dust, or fragrances. The nasal mucosa can become infected and an inflammatory process develops.

Stages of development of a runny nose in a child

• The symptom begins to develop rapidly. A runny nose is observed for a maximum of 1 day. When the blood vessels narrow, the mucous membrane turns pale, there is a gesture in the nose, dryness is observed, and the person constantly sneezes.
• The catarrhal stage, at which the blood vessels dilate, the nasal mucosa turns red and swells. It's hard for a person to breathe. With a viral infection, the discharge is clear, profuse, and watery. Problems with the sense of smell arise, lacrimation increases, the ears become blocked, and a nasal tone appears in the voice. The mucous membrane is bright red.
• At this stage, the discharge becomes yellow, green, and thick. The nasal mucosa becomes normal, and the nasal passages may expand. The disease goes away after a week. If the immune system is strong, the child recovers after 2 days. When the defenses are weakened, rhinitis drags on for a month, can become chronic, and leads to serious complications.

The danger of a runny nose with fever for a child

A prolonged runny nose in a child can lead to pathological formation of the facial skeleton and chest, and oxygen metabolism is disrupted. As a result, problems with the heart and blood vessels arise. The child is developmentally delayed, gets tired quickly, and has problems sleeping.

A runny nose also affects memory. The child cannot concentrate and is constantly distracted. Chronic rhinitis is dangerous because it can lead to allergic disease. The inflammatory process in the nose with fever can aggravate kidney diseases, bronchial asthma.

Diagnosis of a runny nose in a child

It is important to comprehensively examine the child in a timely manner in order to prescribe treatment. Contact an ENT doctor. If a runny nose occurs in a newborn, you should immediately call a therapist. First, the doctor interviews the mother, then uses a special instrument to examine the nasal mucosa. Be sure to sit the child upright, so the middle turbinate will be clearly visible. The specialist carefully examines the outer part of the nose and feels it.

Additionally, the attending doctor prescribes a general blood test, x-ray of the maxillary sinuses, and chest. An allergic and immunological examination is necessary. To reduce a runny nose, the child is taught to blow his nose. It is recommended to use sea water for rinsing - Salin, Aquamaris, Physiomer. A decoction of the herbs sage, chamomile, and St. John's wort is especially useful. Medicines will soften the crusts and improve mucus separation. Also, if the child is not allergic, it is recommended to use almond, peach, and olive oil.

It is advised to ventilate the room as often as possible; the air in it should be constantly humidified. If a child refuses food, there is no need to force feed him. When the newborn does not want to take the breast, express the milk and give it to the baby, you can do this with a spoon. Constantly remove mucus that has accumulated in the nasal passages.

Vasoconstrictor drops - Vibrocil, Brizolin, Otrivin, Nazivin - will help relieve the symptoms of a runny nose in a child under one year old. Infants can use nasal drops through their nose. In the case when a bacterial infection occurs, it is necessary to use antibacterial drugs - Isofra spray, Bioparox aerosol, Bactroban ointment. It is recommended to use homeopathic medicines – Euphorbium. It is best to instill pre-warmed drops into the nose; to do this, immerse them in warm water.

Acupressure will help strengthen the immune system; it should be performed twice a day. Please note that there is no need to lower the temperature below 38.5 degrees. For preventive purposes, perform a set of breathing exercises.

Older children, if there is no fever, are advised to take foot baths using mustard powder. The feet are reflexogenic zones and contain a large number of nerves. Inhalations will help get rid of a runny nose; it is recommended to use baking soda, mineral water, essential oils, herbal infusions.

Thus, a runny nose with fever should not be caused in a child; it must be treated promptly to avoid serious consequences.

Children, due to the relative weakness of their immunity, often suffer from a runny nose. Rhinitis can be called one of the most common childhood ailments. Sometimes the disease has obvious causes, but sometimes the nose “blocks up” in a child who is outwardly completely healthy, and apart from impaired nasal breathing, there are no other complaints. Be that as it may, parents want to help the baby as soon as possible. It is not always possible to see a doctor, because clinics are closed on weekends and holidays. It is not customary to call an ambulance with complaints of a runny nose.

Prescribing medications to a child on your own is unsafe and risky, especially if we are talking about a small toddler. Parents can come to the aid of folk remedies that help get rid of a runny nose quite quickly.

Why does a runny nose appear?

A runny nose (rhinitis) is difficult to consider as an independent disease; it is usually a manifestation of the most various violations in organism. The nose stops breathing partially or completely due to inflammation of the mucous membranes of this organ. Most often, this is a consequence of resistance to pathogens and viruses.

As is known, viruses enter the body mainly through the respiratory system. The nose is the first line of defense; most often, invading viruses manage to pass further - into the nasopharynx, into the larynx. Inflammation of the mucous membrane in this case is an attempt by the body not to let the harmful agent pass further.

The episode of Dr. Komarovsky’s program about the causes and methods of treating children’s runny nose can be seen in the following video.

But by airborne droplets Several people inhale the same influenza virus at once. But not everyone gets sick. Whether a runny nose starts or not depends not only on the state of the baby’s immunity. The development of rhinitis is greatly facilitated by various factors, such as dusty or polluted air, hypothermia.

There is another type of runny nose - non-infectious. This includes nasal congestion due to allergies (allergic rhinitis) and vasomotor rhinitis (associated with disturbances in the processes in the autonomic nervous system). They arise somewhat differently, as a result of narrowing of the lumen of blood vessels during a reaction to an antigen or vascular nervous pathology.

Acute rhinitis - occurs as a reaction to a virus (less often to bacteria). With it, the swelling of the mucous membranes is quite strong, and it affects both halves of the nose. With it, the child may experience increased lacrimation, redness of the wings of the nose and the release of liquid mucus; people say “running nose”.

If such a runny nose is treated incorrectly or not treated at all, after 3-4 weeks the process will become chronic. With it, the nose will remain stuffy for a long time, the child’s sense of smell will noticeably decrease, the discharge from liquid will turn into thick, sometimes purulent, the mucous membrane will sometimes dry out, and crusts will form in the nasal passages.

Nasal breathing disorders in children occur due to various diseases:

• ARVI and influenza.
• Scarlet fever.
• Measles.
• Allergy.
• Vegetovascular dystonia.
• Proliferation of the palatine tonsil (adenoids).
• Other diseases.

A runny nose in a child can be mild, or it can be accompanied by fever, loss of appetite, headaches and severe general weakness. It is impossible to predict exactly what symptoms will accompany rhinitis; everything is purely individual.

When are traditional methods not enough?

A runny nose in itself does not pose a danger to a child. But its consequences can be quite serious. These are sinusitis, sinusitis, meningitis, inflammatory processes in the inner ear, and as a result - complete or partial hearing loss, encephalitis and a number of other unpleasant diagnoses. Therefore, there are some indications for immediate consultation with a doctor if you have rhinitis:

• If your child's nasal discharge is gray-green or green in color and has a very unpleasant odor. This may indicate a severe bacterial infection. This condition requires prompt prescription of antibiotics.
• If, in addition to a runny nose, the child has pain in the frontal region, under the eyes, in the area of ​​the paranasal sinuses. This may be a symptom of sinusitis, inflammation of the hearing organs. A child in this situation does not need onion drops in the nose, but serious therapy with the use of antimicrobial agents, hormonal and anti-inflammatory drugs.
• If, after a head injury or fall, the child’s nose is blocked and a thin, clear discharge appears, you should urgently take him to the hospital! Such symptoms may indicate a disturbance in brain activity; this condition requires prompt examination and hospitalization.
• If blood is noticeable in the mucus discharged by a child with a runny nose, ichor or clots. This may indicate the traumatic nature of rhinitis, about foreign body in the respiratory system, it is necessary to examine the baby as soon as possible.

Effective folk remedies

In most cases of acute infectious rhinitis, a child can be quite effectively helped using alternative medicine.

Fresh vegetable juices

The most popular way to quickly relieve nasal congestion is to give your child juice. onions. To do this, you need to grate the onion on a fine grater, squeeze out the pulp using a piece of gauze, and dilute the resulting juice in half with saline or boiled water. Drip onion preparation can be from 2 to 6 times a day.

This recipe is not suitable for children who have not yet turned 2 years old, since onion juice, even diluted, acts quite aggressively and can cause burns to the delicate mucous membranes of children. For children over 5-6 years old, you can add a little honey to the onion drops, this will have an additional anti-inflammatory effect.

Children under 2 years old can use beet or carrot juice in their nose with caution. To do this, using a juicer or a fine grater and a piece of gauze, you need to squeeze out the juice, dilute it with boiled water in half and drop 1-2 drops into each nasal passage up to 5 times a day. When instilled, infants may choke; it is better for them to place small cotton wool pads soaked in beetroot juice in both nasal passages.

Oil mixtures

A good effect for a runny nose is provided by drugs that will have a gentle effect on the nasal passages. These include mixtures that include oil - sunflower, linseed, vaseline.

A popular recipe is based on mixing finely chopped 2-3 cloves of garlic with 30 ml of sunflower oil. You need to infuse the drug for at least 10-12 hours, then strain and drop 1-2 drops into the child’s nose 3 times a day. This recipe should not be used to treat rhinitis in children under 6-7 years of age.

Another effective way relieve nasal congestion is based on sea buckthorn oil mixed with calendula juice. This recipe can be used even by small children who have not yet turned 3 years old. The ingredients are mixed in half. The resulting oil mixture does not need to be dripped into the nose; it is enough to soak cotton swabs in it, which are placed in the nasal passages for half an hour. The procedure is repeated 3 times a day.

Children over five years old can drop a mixture of two oils - thyme and olive - into their nose. Proportions -1:1. You need to drip 2 times a day, 2-3 drops in each nostril.

Plants

Among indoor plants that can quickly cope with a runny nose, the leader is aloe. The juice of this plant has an antimicrobial effect, softens the mucous membrane, and relieves swelling. To prepare the drops, you need to cut off one fleshy aloe leaf and squeeze the juice out of it. Mix the resulting liquid with a drop of honey and drop it into the child’s nose once a day, preferably before bedtime.

St. John's wort will come to the aid of a child who is overcome by a runny nose. Dry collection of this medicinal plant(1 teaspoon) should be mixed with a glass of boiled water and boiled in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. Cool, strain through several layers of gauze. Drop the liquid into the nose of a child aged two years and older no more than 4 times a day.

Warming up

Freshly cooked millet porridge should be cooled to a warm state, small balls should be formed from it, placed in a cloth and applied to the maxillary sinuses area. Some recipes use a boiled chicken egg instead of porridge. They carefully “roll out” the area of ​​the nose, sinuses, and forehead above the bridge of the nose.

Inhalations

Inhaling the vapors of medicinal herbs and essential oils allows you to quickly cope with a runny nose. The most effective procedures are based on pine and eucalyptus oils, fir oil. Sage, chamomile, and calendula are excellent as raw materials for inhalation. Inhalation can be carried out over a container with a hot decoction of herbs, to which a few drops of oil are added. But it’s better if you have a special device at home for such purposes - an inhaler or nebulizer. This way there will be no fear that the child will get burns to the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs if he inhales too much.

Rinse

You can use regular salt to rinse your nose when you have a runny nose. To do this, a tablespoon of salt should be dissolved in a half-liter container of boiled water. You should rinse your nasal passages with saline solution several times a day, this will relieve swelling and restore nasal breathing.

The danger of self-medication

Parents, even very attentive ones, who are carried away by preparing nasal drops from vegetables and fruits, may not notice important clinical manifestations when the nature of the runny nose begins to change. Thus, they may not notice the transition to a new stage in time, which will then affect the timing of treatment for a runny nose in a child, because doctors will have to treat with completely traditional methods. severe complications ordinary rhinitis.

Often, a mother persistently treats her child’s runny nose, but there is no reaction to any medications.

The fact is that diagnosing allergic rhinitis at home on your own is quite difficult. And vegetable juices in the nose will only increase the swelling of the respiratory organs, since they also contain allergens. What can we say about drops with honey!

What not to do

• You should not carry out any heating if there is purulent discharge from the nose and suspected sinusitis. Heat in this situation can aggravate the problem, the inflammation will only intensify. Also, warming up is strictly contraindicated at elevated body temperatures.
• You cannot blindly trust all the recipes for a runny nose published on the Internet by “knowledgeable” people. Thus, mothers who advise others to wash their children’s noses from the inside with laundry soap for rhinitis are risking the health of their child. Laundry soap, coming into contact with inflamed mucous membranes, irritates them and provokes further spread of infection.
• The positive effect of the laundry soap that they write about can, with a stretch, be explained by the same irritating effect. Soap causes the baby to sneeze; during this reflex, the mucus moves away faster. However, then the congestion will certainly return, and the runny nose may become even stronger.
• When placing turunda and cotton balls with medicine in the baby’s nose, you should not make them too small, so that the baby does not accidentally inhale them.

• Before instilling any products into the nose, you should prepare the mucous membrane, after pre-rinsing. Only then can you drip the prepared drug, both medicinal and folk.
• If a child often suffers from a runny nose, you need to pay attention to the air condition in the apartment, Where does he live. Perhaps it is too dry; the mucous membrane inside the nose dries out and inflammation begins. Ventilate the house more often, do wet cleaning, and humidify the air. To do this, you can buy a humidifier or regularly hang wet towels over the radiators. Best for children's health the indicators are as follows: air temperature is about 19 degrees, humidity is about 60%.
• When treating a child with a runny nose, you need to provide him with plenty of warm drinks. This is necessary so that the mucous membranes of the nose, already inflamed, dry out less.
• A child's runny nose is not a reason to refuse walks. In any weather, even in the rain (under an umbrella), you can take short walks outside, since fresh air is very important for restoring breathing through the nose.
• You should not limit your child’s movement. If he wants, let him run and jump; active movements improve blood supply to the body, including the nasal mucosa.
• When treating allergic rhinitis, folk remedies are undesirable, almost all of them can also be allergens. It is important to eliminate the main antigen; for this it is better to go to the hospital, where they will do a special test (nasal swab).
• Vasomotor rhinitis should not be treated with folk remedies, since its causes lie in vascular nervous disorders, it will be better if, with this form of runny nose, the child receives therapy under the supervision of a doctor.

Before you start treating your baby for a runny nose with folk remedies, especially if he is not yet 1 year old, consult a doctor, because even harmless, at first glance, herbal preparations that you prepare yourself can harm your baby.

How to treat a runny nose in a child who appears suddenly? It was all of a sudden: in the morning he was active and lively, but towards lunch he began to sniffle...

Now, in the evening, when more than one handkerchief has already been filled with well-known contents, both young, “beginner” and experienced parents need to resolve several issues that will determine how serious the situation is and what to do next.

Often, the illness can last a month, or even more, until parents finally pay attention to it and take urgent measures.

If you don’t think about it, but immediately start treatment according to a well-known scheme - with vasoconstrictor drugs, then instead of quick healing you can get, for example, “naphthyzine” addiction, which can deprive a baby of the joy of free breathing for years.
So, preferably already in the first hour after the first signs of snot appear, parents should give themselves the answer (or try) to many questions, and we hope that this article will help make the right decision and cope with the disease in a timely manner.

Terminology. What is a “runny nose” anyway?

A condition in which there is excessive secretion of nasal mucus is called “rhinitis.” And ordinary “snot” is scientifically called “rhinorrhea,” that is, literally “nasal flow.”

In medical clinical terminology, the suffix “-itis” means inflammation.

Of course, there is a big difference between appendicitis and rhinitis: no one will remove the nose. This word simply means inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nasal concha and the nasal passages existing between them.

Inflammation can be expressed with to varying degrees: with a real inflammatory process, with the addition of a bacterial infection, the mucous membrane may look tense, swollen, even cyanotic, for example, with meningococcal nasopharyngitis.

In the case of allergic rhinitis, the mucous membrane may be of normal color, only slightly hyperemic, but there will be discharge significant amount mucus that has a transparent appearance.

It is known that the nasal mucosa is capable of responding to any irritation or infection in one - the only protective way - mucus production.

If, along with nasal discharge, there is a sore throat, for example, when swallowing, then they speak of nasopharyngitis, that is, damage to both the nasal mucosa and the pharyngeal wall.

You need to immediately decide what parents of especially young children are prohibited from doing:

Use nasal drops containing antibiotics from the very beginning without a doctor’s prescription. This is strictly prohibited for a number of reasons:

• the antibiotic affects bacteria, but does not act on viruses, which are the cause in the vast majority of cases;
• It is recommended to prescribe antibiotics only after receiving the results bacterial cultures nasal discharge onto nutrient media;
• when instilled into the nasal passages, swallowing is inevitable, and intestinal dysbiosis may develop due to death normal microflora with the subsequent development of diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain. Dysbacteriosis develops especially quickly in young children if they have hastily mixed up the dosage of antibiotics and are mistakenly given a drug with an adult concentration.

Immediately begin treatment of colds with vasoconstrictor drugs. Especially rude ones like “ Naphthyzin», « Galazolin" First of all, they dry out the mucous membrane and cause vascular spasm.

And if the symptoms disappear for a few hours, this does not mean anything: recovery treatment after abuse of such drugs can be quite long.

It must be remembered that the discharge of mucus in case of a cold is a protection, and there is no need to interfere with it.

Vasopressor intranasal agents can be used as the main ones only in case of allergic aseptic swelling of the mucous membrane, as an element of pathogenetic therapy affecting the development of the process.

Use a rubber syringe to rinse the nasal passages. Especially for kids. The force of pressure may well cause injury eardrum, and fluid entering the middle ear structures can cause reactive otitis media. to the content? The main causes of runny nose in children

You should not think that the only reason and source is a common cold. The reasons may be different, but infections still lead in frequency of occurrence in all age groups.

Viral rhinitis

The most common

cause of runny nose

not only in children, but also in adults. Oddly enough, it is caused by viruses that have an affinity for mucous membranes. It is there that their attachment to cells and primary reproduction occur.

If the protective barrier is strong, then antiviral immunity quickly copes with pathogens, and such ailment quickly goes away on its own.

It is about him that it is said that “an untreated runny nose goes away in a week, and a treated one – in seven days.”

By this we mean that the laws of the development of a viral infection and methods of combating it in the body go through certain stages, which can be helped, but cannot be accelerated.

Most often, such an event as nasal congestion and runny nose is preceded by hypothermia: general or local (wet feet, an extra portion of ice cream).

Bacterial rhinitis. In most cases, it is a consequence of a viral process with weakened immunity. It occurs in weakened, often sick children, but can appear as a complication against the background of normal immunity, if the pathogen is particularly contagious.

As a result, bacterial inflammation develops on the weakened mucosa, which manifests itself as mucous-purulent discharge from the nasal passages. General signs of intoxication often develop: fever, malaise;

Allergic rhinitis

It's quite easy to identify

with repeated episodes, when it is clear which allergen caused it. And when such a reaction occurs for the first time, its reliable “markers” are an abundance of clear, watery discharge and other signs of an allergic reaction: conjunctivitis, Quincke’s edema, urticaria, itching.

In more severe cases, bronchospasm may develop, which makes it difficult to exhale rather than inhale.

Finally, in some cases, swelling of the larynx may progress, which may require urgent surgery to avoid death from suffocation.

Finally, the hardest allergic manifestation is fulminant anaphylactic shock.

As a rule, this type of rhinitis has expressed connection with both respiratory (plant pollen, fish food, house dust) and food allergens (strawberries, chocolate, shrimp, eggs, citrus fruits). Sometimes such allergic rhinitis develops while caring for animals.

Medicinal, “ricochet” runny nose. It is a consequence of too aggressive treatment, in which vasoconstrictor drugs were used without proper control.

You need to understand that the speed of action and effectiveness of adrenergic agonists does not mean that these drugs should form the basis of the therapeutic arsenal of parents.

This is similar to how large-caliber heavy artillery should become the basis of an offensive operation.

A quick effect will be achieved, but at the cost of a scorched desert. This form of the disease is often transitional to chronic.

Birth defects facial skull and ENT organs. Appear when serious violations in the first days after birth, with moderate ones - they can manifest themselves in cases of ordinary rhinitis. The basis is difficulty in nasal breathing.

Most often this is due to congenital

deviated nasal septum

And due to inexperience, parents often mistake difficulty breathing for a runny nose, despite the fact that there is practically no “snot”.

Vasomotor rhinitis. A type of rhinitis associated with impaired vascular tone in the area of ​​the nasal concha and passages. The consequence of spasm of the efferent veins is swelling of the mucous membrane and rhinorrhea.

An important factor is the recurrence of attacks regardless of its connection with both hypothermia and the effect of allergens.

It is important to know

Most often, the provocation is some action or phenomenon: excitement, increased blood pressure, change in weather. May accompany symptoms of vegetative-vascular dystonia.

In addition, other reasons may be the culprits of the disease: the presence of polyps, enlarged adenoids, foreign objects entering the upper respiratory tract.

Sometimes the painful condition may be due to the presence of a chronic congenital disease, such as cystic fibrosis or sarcoidosis. Therefore, in any case, for an accurate diagnosis you need to consult a doctor.

Despite the fact that it is difficult to imagine a more “trivial” disease, it is fraught with serious complications and dangers. Let's list the most common ones:

• gradual spread of infection into the bronchi and lungs due to the drainage of infected mucus downwards;
• blockage of the Eustachian (auditory) tube with thick mucus with the development of inflammation in the tube (reactive otitis media);
• development of sinusitis (sinusitis, frontal sinusitis, ethmotiditis) - with the involvement of the cranial sinuses (maxillary, frontal and ethmoidal labyrinth, respectively);
• In infants who must feed by sucking, nasal congestion does not allow them to breathe fully while eating. Therefore, they may be malnourished, lose weight, or choke on milk or formula. and it can even lead to aspiration pneumonia.

We will not consider here the manifestations of intoxication of the whole body (fever, malaise, lethargy), since they are well known to everyone and will focus only on local ones:

• nasal congestion. It is very easy to check: close one nostril and breathe “half-heartedly”. It turns out without tension - there is no symptom;
• rhinorrhea, or nasal discharge. They can be serous or serous-purulent. There is no purely purulent discharge from the nasal passages, but with puncture of the maxillary sinus you can sometimes get pus;
• sneezing. Everyone knows that its purpose is to clear the airways with the help of a reflexively caused push of air. The air speed when coughing and sneezing can reach 100 km/h or more. Sneezing is usually preceded by rich and varied sensations: burning, scratching, pleasant tickling.
• with atrophy of the mucous membrane (atrophic rhinitis), scanty dry crusts form instead of rhinorrhea;
• Since the secretion of mucus and tears have much in common, lacrimation can sometimes occur with a runny nose. Sometimes it occurs on one side, with sensations preceding sneezing;
• Hyposmia or anosmia is the inability to distinguish odors. This feeling is also familiar to everyone firsthand.

There are other discharges from the nasal passages: for example, with a fracture of the base of the skull and ruptures of the hard meninges In rare cases, cerebrospinal fluid may leak from the nose and ears.

Sometimes a child may have a runny nose with blood.

This symptom may indicate fragility blood vessels, which are damaged when sneezing or wiping your nose.

Sometimes blood may drip from the nose, that is, it occurs nose bleed. There is even a special area from which almost all nosebleeds originate - Kisselbach's zone.

You should not be afraid of this symptom, you need to put the child down, throw back your head and put cold on the bridge of the nose, but for no more than five minutes, so as not to catch a cold in the maxillary sinuses.

You can roll up turundas from soft paper (napkins, toilet paper) and insert them into the nostril so as not to stain your clothes with blood.

Sometimes a nosebleed can simply occur because a child who doesn't cut his nails simply picks his nose.

to the content? A child develops a runny nose: what to do?

The stages of the disease, like any developing process, are clearly defined in time. They are most pronounced in the typical case when an incipient runny nose develops due to hypothermia:

The reflex stage, which is the shortest and lasts a matter of hours. It is at this stage that primary edema forms due to hypothermia, without the influence of pathogens. Mild unpleasant impressions are possible: rawness (dryness and soreness) in the nose, worsening breathing;

Stage of viral rhinorrhea. Lasts several days and is associated with the direct influence of viruses. It is at this time that the child can be infectious to others. Of course, it is advisable that he wear a mask;

The third stage most often marks the beginning of recovery - symptoms decrease in the reverse order of their appearance. But sometimes the depleted mucous membrane cannot protect itself, and then a “landing force” of microbes lands on it, after viral inflammation first occurred.

Therefore, the answer to the question “how long does a child’s runny nose last” suggests, at a minimum, two options. The first - about a week with strong immunity and the second - for as long as desired - with a weak level immune defense, as it enters a chronic stage.

The frequency of the disease also affects the speed of recovery. If a child is bothered by frequent sniffles, it may simply be the course of chronic rhinitis with long periods of relatively pronounced remission.

To do this, you need to follow a soft, physiological approach, and in no case do harm with your activities.

The dangers of prescribing harsh vasoconstrictor drugs at the very beginning of treatment and antibiotics have already been discussed.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a general scheme according to which it is necessary to act from the onset of the disease until the “critical point” is reached, which approximately occurs on the 4th or 5th day from the onset of the disease.

It is during this period that it will become clear whether your treatment has achieved its goal, or whether you need to call a doctor and add stronger drugs to the treatment.

Principles of correct and reasonable treatment

If you look at the instructions for children's drugs for intranasal administration (numerous sprays, metered drops), you will notice that the approach to treatment infant at the age of 8 - 9 months, both the approach and the dosage of medications will differ from the principles of treatment for children, say, preschool age - at 5 or 6 years old.

toilet the nasal passages at the first appearance of rhinorrhea and difficulty breathing, especially in infants before feeding. This is very important for proper nutrition. For the toilet you need to use turundas from soft fabric or gauze, which are moistened with a solution of baking soda at the rate of 1 tsp. per glass of warm water;

then, to create immune protection for babies, a drop of mother’s milk containing secretory immunoglobulins that protect the baby from germs and viruses is dripped into each nostril;

if there is no breast milk, you can drip drugs that enhance immunity, or just warm olive or flaxseed oil;

it is necessary to ensure constant discharge of mucus, which contains many viral particles. To do this, it must be sufficiently liquid and should not dry out.

Therefore, the child must receive a sufficient amount of fluid inside: the mucous membranes should not dry out. If nasal breathing is impossible due to crusts and a clogged nose, then breathing through the mouth causes a significant loss of moisture through the lungs;

Instillation of saline solution or drops of sea water is the next means of combating dryness of the nasal mucosa. Oil solutions can be used fat-soluble vitamins: A and E, even in children 1 year old and earlier.

Their harmlessness allows you to drip as often as you want, especially if there is no ionizer or humidifier at home: this compensates for dryness, which is very high especially in city apartments in winter, when water heating radiators are very hot.

The article does not aim to give comparative review all available drugs, so we will limit ourselves to covering one or two of the most effective and popular drugs in each group that can be used:

Vasoconstrictor drops

Indicated as the main remedy for allergic rhinitis, together with antihistamines:

• “Nazol Baby” and “Nazol Kids spray” for children from birth and from the age of 6 years;
• "Nasivin" is a drug that lasts about 12 hours (long-term action).

Antihistamines

• "Fenistil", "Allergodil". These drops are indicated for use even in babies aged 1 – 2 months;
• "Tizin allergy". Used in children over 5 - 6 years old, can also be successfully used by adults;
• “Zyrtec” in the form of an intranasal spray effectively relieves swelling and allergic rhinorrhea without causing side effects;

Miramistin for runny nose in children

You can find information on the Internet that Miramistin can be used as a remedy for children's runny nose. The thing is that this is not entirely true: if this drug can be used after unprotected sexual intercourse, this does not mean that it can be poured anywhere.

Below are arguments that refute the effectiveness of this remedy in almost all cases of childhood (and adult) rhinitis:

• in the market era, the manufacturer would definitely release Miramistin spray for intranasal use, however, the manufacturing company does not agree to this;
• the drug is intended to protect the mucous membrane and destroy bacteria on its entire surface Therefore, for ordinary viral rhinitis, the drug useless. It is effective against hepatitis viruses, HIV, but not adenoviruses;
• at bacterial complication and serous-purulent discharge Miramistin will also be ineffective, since it is first desirable to identify the causative agent.

And, although the instructions contain indications for treating the oral cavity, and in otolaryngology it is indicated for irrigation of the pharynx and ear, the drug is not indicated for instillation into the nose according to the instructions.

In addition, Miramistin promotes the formation of a dry scab in the wound, and for the nasal mucosa, this is extremely harmful, since the pathogen remains in these dried crusts.

Antibiotics for a runny nose in a child

The use of antibacterial drugs and the precautions associated with them have already been discussed above. Here are a few of the best representatives:

A good cold remedy for children

What should you put in a child’s nose when they have a runny nose without regard for safety? What remedy can a mother give, in the hope of helping, but without harm or side effects?

If, against the background of a decrease in immunity, a frequently ill child develops a persistent, persistent, long-lasting runny nose, then in this case he is shown immune drugs containing antiviral protection - interferon and other active components:

In order to quickly cure rhinitis in a child at the initial stage, it is not necessary to use medications, which may have various side effects.

Numerous traditional medicines can be used, which can either prevent the disease from dragging on and becoming chronic, or even prevent the disease even before its first manifestations.

So, for example, going to the bathhouse, warming up the whole body, and drinking tea with raspberries, honey and lime color may simply prevent a cold from becoming active in the body due to hypothermia.

Mustard in socks

This method refers to reflexology techniques. Its meaning is to pour dry mustard powder into the child’s socks to improve blood circulation in the feet.

Because in the body vascular networks are connected by reflexes, this causes an increase in immunity in response to the irritating effect of mustard.

This method cannot be used in children under one year old, or when the temperature rises. This is a preventative method it can be resorted to only in case of hypothermia, which happened a few hours ago, and, according to the fears and experience of parents, can turn into a cold.

Mustard is poured 1-2 teaspoons into children's socks at night, and woolen socks are put on top.

Saline solution

Saline solution prepared at home is the same saline solution, provided that it has a concentration of 0.9% salt, which is equivalent to the state of blood plasma. It is very useful to use devices to rinse your nose with salt water heated to 38 - 40 degrees.

In addition to mechanical and atraumatic cleaning of the mucous membrane, water has the ability to draw water out, and with the water, swelling of the nasal mucosa goes away.

In case of multiple drug allergies the use of saline solution along with cleaning, moisturizing, and warming can make the disease recede.

Beetroot juice for a speedy recovery

How to cure a child’s runny nose quickly at home using vegetables? Many believe that for this you need to use raw beet juice, which is first left to settle in the refrigerator and then dropped into each nostril.

The entire effect of this event will be reduced to moisturizing the nasal mucosa, and beetroot juice has no advantage over ordinary salted water. In any case, studies have not shown any acceleration of the period of rhinorrhea when using this remedy.

Radish and honey

Black radish juice with honey has a great immunogenic effect: the top of the radish is cut off and a hole is made in the center. Honey is placed in the hole and closed again with a radish lid.

The entire structure is placed in a warm place for several hours. At this time, the radish will release juice, which should be taken 1 tbsp. spoon.

It can be used in children from 3-4 years of age, as it strengthens the immune system well and alleviates not only the runny nose, but also bronchitis, tonsillitis and other colds.

Essential oils

Drugs such as essential oils can only be used if the child does not have a significant allergic history.

After all, essential oils can cause severe bronchospasm. Thus, it is almost impossible to force a child to breathe essential oils of garlic and onion.

Therefore, inhalation of tea tree oil, mint, eucalyptus, and lemon would be a good alternative. Thuja oil has a good healing effect. This oil is obtained from thuja needles, and it has a pronounced immunomodulatory effect.

In addition, vapors of essential oils can moisturize and soften the mucous membrane of not only the nose, but also the bronchi, having a beneficial effect on the ciliary epithelium.

For more detailed information on the use of a nebulizer in the treatment of ENT diseases, you can read the article below:

In addition to treatment:

The main purpose of this article was to make parents understand that in most cases, a runny nose (rhinitis) is a natural process, which cannot be suppressed, just as a cough cannot be suppressed, otherwise all the infected sputum will accumulate inside and can cause pneumonia.

How to cure a runny nose in a child is a problem known to all parents without exception. The disease, which affects children of any age, causes a lot of inconvenience to the child: breathing becomes difficult, the sense of smell is dulled. And these are just the first, mild symptoms.

The problem requires immediate resolution, since inflammation of the nasal mucosa cannot be ignored. This is fraught various kinds complications: from chronic diseases to those that can only be cured through surgery.

A child's body, which grows and develops rapidly, has a number of characteristics. You need to take each one into account when asking the question: how to cure a runny nose in a child in order to eliminate possible complications and not cause harm.

Causes and symptoms

Before getting rid of the problem, you need to know what causes a runny nose.

It is best to do this under the supervision of a pediatrician, because there can be many reasons for a runny nose:

1. Allergy. You should fight the manifestation of an allergic rhinitis by specialized means, conventional antiviral and vasoconstrictor drugs are useless at best, and will worsen the situation at worst. Read more about childhood allergies→
2. Dry air (both indoors and outdoors). The release of moisture from the nose in this case is a protective reaction of the mucous membrane.
3. Hypothermia or overheating.
4. Hitting the nasal passage foreign objects. Any small parts from toys, sparkles from a dress, dust, particles of chalk or sand cause vasomotor rhinitis. It is accompanied by attacks of headache and severe watery discharge from the nose.
5. Trauma to the nasal passage. A child can damage their nose by picking at it with a finger or pencil.
6. Virus. A cold is accompanied by sneezing, coughing, fever and general malaise. As a rule, this is a seasonal manifestation.
7. Physiology, without other signs of a cold. A striking example of such a runny nose is the period when infants are teething.

Treatment methods

The nasal passages of infants are very narrow and it is often difficult for them to cope with the natural production of mucus, especially if parents, trying to protect the child from hypothermia, heat the air in the room to greenhouse temperatures.

When thinking about how to quickly cure a runny nose in a child, you should first of all:

• ventilate the room;
• do wet cleaning (even better - stock up on a household humidifier; if this is not possible, hang a damp towel on the headboard);
• clean your nose with a moistened gauze pad (but under no circumstances cotton swabs. They, unlike gauze twisted into a bundle, are inelastic and can injure the mucous membrane, especially if the child turns or throws back his head while cleaning the nose).

You can quickly and effectively cure a runny nose in a one-month-old baby by rinsing. For this purpose they use pharmaceutical drugs based on sea water (Aquamaris, Otrivin, Aqualor, Dolphin, Marimer).

Any of the solutions should be warmed to room temperature and 1-2 drops should be instilled into each nasal passage. It is advisable to place a diaper under the baby's head so that liquid can flow freely onto it.

It is also necessary to clear the nose of draining mucus using a regular rubber bulb for douching without a plastic tip (hard plastic can injure the mucous membrane, and if it slips deep, it can injure the nasal septum).

It is worth remembering that any pharmaceutical drugs can be instilled for no more than 4 days. As a rule, pediatricians prescribe the following medications to infants:

• Protargol;
• Polydex;
• Nazol (baby series),
• Nazivin.

For more effective treatment of a runny nose, you should avoid bathing your baby for several days and give him 1-2 tablespoons of boiled water as an additional drink.

Runny nose in preschool children

From the age of 3, a child can already blow his nose on his own. However, you should not blow too hard to avoid damaging the blood vessels. If the nose is clogged, you can drip 2-3 drops of diluted Kalanchoe juice (provided that the baby is not allergic to it).

When choosing drops, you should carefully study the composition. Natural and herbal-based products (Protorgol, Pinosol, Rinoxyl, Vibrocil) are best suited for children.

The same drugs that are used to treat infants are suitable, you just need to increase their dose - in accordance with the age of the child. If the runny nose is persistent, Isofra or Xemelin are usually prescribed.

Should not be used:

• Sanorin. It often causes allergic swelling. This drug can only be prescribed to school-age children.
• Naphthyzin. It sharply constricts blood vessels. They can only lightly blot the nasal mucosa by applying the liquid to the turunda.

You can also lubricate your nose with Iodoglycerin to make breathing easier - twice a day (in the morning and before bed). However, only a doctor can advise what is best to use.

Warm foot baths help a lot, especially if you add sea salt to them (and to make it more interesting for a child to sit in warm water, you can tint it with a decoction of chamomile or sage).

Folk remedies

Treatment of runny nose in children with folk remedies is also effective.

To rinse the nose of infants, you can use:

• a thin decoction pharmaceutical chamomile(a level dessert spoon per glass of water, steamed for 10 minutes, cooled, filtered);
• decoction of calendula (add an incomplete tablespoon of dry collection per liter of water. After it has infused for 10-15 minutes, strain);
• saline solution (9 grams of salt - less than a teaspoon per liter of boiled water). For children after a year, the saline solution is made more saturated - a teaspoon full of coarse table salt is placed per liter;
• tincture of a tablespoon of dried mint leaves (pepper mint, not lemon balm), with two glasses of boiling water. The solution must be infused for an hour and then filtered. This tincture can be drunk twice a day, adding half a teaspoon of linden liquid honey to a cup.

When treating a runny nose, you cannot do without steam inhalation:

• Add a tablespoon of raspberries and currants to a liter of boiling water and leave the broth for a few minutes.
• Pour boiling water into a small teapot, add 2 tbsp. spoons of soda, 1 tbsp. l. table salt. Stir and wait until the water cools a little. Then breathe alternately through each nostril through the spout of the kettle.
• Place a deep container of hot water by the child’s bed, into which add a few drops of essential oils. It could be eucalyptus, myrtle, fir, lavender.

It is important to control the temperature of the water in the inhalation container - it should not be too hot so that the child does not get burned.

You can prepare nasal drops yourself. For infants it is recommended:

• aloe solution: 2 drops of aloe juice are diluted with boiled water (it is important that the plant is more than 3 years old);
• breast milk: 2 drops in each nasal passage.

For children after one year, drops made from:

• dried calendula petals and yarrow leaves(it is also called fish or bloodworm) - a teaspoon, pour boiling water over it. Wrap for half an hour or steam in a water bath for about 20 minutes. Cool, filter, and instill 3-4 drops into each nasal passage twice a day (2 for younger children);
• coltsfoot leaves, sage, plantain and calendula flowers. All of them should fit in a tablespoon, which is poured into a glass of boiling water. Then the broth is heated in a water bath for 5 minutes, infused for half an hour, and filtered. Instill 2-3 drops into each nostril three times a day;
• mint essential oil with liquid (preferably linden) honey. Mix 1 teaspoon of each component, slightly warming the honey. The solution must be infused for 15 minutes - during this time the oil and honey will be added medicinal properties each other. Afterwards, you need to moisten the gauze turunda and coat the nasal mucosa.
• red beet juice. Mix a dessert spoon with a teaspoon of boiled water and drop it into your nose (you can add a little linden liquid honey, but it’s not necessary). In its pure form, beet juice is very hot.

You can make a warming compress for your child: pour dry mustard into cotton socks. This warming significantly speeds up the healing process. However, if the baby has a fever, this treatment method should be excluded.

Complications of a runny nose

In the absence of timely treatment or in a chronic form, the infection of the nasal mucosa spreads to the respiratory tract. To the most frequent complications runny nose include:

1. Sinusitis. Common symptoms include soreness in the eyes, cheeks, nose and forehead. In advanced forms, patients complain of bad breath and partial loss of smell. General weakness is accompanied by fever and headache. In rare cases, sinusitis can cause blurred vision, ear infections and inflammation in the membranes of the brain.
2. Laryngitis. Main symptoms: dry mouth, hoarseness, dry cough, which is subsequently accompanied by sputum production. As a rule, body temperature with laryngitis remains normal.
3. Bronchitis. Accompanied by a cough with the release of specific mucus, which can have a different shade. Body temperature rises during the most severe course of the disease. If symptoms persist for a long time, a chest x-ray should be performed.

There are other complications of a runny nose that are less common, but require more serious treatment:

• Hyposmia. As a rule, it occurs with chronic rhinitis and can lead to complete loss of smell.
• Polyps. Benign formations in the nasal cavity facilitate the penetration of allergens and bacteria.
• Dacryocystitis. Accompanied by the discharge of pus from the eyes. In advanced stages of the disease, probing is performed.

Despite the apparent mildness of the disease, rhinitis can lead to dangerous complications. To avoid serious drug treatment or surgery, treatment of the runny nose should be done at an early stage of the disease.

Useful video about treating a runny nose

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Treating a runny nose in children with folk remedies has its own difficulties - not every method will allow children to use it. Some people cannot stand putting drops into the nose; in this case, warming up the sinuses, massage and warming up the feet or the nose in the nose will help. If turundas with grated onions seem too dangerous for some children, then turundas with grated beets are no less effective.

Let's consider the most effective recipes Treatment of a runny nose in a child at home.

• Mustard.
  Children easily agree to such treatment. This is a rather pleasant procedure that can be put into a game form. You need to apply dry mustard plasters to your feet and secure them with a cloth or bandage and put warm socks on top. If the child does not agree to this procedure or there are no mustard plasters in the house, then you can pour dry mustard into thick cotton socks and put on warm socks on top. Walk like this for 1-2 days. If the child does not yet know how to walk, then this remedy will also help him - let him lie in socks with mustard.
• To treat a stuffy nose in a child, there is another pleasant remedy - warming your feet in water with mustard. Most children enjoy this procedure.
  Treatment with mustard cleanses the nose well, improves general health for colds, it also helps with coughs.
• A folk remedy such as massaging the soles with alcohol helps to quickly cure a runny nose in children. Instead of alcohol, you can use star balm. The child’s feet are rubbed well, massaged, then warm socks are put on the feet. This is especially useful to do before bedtime - do not put a sick child to bed with cold feet. The effect of this remedy will be even stronger and longer if you place a heating pad on your feet.

• How to cure a runny nose with onions.

  A child's runny nose will go away quickly - in 1-2 days. This folk remedy combines hydrotherapy and the beneficial properties of onions.
  Adults and courageous children may agree to turundas soaked in onion juice and inserted into the nostrils. This procedure is not painful, but it causes slight irritation of the mucous membrane, all the mucus begins to move, sneezing begins, but nasal congestion quickly goes away. If the child does not agree to this method, you can use the onion according to another recipe: wrap the grated onion in a damp napkin, put it on the wings of the nose, cover it with a dry warm cloth on top, make it lie down with this compress for 15 minutes, read it a fairy tale, repeat the procedure 3- 4 times a day.

• Garlic oil.

  For very small and very tender children, you can use garlic oil. Heat 50 g of vegetable oil in a water bath for 30 minutes, adding 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic. Leave for a day. Lubricate your nostrils 2-3 times a day. This oil is also good for prevention - during epidemics, before taking the child to crowded places, it is advisable to use this oil.

• Beet.

  Effective beetroot honey drops if you are not allergic to honey. You need to take 1/3 tsp. honey, dissolve in a dessert spoon of boiled water and mix with 1 tbsp. l. beet juice. Instill 7 drops every 2 hours when heated. Nasal congestion in a child goes away within 1 day.
  They also help raw beet tampons. You need to grate fresh beets, put it on a piece of bandage and roll it into a tube, insert it into the nostrils for 1-2 hours, do it several times a day. Such turundas clean the nose very well, but not every child can tolerate it. This is a remedy for those who are very obedient and patient.

• Aloe and Kalanchoe.

  You need to instill Kalanchoe or aloe juice into your nose 3 times a day, 3 drops in each nostril. If these drops strongly irritate the child’s mucous membranes, you can dilute Kalanchoe juice with boiled water in a ratio of 1:3-1:10. During the treatment of a runny nose, Kalanchoe may begin to sneeze, this is a good sign and there is no need to be afraid of it.

• Warming up.

  Warming the nose and maxillary sinuses can be used even when treating infants, the main thing is to be careful and not burn the child, he must feel a pleasant warmth.
  Warming up the porridge. If you have a prolonged runny nose, fill a small bag made of thick cotton or linen fabric with warm, hard-cooked millet porridge and place it on the maxillary sinuses, cover with a towel on top to keep it cool longer. To warm up, you can use two boiled chicken eggs, wrapped in cloth, a bag with hot sand or salt. Do warming procedures 3 times a day.

• Inhalations.

  Some people like to inhale over the steam of boiled potatoes “in their jackets.” This remedy is very effective against runny nose and cough in children, but you should not use it if the child has a fever. For greater effect, you can drop eucalyptus or mint essential oil into the decoction. Or, at the end of boiling the potatoes, add yarrow, sage, eucalyptus, mint or calendula flowers into the broth.

• Honey and aloe juice.
  The children had a severe runny nose and cough (girl – 6 years old, boy – 2 years old). Grandmother mixed honey and aloe juice in a 1:1 ratio. They put it in their noses overnight. Everyone was very surprised when the kids had no cough or nasal discharge in the morning.
  A few days later, a relative came to visit them with a strong, persistent cough and a stuffy nose. They gave these drops to him too. The next day, a call with thanks - nasal congestion and all cold symptoms went away! (HLS 2011, No. 4, p. 17)

Next, we will look at quick and effective folk remedies for treating runny nose in infants and children under one year old.

A runny nose in babies is quite common. There are several ways to deal with this trouble.

• The simplest method is to suck out the mucus from the nose using a suitable rubber bulb or syringe without a needle.
• Important for runny nose in newborns prevent mucus from drying out and thickening - this can increase breathing difficulties. If it becomes easier for the baby to breathe while walking or bathing, then the air in your apartment is too dry. This happens during the heating season. Try to humidify the air; if there is no special humidifier, then place wet rags on radiators, place wide containers of water, and ventilate the apartment. Moisturizing the nasal passages with a saline solution will help prevent mucus from drying out and cure a runny nose in a baby.
• Saline solution.
  Dissolve 1/2 tsp in 100 g of boiled water. salt (preferably sea food) or take saline solution. Place 2-3 drops of the warm solution into the baby’s nose. The first instillation will be quite painful and will cause sneezing and coughing. Then the sensitivity of the baby’s mucous membrane to this procedure will decrease, and he will tolerate it calmly. Children can be treated with this remedy every 30 to 60 minutes.
  A runny nose is treated with this method in two ways: the saline solution relieves swelling of the mucous membrane and helps to liquefy sputum, which must be removed with a rubber bulb.
• How to treat a runny nose in infants using onions or beets.
  You can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the previous method by adding freshly squeezed onion juice (for 10-20 drops of water - 1 drop of onion juice) or beet juice (for 5 drops of water - 1 drop of beet juice) to the saline solution.
• Oil is a painless method for a runny nose in newborns.
  You can instill 1 drop of vitamin A oil solution (sold at the pharmacy). This will prevent the mucus from drying out, moisturize and relieve irritation from the mucous membrane. Vitamin A strengthens and restores mucous membranes.
  Lubricating the nasal passages with sea buckthorn oil will have the same effect.
• Garlic oil.
  Pour 2 cloves of chopped garlic into 50 g of sterilized vegetable oil, leave for 24 hours, and lubricate the inside of the baby’s nose 2-3 times a day.
• Treatment of runny nose in newborns through the feet.
  Lubricate the child’s feet with Vietnamese star balm several times a day, while doing a massage. Then put on warm socks and cover your feet with a blanket.
  Another way is to put a little mustard in the baby's socks.

It is important to remember that in childhood the disease develops faster than in adults. This is due to the fact that the mucous membrane of the nasal passages is looser and is supplied with a large number of blood and lymphatic vessels. Therefore, when encountering a factor that causes inflammation (most often, a viral infection), swelling develops faster, mucus also begins to be produced more actively and in more. In addition, children, especially those under 3 years of age, have narrower nasal passages than adults. Therefore, the resulting swelling of the mucous membrane quickly leads to the closure of their lumen and difficulty in nasal breathing. In this regard, measures to treat the disease must be taken quickly enough.

What consequences can acute rhinitis lead to in children in the absence of proper treatment? First of all, against the background of a viral infection, a bacterial infection is often associated; inflammation can affect not only the nasal passages, but also the sinuses, which leads to the development of (ethmoiditis, frontal sinusitis). Also in children, the middle ear is often involved in the inflammatory process (the infection rises from the nasal cavity along the auditory tube), which leads to the occurrence of otitis media.

In addition, the lack of treatment can lead to a problem such as a prolonged runny nose in a child, that is, to the development. Illiterate use of medications also leads to adverse consequences. For example, uncontrolled use of vasoconstrictor drugs very often causes the development of a condition in a child that requires long-term treatment and observation.

Parents often believe that antibiotics are an effective remedy for runny noses in children. However, in most cases, their uncontrolled use only aggravates the situation. After all, an antibacterial drug has no effect on viruses that cause inflammation, but sometimes has an inhibitory effect on beneficial microflora, which is an important defense system of the body. In addition, uncontrolled use of antibiotics leads to the development of resistance in bacteria present in the child’s body. And in the case of a bacterial infection (purulent rhinitis, sinusitis), which are very often caused by these microbes, choosing an effective treatment can be much more difficult.

It is necessary to understand that treatment of even such a common and, at first glance, not serious disease as rhinitis in children, should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor. Because inflammation in the nasal cavity can be both a sign of a common ARVI and a symptom of diseases such as measles, diphtheria, measles, etc.

The most common cause of rhinitis in children is infection. In a child, especially under the age of 3 years, the protective mechanisms are insufficiently formed, and we are talking about both general immunity and local immunity. When inhaled, airborne pathogens primarily enter the nasal cavity. With fully functioning protective mechanisms, microbes are enveloped in mucus and removed due to the movements of special cilia, which are equipped with epithelial cells. In addition, immunoglobulins, proteins that provide local immunity on the nasal mucosa, help resist the development of infection. In young children, there is insufficient production of these proteins, and the general immune response, which allows blocking the inflammatory process at an early stage, is also “triggered” to a lesser extent.

Factors that increase the risk of developing rhinitis in a child caused by infections are inhalation of dry air and dust, as this leads to drying out of the mucus in the nose and makes it difficult for the eyelashes to work. Thus, favorable conditions are created for the proliferation of pathogens in the nasal cavity and the development of inflammation.

The cause of the disease can be both viruses and bacteria. As a rule, the disease begins with viral rhinitis in children, then inflammation caused by bacteria joins. Less common pathogens are fungi, tuberculosis bacillus, and gonococcus.

It is important to remember that a runny nose in a child can be a symptom of some infectious diseases, such as measles, diphtheria, etc. That is why treatment of the disease, especially in young children, is best done under the supervision of a doctor who can make the correct diagnosis and prevent the development of complications.

Allergic rhinitis in a child occurs due to contact with an allergen. This can be house dust, animal hair and skin flakes, plant pollen, food, etc.

There are other causes of a runny nose. Thus, vasomotor rhinitis in children occurs as a result of a violation of the regulation of vascular tone in the nasal mucosa, as a result of which epithelial cells begin to actively produce mucus even with normal physiological irritation (cool air, dust), in stressful situations. The cause of this may be a disease such as vegetative-vascular dystonia, various disorders of the nervous system (vascular neurosis), and allergic diseases.

Predisposing factors to the development of vasomotor rhinitis in a child are the proliferation of adenoids in the nasopharynx and a deviated nasal septum.

It is important to know that a very common cause of this condition is the abuse of vasoconstrictor drugs. The use of these medications for more than 5-7 days contributes to disruption of the natural regulation of vascular tone in the nasal mucosa and the development of drug-induced rhinitis.

Kinds

Symptoms and treatment tactics for a disease such as rhinitis in a child depend on its type. Therefore, despite the presence of common symptoms, such as nasal congestion, the presence of mucus in the nasal cavity, the causes, and therefore the principles of treatment, for various types of runny nose in a child will differ significantly.

Rhinitis is divided into groups depending on the nature of the process in the nasal cavity (catarrhal,), the cause that caused the disease (for example: allergies, viruses, bacteria), and other criteria. You can see the detailed classification.

Symptoms

What are the symptoms of infection-related rhinitis in children? They depend on the stage of the disease, as well as on the characteristics of the pathogen that caused the disease.

• Initial phase(it is also called “dry” or “dry irritation stage”). During this period, pathogens penetrate the nasal mucosa. The body responds to microbial aggression by dilating the epithelial vessels, filling them with blood, but the mucous membrane itself remains dry. Symptoms of this period are a burning sensation in the nasal cavity, a feeling of “itching”, discomfort in the nose, and a desire to sneeze. Gradually, nasal congestion appears without a runny nose in the child, and the sense of smell decreases. At the same time, general symptoms may occur: weakness, lethargy, headache, slight increase temperature. Young children become capricious, irritable, and their appetite may decrease. As a rule, this phase lasts from several hours to one, less often, two days. If the child has good local and general immunity (it is very important to notice the symptoms in time and take necessary measures prevention, which we will talk about later), the body can cope with the invasion of viruses, and the disease will not develop. Otherwise, the next phase begins.
• Catarrhal phase(also called the “wet” or “serous discharge stage”). During this period, there is an increase in the permeability of the mucous membrane damaged by viruses. Lymphatic fluid leaks from the vessels into the tissue, which leads to severe swelling. The activity of epithelial cells that produce mucus increases, which accumulates in the child’s nasopharynx. As a rule, the discharge at this stage is light in color and has a fairly liquid consistency. Discharge from the nose flows down the back wall of the nasopharynx and often enters the lower respiratory tract, so a combination of runny nose and cough in a child is often observed. Irritation often occurs around the nasal passages and on the upper lip. At this stage, there is severe difficulty in nasal breathing, the child can only breathe through the mouth, which leads to anxiety and sleep disturbance. The sense of smell disappears and taste sensations, appetite suffers.

Symptoms during this period also include a runny nose and fever in the child: the thermometer can rise to 38 degrees or higher. The severity of general symptoms depends on the characteristics of the virus that caused the inflammation. So, with the flu, you will experience muscle aches and severe fever (up to 39 degrees and above). With adenovirus infection and parainfluenza, the general condition, as a rule, suffers less, although general weakness, lethargy, and headache may bother the child.

It often happens that a child has a cough and runny nose without fever. This picture can be observed several days after the onset of the disease, when the activity of inflammatory processes is already decreasing; it may also be due to the characteristics of the virus that caused the disease, or it may indicate a low reactivity of the immune system, unable to give a full response to the invasion of infection: in this case, the disease progresses sluggishly and there is often a tendency to develop chronic rhinitis in the child.

The catarrhal phase usually lasts 3-5 days. During this period it is very important to competent treatment runny nose in children: this significantly increases the likelihood that the body will cope with the infection and recovery will occur. However, often against the background of damage to the nasal mucosa by a viral infection, the bacterial flora is activated, which leads to the appearance of new symptoms.

• Phase of mucopurulent discharge,- the so-called purulent runny nose in a child. It can occur on days 3-5 of the course of the disease. A characteristic sign of a bacterial infection is a change in the nature of the mucus: it becomes cloudy, acquires a yellowish or greenish tint, becomes thick, and an unpleasant odor may appear.

In this case, an improvement in general condition, a decrease in temperature, and a decrease in headaches are often observed. The duration of the phase is usually 2-4 days. With adequate treatment, this phase is usually followed by recovery. If the child’s immunity is reduced and proper treatment has not been carried out, there is a possibility of transition acute phase diseases into chronic ones, as well as the development of complications.

• Recovery phase. With an adequate immune response and proper treatment, recovery most often occurs on days 5-7 of illness. During this period, there is a restoration of nasal breathing, a decrease in the amount of mucus until it completely disappears, an improvement in general condition, taste and smell are restored, sleep and appetite are improved. It usually takes 3 to 5 days for the symptoms of the disease to completely disappear.

In order for the body to effectively cope with infection, it is important to include more fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and microelements in the diet. Berries are very useful - they contain a large number of components that have a positive effect on the immune system: they can be consumed fresh, or in winter - make fruit drinks and compotes from frozen berries. It is important to remember that during illness you should not experiment with unusual dishes or exotic fruits. The introduction of new products that are unfamiliar to the child’s body requires adaptation (especially at a younger age), in addition, they can cause allergies. Therefore, it is better to focus on those healthy foods that were previously present in the baby’s diet.

How and with what to rinse your nose?

Nasal rinsing is a simple method to reduce the viscosity of mucus and prevent the formation of crusts in the nose. The mucus is easily blown out or “pulled” into the nasopharynx and swallowed - stagnation does not occur and conditions are created for restoring the natural protective function of the nasal mucosa in the child.

Treatment of runny nose with saline solution in children

One of the simplest answers to the question “how to treat a runny nose in a child” is to instill saline solution into the nose, or, more simply, a solution of table salt.

How to prepare saline solution for runny nose in children? It is enough to dilute one teaspoon of table salt in one liter of warm water (you can take any water - bottled, boiled). The concentration should not be exceeded so that the solution does not have an aggressive effect on the damaged mucous membrane of the baby’s nasal cavity. Besides, saline can be purchased at finished form at the pharmacy – it’s very inexpensive!

To instill saline solution into the nose, you can use a regular pipette. The procedure can be carried out at any age: for children under 3 years old, 1-3 drops in each nostril are enough, for older children – 4-6 drops. The frequency of instillation depends on the amount of mucus in the nose: if its formation is intense, saline solution can be dripped into the nose every 10-15 minutes (excluding sleep time).

How to make breathing easier for a child with a runny nose? To more intensively cleanse the nasal cavity of accumulated mucus and restore nasal breathing, you can perform a nasal rinsing procedure. For this, a saline solution or a solution based on sea salt is also used - you can, for example, purchase the Dolphin kit at the pharmacy, which includes sachets of sea ​​salt and a special bottle for rinsing the nose.

You can also purchase a ready-made children's runny nose spray - however, you must pay special attention to age restrictions. Too strong a spray in a spray designed for use in older children can lead to mucus being thrown into the auditory tubes in babies, which can lead to the development of otitis media.

However, in most cases, rinsing the nose is not a necessary procedure when treating a runny nose in children; simply instilling saline solution into the nose is often sufficient. Nasal rinsing is much more important when treating sinusitis in children: you can read more about the procedure.

Rinse the nose with hydrogen peroxide

Quite often you can find recommendations to use hydrogen peroxide for a runny nose in children - in the form of drops and a solution for rinsing. Adherents of this technique believe that the antiseptic properties of this substance can be useful in the treatment of inflammation of the nasal passages.

However, the use of this technique - both in childhood and in adulthood - has no official justification; no clinical studies have been conducted on this approach to prove its effectiveness and safety. The use of hydrogen peroxide can lead to damage to the mucous membrane and disrupt the functioning of the cilia, which epithelial cells are equipped with to cleanse the nasal cavity of microbes and foreign substances. You can read more about this method.

When answering the question “how to quickly cure a child’s runny nose,” doctors, in addition to the basic methods that we described above (humidifying and cooling the air, drinking plenty of fluids, putting saline in the nose or rinsing it, a protein-free diet, vibroacoustic therapy) include some drugs in the treatment regimen, which can help relieve symptoms and speed up the healing process.

However, when trying to find an effective children's remedy for the runny nose, it is important to remember that independent and uncontrolled use of medications can lead to negative consequences, cause addiction and even cause complications. Only a doctor can formulate a treatment regimen based on the specifics of the process, the age of the child, and the nuances of his condition.

Vasoconstrictor drugs

Medicines that have a vasoconstrictor effect are the only means that quickly restore nasal breathing. They affect the tone of the vessels of the nasal mucosa: when used, the vessels narrow, swelling decreases and breathing through the nose becomes easier.

However, if these drugs are used for a long time (more than 5-7 days), this will lead to disruption of the natural regulation of vascular tone, that is, addiction will develop. The consequence of uncontrolled use of such drugs is chronic runny nose and nasal congestion in a child (vasomotor rhinitis), which are very difficult to treat. If the need to use vasoconstrictors persists for longer than 5-7 days, it is important to consult a doctor to determine further treatment tactics.

If a child often has a runny nose, what should you do? Under no circumstances should you resort to vasoconstrictor medications on your own, but consult a doctor and undergo an examination to determine the cause of the disease. It is important to remember that instilling vasoconstrictors into the nose is not medical procedure, it is aimed primarily at relieving symptoms and facilitating nasal breathing. In parallel with their use, it is necessary to take other measures to promote recovery.

Herbal remedies

Currently, many products are produced for the treatment of rhinitis in children, which include herbal components. These can be fatty and essential oils (sea buckthorn, fir), plant extracts, etc.

Herbal medicines are made in the form of drops, sprays, or in such a form as an ointment for the common cold for children. The active substances included in their composition (medicinal components of certain plants) are designed to have an antimicrobial effect, accelerate regeneration, soften and nourish the mucous membrane, and reduce inflammatory manifestations.

It is important to remember that the uncontrolled use of herbal medicines without taking into account the individual characteristics of the child and the nature of the process can cause serious harm to the health of a small patient. The fact is that many plant components can cause allergic reactions and irritate the nasal mucosa. The use of oil-based products can adversely affect the functions of the epithelium of the nasal cavity, causing the cilia to “stick together” and disrupt their work in removing microbes from the nasal passages. In addition, many herbal remedies have age restrictions: you must carefully read the instructions before using this or that remedy on a child.

The use of any herbal medicine must be agreed upon with the attending physician, who will decide whether there is a need to prescribe them and at what stage of the disease their use will be most effective.

Mucolytics

Drugs called mucolytics or secretolytics can help reduce the viscosity of mucus in the nasal cavity. They contain enzymes that dissolve mucus and make it more liquid. It is important that they can also affect mucous sputum, which is formed during viral, allergic, vasomotor rhinitis and in the treatment of purulent rhinitis in children.

However, doctors believe that it is easier to prevent the mucus from thickening in the child’s nasal cavity by ensuring the necessary humidity and temperature of the inhaled air, drinking plenty of fluids and regularly instilling saline into the nose than to cope with the problem with the help of certain medications. It is important to remember that the enzymes included in most mucolytic agents have protein nature and can provoke an allergy attack in a child. Therefore, the need to prescribe them in complex treatment should only be determined by a doctor.

Anti-inflammatory drugs

When the question arises of how to cure a child’s runny nose, the doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs as part of a comprehensive treatment. As a rule, drugs in this group also have antipyretic and analgesic effects.

In a situation where a child has a high fever and runny nose, anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed to relieve general symptoms - fever, headache.

Before giving your child any anti-inflammatory drug, it is important to consult a doctor: sometimes parents try to “bring down” even the slightest fever, not realizing that fever is the most important defense mechanism in the body’s fight against infection. Therefore, doctors do not recommend giving antipyretic medications if the child has a runny nose and a temperature of 37 degrees - until the thermometer rises to 38.5 degrees or higher.

The exception is when the child does not tolerate high fever, complains of a severe headache or weakness, is vomiting, or is at risk of developing seizures. In addition, most anti-inflammatory drugs have negative impact on the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, so they should be used with caution in children with a tendency to inflammatory or ulcerative processes in the stomach or intestines.

Antiviral drugs

Currently, the pharmaceutical industry produces various drugs with an antiviral effect for local and general use, which people are trying to use as an effective remedy for the common cold in children.

However, according to the famous pediatrician E.O. Komarovsky, all existing means inherently cannot have an effect on viruses. This is due to the peculiarities of the life activity of these microorganisms: in order to start living and multiplying, the virus must get inside a certain cell. And it is possible to destroy it only together with this cell. Therefore, even those agents that are effective in the fight against viruses in the laboratory cannot in any way affect these microaggressors in the body. In this regard, most drugs that are declared as antiviral cannot destroy the virus in any way.

Read more opinion of E.O. Komarovsky about antiviral drugs in the treatment and prevention of ARVI can be found in this video:

However, there are other opinions regarding the use of antiviral drugs to prevent ARVI. Thus, leading researcher at the Department of RVI in children of the Research Institute of Children's Infections (Moscow), Dr. medical sciences O.I. Afanasyeva believes that the use of certain antiviral drugs, in particular Cycloferon, helps increase the child’s body’s resistance to viral infections and activate immune resources when encountering an infection: the doctor’s opinion is based on the results of studies conducted in foreign and Russian clinics.

In any case, the decision on the need to use antiviral drugs for the prevention and treatment of viral infections should be made by the attending physician.

Antibiotics

The question often arises: will antibiotics help with a runny nose in a child? Doctors believe that in most cases these medications are not only ineffective, but can also cause significant harm to health. As we have already said, in the vast majority of cases, inflammation of the nasal membrane develops against the background of a viral infection. Antibacterial drugs do not act on viruses! But their introduction into the body causes addiction and increased resistance on the part of those bacteria that are present in the child’s body and could potentially cause a particular disease.

As is known, many inflammatory processes of a bacterial nature, for example, otitis media, sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. are caused by microbes that live in the human body and exhibit their pathogenic properties when immunity is reduced. For example, after a viral infection. If a child was given an antibacterial drug against the background of an acute respiratory viral infection, then if he subsequently develops a bacterial infection, the disease will be much less responsive to treatment.

Another adverse consequence which can occur if a child’s runny nose is treated with antibiotics is the development of an allergy. Each contact with an antibacterial drug increases the risk of an allergic reaction. The more often parents resort to unreasonable use different antibiotics, the narrower the range of medications becomes that will help in a situation where the use of these drugs will be truly necessary or even vital!

If purulent rhinitis occurs, treatment does not necessarily have to be based on the use of antibiotics. Even a change in the nature of the mucus (turbidity, the appearance of an unpleasant odor) and the appearance of other symptoms indicating the addition of a bacterial infection are in most cases not an indication for prescribing antibacterial therapy. It is enough to continue activities that help ease the passage of mucus from the nasal cavity, which we discussed above, as well as strengthen the body’s defenses. And in most situations, the body copes with the disease on its own.

In what cases is it indicated to prescribe an antibiotic for the common cold in children? When there is a risk of developing bacterial complications such as sinusitis (ethmoiditis, sinusitis, frontal sinusitis), as well as inflammation of the middle ear (otitis). If otitis occurs, antibacterial therapy may be prescribed, but this decision should be made only by the attending physician! The use of local antibacterial drugs is unacceptable.

According to E.O. Komarovsky, antibiotics, which are prescribed in the form of ointments, sprays, drops, are not able to create in the body the concentration necessary to destroy microbes. This means that this is the path to developing microbial resistance!

In addition, when it comes to the treatment of sinusitis that has arisen as a complication of acute rhinitis, antibiotics prescribed locally remain in the nasal cavity and do not reach the maxillary sinuses, where the inflammatory process occurs. You can read more about this.

Antiseptics

Often among the recommendations on how to treat a runny nose in children, there is advice on the use of antiseptics. These are substances that contain components that can act on bacteria in one way or another. These can be substances of plant (for example, eucalyptus leaf extract) or animal origin, silver, as well as medications (for example, sulfonamides).

Will antiseptics help cure a runny nose in a child? In most cases, their use is not particularly necessary. In addition, it is important to remember that the ingredients included in their composition can have an irritating effect on the inflamed mucous membrane of the child’s nose, and also cause the development of allergies. Only the attending physician can decide how justified and safe the use of a particular antiseptic is and give the correct recommendations for its use.

Inhalations

Are inhalations necessary for children with a runny nose? Inhalation means the child inhaling air containing substances that can have one or another therapeutic effect.

The most common type of inhalation is steam inhalation over a saucepan.

Parents can add various herbs, soda, or a decoction of potatoes, etc. The problem is that the concentration of active ingredients in such a vapor is very small, insufficient to provide any effect. therapeutic effects. The main effect that such inhalations provide for children with a runny nose is moisturizing the mucous membrane. This is a useful property of steam, as it can lead to a decrease in the viscosity of mucus and the elimination of crusts.

However, it is necessary to take into account some nuances. The traditional method of “breathing over a saucepan” can cause burns to the respiratory tract, as well as injuries associated with overturning a vessel with hot liquid. Therefore, if there is a need to carry them out - and this issue must be resolved with a doctor - it is better to use a special device - a steam inhaler.

It is also important to remember that inhalations for children with a runny nose have contraindications: age under 7 years, elevated body temperature, a combination of inflammation in the nasal cavity and purulent processes (sinusitis, otitis, etc.).

On the Internet you can find many recommendations for inhalation with a nebulizer for a runny nose, recipes for children that parents can rely on when choosing treatment. What is a nebulizer? This is a special device that turns the medicine into very small particles (the so-called fine aerosol), which are inhaled by the child.

But is a nebulizer effective for a runny nose in children?

Pediatrician E.O. Komarovsky believes that its use for inflammation of the nasal mucosa will not be beneficial. Because the nebulizer was designed primarily for the treatment of diseases of the lower respiratory tract - when used, the medicine is sprayed into very small particles, the diameter of which is less than 10 microns. It does not linger in the upper respiratory tract, including the nasal cavity, but is directed to the lowermost parts of the respiratory system.

You can read more about the nuances of using a nebulizer for inhalation.

Inhalations are also sometimes carried out, in which essential oils are used for runny noses for children. They are carried out using an aroma lamp, or simply pour a few drops onto a piece of fabric and let the child breathe. However, the concentration of active substances during this procedure in the inhaled air is very small, and the healing properties of the oils do not have the desired effect on the healing process. In addition, it is necessary to remember that many essential oils are allergens.

It is important to note that if you follow the basic rules for treating inflammation in the nasal passages in a child (constant humidification of the air, instilling saline solution into the nose, etc.), in most cases there is no need for inhalation for a child with a runny nose.

Warming up the nose

Warming the nose when a child has a runny nose: this procedure is often considered effective method treatment of the disease. Parents apply to the area of ​​inflammation boiled egg, hot salt, paraffin, or use a blue lamp, etc. But what can the effects of thermal procedures lead to during the inflammatory process in the nasal mucosa?

Exposure to heat causes blood vessels to dilate and increase blood flow to the area. In the initial stage of the disease, this can lead to activation of the inflammatory process. Warming the nose is strictly contraindicated if the child has an elevated body temperature, if there is a risk of developing purulent processes in the sinuses or otitis media.

However, it is possible to use warming up the nose for a runny nose in children at the final stages of the process: it can help speed up the processes of regeneration of the mucous membrane. However, before carrying out it, it is imperative to consult with your doctor!

Mustard plasters

Is it advisable to put mustard plasters on children with a runny nose? Typically this is not necessary. Mustard plasters are a so-called distracting procedure, the task of which is to activate blood circulation and irritate the skin in reflexogenic zones - at points (feet, calf muscles) that are connected to the place where the inflammatory process takes place. Doctor E.O. Komarovsky, believes that there is justification for using mustard plasters in recovery period in the treatment of diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, that is, diseases that require fairly active rehabilitation measures.

When it comes to how to cure a runny nose in a child, there is, as a rule, no need to use mustard plasters - in most cases, if you follow all the necessary measures that we talked about above, the body will cope with the disease on its own.

You can read more about the use of mustard plasters for a runny nose.

Acupressure

Acupressure for a runny nose in children is associated with an effect on certain reflexogenic zones: it can help ease nasal breathing and speed up the healing process. It is important to study the technique of carrying it out: it is best if a specialist introduces the technique to parents.

Technique acupressure in children it is similar to that in adults; you can read about it in detail.

Sometimes parents believe that treating a runny nose in children with folk remedies will quickly help cope with the disease. There is a myth that such methods may be safer and at the same time more effective in treating the disease. However, doctors say that the use of many traditional methods will not only not benefit the child, but can also seriously harm and cause complications. Herbal and other components included in the composition of the products often cause irritation - this is especially important when it comes to young children, since their mucous membranes are more sensitive to the effects of aggressive substances.

In addition, when we talk about such an aspect as a runny nose and its treatment with folk remedies in children, it is necessary to remember the high risk of developing allergic reactions. Any component can cause allergies; there is a risk of both local and general reactions.

It is also important to understand that, relying on folk remedies for treating runny nose in children and neglecting the basic methods that we talked about above, and - if necessary - medications prescribed by a doctor, you can waste time and get various complications. Therefore, it is better to use drugs with proven effectiveness in treatment.

Next, we will look at the most popular folk remedies for the common cold for children, and also talk about what their use in the treatment of diseases in childhood can lead to from the point of view of official medicine.

Kalanchoe

You can often find recommendations for using Kalanchoe juice for children with a runny nose. The juice of this plant actually has anti-inflammatory properties, since it contains various vitamins, microelements, bioflavonoids, etc.

However, is it worth using Kalanchoe for a runny nose in children? Pediatrician E.O. Komarovsky does not recommend doing this, since when using this folk remedy, many children experience a deterioration in their condition: it is very difficult to predict the individual reaction of a child to the use of Kalanchoe juice. Possible irritation of the mucous membrane, aggravating the course of the inflammatory process, the development of allergic reactions, etc.

Therefore, despite the medicinal properties of Kalanchoe, when children have a runny nose, it should be used with extreme caution and after mandatory consultation with the attending physician!

Aloe

There are also tips for use when a child has a runny nose. It is believed that the use of this remedy can help due to its anti-inflammatory properties. However, it is important to know that no studies have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness of using aloe for inflammation in the nasal cavity in children. All preparations containing aloe juice are not recommended for children under 12 years of age without prior consultation with a doctor.

The use of aloe can lead to the development of allergic reactions - both local and general, up to the development of Quincke's edema and anaphylactic shock: states, life-threatening baby!

Onion

One of the popular folk remedies is for children with a runny nose. To do this, it is recommended to bury water solution onion juice, mix it with butter, honey and other ingredients. However, it is important to remember that onion juice has a strong irritant effect on the mucous membrane, which can cause burns, causes damage to epithelial components, disrupting the formation of mucus and the functioning of cilia, which help remove toxins and microbes from the nasal cavity. All this leads to the development of a protracted process and complications.

In addition, the use of this remedy for the common cold in children can cause allergic reactions. Therefore, doctors do not recommend using it for topical use. They believe that best use onions for the prevention and treatment of ARVI is to include it in the child’s diet!

Beet

In folk medicine it is sometimes used for runny noses in children. It is believed that the juice of this plant helps reduce inflammation in the nasal cavity. However, the effectiveness of this technique has not been proven, so it is more rational to use products that have proven their effectiveness and safety, so as not to waste time and prevent the development of complications.

It is much more useful to use the properties of this product by including it in your diet - useful material, included in the root vegetable will help strengthen the body's defenses.

Oak bark

There is such a folk remedy for the runny nose for children as. It is used to prepare decoctions that are dropped into a child’s nose - it is believed that the substances contained in oak bark help reduce the viscosity of mucus and reduce inflammatory manifestations.

However, can we say that oak bark is good remedy for runny noses in children? The instructions for use do not indicate that this herbal medicine can be used to treat inflammatory processes in the nasal cavity. At the same time, it can be used to prepare a decoction for gargling in the treatment of nasopharyngitis. But this should be done with caution, since many components of oak bark can cause allergies in children.

Oils

Also, supporters of traditional medicine may recommend using this or that oil for the common cold in children. It is believed that their use will help soften the inflamed mucous membrane. There are recommendations for the use of the following oils:

• when a child has a runny nose. It contains substances that help activate the regeneration processes of the mucous membrane, which may be important at the final stage of treatment. The use of this product is contraindicated in children under 12 years of age.
• Essential for a runny nose in children - there are very different reviews about its use in childhood. In some cases it is observed positive effect, which is associated with the presence of anti-inflammatory substances and antioxidants in its composition. In other cases, parents talk about its ineffectiveness, and in some cases, about a worsening of the condition, which is associated with the occurrence of irritation and allergic reactions. At the same time, the instructions for use contain contraindications for the use of thuja oil under 18 years of age.
• Essential for runny nose is recommended for children to relieve inflammatory manifestations and accelerate the regeneration processes of mucous membranes.

In any case, when it comes to the use of fatty and essential oils in the treatment of runny nose in children with folk remedies, consultation with a doctor is necessary before using them. It is important to know that oil, when instilled into the nose, causes gluing of the cilia that epithelial cells are equipped with (their movement is an important mechanism for cleansing the nose of foreign elements), which disrupts the protective properties of the mucous membrane and can complicate the healing process.

In addition, it must be remembered that the composition of oils plant origin contains components that can cause the development of allergies in a child. That is why the question of the need to use such folk remedies for the common cold in children should be decided only by the attending physician.

Prevention

Prevention of a runny nose in children should include a set of measures aimed at both activating local protective mechanisms in the child’s upper respiratory tract and strengthening the immune system as a whole.

In order for the nasal mucosa to fully realize its protective properties, it is important to prevent an increase in the viscosity of the mucus and the formation of crusts in the nose.

• It is necessary that the air that the child breathes is always sufficiently moist and cool. Regulate the temperature in the room - the higher it is, the less moisture remains in the air; you can also use various evaporators and humidifiers.
• It is important that the child consumes enough fluid - dehydration leads to drying out of the mucous membranes.

Physiological norm of fluid intake for children

• In addition, in order to prevent mucus from thickening and to prevent the appearance of crusts, it is recommended to instill saline solution into the child’s nose daily (during periods of increased risk of illness, this can be done several times a day).

Measures to strengthen the immune system

When it comes to allergic rhinitis, the best way to prevent it is to eliminate allergens: regular wet cleaning and maintaining an optimal microclimate in the room (if the allergen is house dust). Use of protective equipment or change of place of residence - if we are talking about an allergy caused by pollen.

Prevention of vasomotor rhinitis is the competent use of vasoconstrictor drugs (no more than 5-7 days).

Preventive measures also include a competent approach to antibiotic treatment. Their unauthorized use and non-compliance with treatment regimens weaken the body’s defenses and increase the risk of developing infectious diseases, including the runny nose in children.

Conclusion

There is often a situation when parents get carried away with searching for one or another remedy that will provide treatment for a runny nose in children quickly and effectively, and forget about the simplest and most effective measures that can significantly alleviate the child’s condition and activate their own defenses. These include cleaning, humidifying and cooling the air in the room where the child is, rinsing the nose, correct drinking regime, diet. These simple measures, combined with those that support the immune system and replenish the body’s resources, will help cope with the disease as soon as possible and avoid complications.

FAQ:

Is it possible to bathe a child with a runny nose?

Parents often ask if it is possible to bathe a child with a runny nose. In most cases, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nasal cavity in a baby is not a contraindication to bathing. On the contrary, contact with water helps to reduce the viscosity of mucus and soak the crusts.

You should refrain from bathing when the child has a runny nose and a temperature of 38 degrees or higher, when the child’s general condition is suffering. In this case, it is recommended to wipe with cool water.

Is it possible to walk with a child with a runny nose?

The answer to this question depends, first of all, on the cause of the disease. If a child has an allergic runny nose caused by house dust and the elements it contains, a walk in the fresh air will bring relief. If the allergy is caused by plant pollen, then walking can lead to an exacerbation of symptoms. Also, if inflammation in the nasal cavity is associated with ARVI, then while walking it is better to avoid contact of the patient with other children.

Also the answer to the question “can you walk with your child if you have a runny nose?” depends on the child’s condition and weather conditions. If you have a high temperature, lethargy, or weakness, it is better to stay at home. You should not go outside when the air temperature outside is below zero, there is wind or other unfavorable weather conditions.

How many days does a child’s runny nose last?

How long does a child's runny nose last? The average duration of the disease, when it comes to inflammation occurring against the background of a viral infection, is 5-8 days. This is due to the peculiarities of the immune response: this is the period required for the production of interferons and antibodies (substances responsible for protecting the body from infection).

If during this time the child’s runny nose does not go away, what to do? It is imperative to consult a doctor so that he can help determine the causes of the protracted course of the disease. These may be developed complications, for example, the addition of a bacterial infection and the development of sinusitis and otitis media.

A persistent runny nose in a child may be evidence of an allergic process - in this case, an examination by an allergist and determination of the cause of the disease is indicated.

Also, if a child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time, this may be a sign of a violation of the regulation of vascular tone, including that associated with the use of vasoconstrictor drugs - vasomotor rhinitis.

How to soothe a child's feet with a runny nose?

In most cases, this procedure is not the best remedy for a runny nose for children. Just like mustard plasters, thermal procedures for the feet are aimed at stimulating reflexogenic zones. They cannot be used in the acute period of the disease, at elevated temperatures. But they can be effective in the recovery period of treatment of diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, when there is a need to increase blood flow in the affected organ by stimulating active points on the foot.

When looking for an answer to the question “how to cure a child’s runny nose at home,” you should not consider such a procedure as warming up the feet: this disease, with proper treatment, which we discussed above, goes away quickly enough and does not require active rehabilitation measures.

How to treat an incipient runny nose in a child?

When a child develops a runny nose, a number of measures can be taken to support his defenses and prevent the development of the disease. Firstly, it is necessary to ensure the full performance of the functions of the nasal mucosa, which is responsible for protecting the nasal passages from infection.

First aid for a child with a runny nose is to ensure the correct microclimate in the room: the sick person should breathe moist, cool and clean air. It is also important to provide your baby with enough fluids and put saline solution into the nose.

How to cure an incipient runny nose in a child? Another set of measures should be aimed at strengthening the body's defenses. When the first symptoms of the disease appear, it is recommended to transfer the baby to protein-free diet, reducing the load on lymphatic system and liver.

It is also recommended to include vibroacoustic therapy in the treatment of a runny nose in a child at the initial stage: the use of Vitafon devices activates the body’s defenses, has a beneficial effect on the lymphatic system, and reduces the toxic load on the body.

What should I do if I cannot cure my child’s runny nose?

Why does a child’s runny nose not go away for a long time? The cause may be the development of chronic inflammation in the nasal cavity, changes in the mucous membrane (thickening or thinning).

If a child has a frequent runny nose, the cause may be allergies, impaired vascular tone associated with abuse of vasoconstrictor drugs and other factors.

Also, if a child has a long runny nose, the cause may be a deviated nasal septum, an injury to the nose, overgrowth of the adenoids, etc.

In any case, to understand how to get rid of a runny nose in a child, you need to see a doctor to get comprehensive examination, which will help to establish the cause of the disease and select effective treatment.

Will homeopathy help with runny nose in children?

Representatives of the World Health Organization believe that “the use of homeopathy has no evidence base, and in cases where it is used as an alternative to primary treatment, it poses a real threat to people’s health and lives.”

Doctors claim that the effectiveness of a method such as homeopathy for the common cold for children, as well as for other diseases, is associated with the placebo effect, that is, with the patient’s belief that the treatment is helping. You can learn more about the principles of homeopathy from this TV show by E.O. Komarovsky.

Important to remember that homeopathy is by no means the most effective remedy for a runny nose for children! Moreover, if the disease becomes protracted, if there is a risk of developing purulent complications, such as otitis or sinusitis, etc., in no case should you rely on this method of treatment: this can be fraught with serious consequences, including the death of the child. Only complex treatment using antibacterial drugs under the supervision of specialists will help cope with purulent-inflammatory processes in the body.

List of used literature:

1. Bogomilsky M.R., Chistyakova V.R. Pediatric otorhinolaryngology. M.: GEOTAR-Media, 2006.
2. Karpova E.P., Bozhatova M.P. Rational methods of treating ARVI in children // Farmateka, 2008;
3. Kryukov A.I. Acute rhinitis. In the book: Otorhinolaryngology: national leadership/ Ed. V.T. Palchuna. M.: GEOTAR-Media, 2008.
4. Lazarev V.N., Suzdaltsev A.E., Ivoylov A.Yu., Babeshko E.A. Methods for studying adaptation processes and their correction in inflammatory diseases of the paranasal sinuses in children: Methodological recommendations, Moscow, 2002.
5. Radtsig E.Yu. Features of the course and treatment of acute rhinitis in infants and children early age/ RMJ, 2011
6. Romantsov M.G., Golofeevsky S.V. The effectiveness of Cycloferon in the treatment of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza during the epidemic rise of respiratory morbidity (2009 – 2010) / Antibiotics and chemotherapy, 2010.
7. Sinopalnikov A.I., Klyachkina I.L. Place of mucolytic drugs in complex therapy respiratory diseases / Russian Medical Bulletin No. 4.
8. Chuchalin A.G. Avdeev S.N. Rational pharmacotherapy of respiratory diseases: Hand. for medical practitioners / Litterra, 2004

You can ask questions (below) on the topic of the article and we will try to answer them competently!

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How to treat a runny nose in a child who appears suddenly? It was all of a sudden: in the morning he was active and lively, but towards lunch he began to sniffle...

Now, in the evening, when more than one handkerchief has already been filled with well-known contents, both young, “beginner” and experienced parents need to resolve several issues that will determine how serious the situation is and what to do next.

Often, the illness can last a month, or even more, until parents finally pay attention to it and take urgent measures.

If you don’t think about it, but immediately start treatment according to a well-known scheme - with vasoconstrictor drugs, then instead of quick healing you can get, for example, “naphthyzine” addiction, which can deprive a baby of the joy of free breathing for years.
So, preferably already in the first hour after the first signs of snot appear, parents should give themselves the answer (or try) to many questions, and we hope that this article will help make the right decision and cope with the disease in a timely manner.

Terminology. What is a “runny nose” anyway?

A condition in which there is excessive secretion of nasal mucus is called “rhinitis.” And ordinary “snot” is scientifically called “rhinorrhea,” that is, literally “nasal flow.”

In medical clinical terminology, the suffix “-itis” means inflammation.

Of course, there is a big difference between appendicitis and rhinitis: no one will remove the nose. This word simply means inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nasal concha and the nasal passages existing between them.

Inflammation can be expressed to varying degrees: with a real inflammatory process, with the addition of a bacterial infection, the mucous membrane may look tense, swollen, even cyanotic, for example, with meningococcal nasopharyngitis.

In the case of allergic rhinitis, the mucous membrane may be of normal color, only slightly hyperemic, but there will be a significant amount of mucus discharge, which has a transparent appearance.

It is known that the nasal mucosa is capable of responding to any irritation or infection in one - the only protective way - mucus production.

If, along with nasal discharge, there is a sore throat, for example, when swallowing, then they speak of nasopharyngitis, that is, damage to both the nasal mucosa and the pharyngeal wall.

What should you not do if you have a runny nose in children?

You need to immediately decide what parents of especially young children are prohibited from doing:

Use nasal drops containing antibiotics from the very beginning without a doctor’s prescription. This is strictly prohibited for a number of reasons:

• the antibiotic affects bacteria, but does not act on viruses, which are the cause in the vast majority of cases;
• It is recommended to prescribe antibiotics only after obtaining the results of bacterial cultures of nasal discharge on nutrient media;
• when they are instilled into the nasal passages, swallowing them is inevitable, and the development of intestinal dysbiosis is possible due to the death of normal microflora with the subsequent development of diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain. Dysbacteriosis develops especially quickly in young children if they are hastily mixed up with the dosage of antibiotics and given the drug by mistake with adult concentration.

Immediately begin treatment of colds with vasoconstrictor drugs. Especially rude ones like “ Naphthyzin», « Galazolin" First of all, they dry out the mucous membrane and cause vascular spasm.

And if the symptoms disappear for a few hours, this does not mean anything: recovery treatment after abuse of such drugs can be quite long.

It must be remembered that the discharge of mucus in case of a cold is a protection, and there is no need to interfere with it.

Vasopressor intranasal agents can be used as the main ones only in case of allergic aseptic swelling of the mucous membrane , as an element of pathogenetic therapy affecting the development of the process. Use a rubber syringe to rinse the nasal passages. Especially for kids. The force of pressure may well cause injury to the eardrum, and fluid entering the structures of the middle ear may cause reactive otitis media.

The main causes of runny nose in children

You should not think that the only reason and source is a common cold. The reasons may be different, but infections still lead in frequency of occurrence in all age groups.

Viral rhinitis. The most common not only in children, but also in adults. Oddly enough, it is caused by viruses that have an affinity for mucous membranes. It is there that their attachment to cells and primary reproduction occur.

If the protective barrier is strong, then the antiviral immunity quickly copes with pathogens, and such ailment quickly goes away on its own.

It is about him that it is said that “an untreated runny nose goes away in a week, and a treated one – in seven days.”

By this we mean that the laws of the development of a viral infection and methods of combating it in the body go through certain stages, which can be helped, but cannot be accelerated.

Most often, such an event as nasal congestion and runny nose is preceded by hypothermia: general or local (wet feet, an extra portion of ice cream).

Bacterial rhinitis. In most cases, it is a consequence of a viral process with weakened immunity. It occurs in weakened, often sick children, but can appear as a complication against the background of normal immunity, if the pathogen is particularly contagious.

As a result, bacterial inflammation develops on the weakened mucosa, which manifests itself as mucous-purulent discharge from the nasal passages. General signs of intoxication often develop: fever, malaise;

Allergic rhinitis. with repeated episodes, when it is clear which allergen caused it. And when such a reaction occurs for the first time, its reliable “markers” are an abundance of clear, watery discharge and other signs of an allergic reaction: conjunctivitis, Quincke’s edema, urticaria, itching.

In more severe cases, bronchospasm may develop, which makes it difficult to exhale rather than inhale.

Finally, in some cases, swelling of the larynx may progress, which may require urgent surgery to avoid death from suffocation.

Finally, the most severe allergic manifestation is fulminant anaphylactic shock.

As a rule, this type of rhinitis has a strong connection with both respiratory (pollen, fish food, house dust) and food allergens (strawberries, chocolate, shrimp, eggs, citrus fruits). Sometimes develops when caring for animals.

Medicinal, “ricochet” runny nose. It is a consequence of too aggressive treatment, in which vasoconstrictor drugs were used without proper control.

You need to understand that the speed of action and effectiveness of adrenergic agonists does not mean that these drugs should form the basis of the therapeutic arsenal of parents.

This is similar to how large-caliber heavy artillery should become the basis of an offensive operation.

A quick effect will be achieved, but at the cost of a scorched desert. This form of the disease is often transitional to chronic.

Congenital defects of the facial skull and ENT organs. They appear in case of serious disorders in the first days after birth, in case of moderate ones they can appear in cases of common rhinitis. The basis is difficulty in nasal breathing.

Most often, congenital symptoms are to blame for this, and due to inexperience, parents often mistake difficulty breathing for a runny nose, despite the fact that there is practically no “snot.”

Vasomotor rhinitis. A type of rhinitis associated with impaired vascular tone in the area of ​​the nasal concha and passages. The consequence of spasm of the efferent veins is swelling of the mucous membrane and rhinorrhea.

An important factor is the recurrence of attacks regardless of its connection with both hypothermia and the effect of allergens.

It is important to know

Most often, the provocation is some action or phenomenon: excitement, increased blood pressure, change in weather. May accompany symptoms of vegetative-vascular dystonia.

In addition, other reasons may be the culprits of the disease: overgrowth of adenoids, foreign objects entering the upper respiratory tract.

Sometimes the painful condition may be due to the presence of a chronic congenital disease, such as cystic fibrosis or sarcoidosis. Therefore, in any case, for an accurate diagnosis you need to consult a doctor. Source: website

What complications can there be?

Despite the fact that it is difficult to imagine a more “trivial” disease, it is fraught with serious complications and dangers. Let's list the most common ones:

• gradual spread of infection into the bronchi and lungs due to the drainage of infected mucus downwards;
• blockage of the Eustachian (auditory) tube with thick mucus with the development of inflammation in the tube (reactive otitis media);
• development of sinusitis (sinusitis, frontal sinusitis, ethmotiditis) - with the involvement of the cranial sinuses (maxillary, frontal and ethmoidal labyrinth, respectively);
• In infants who must feed by sucking, nasal congestion does not allow them to breathe fully while eating. Therefore, they may be malnourished, lose weight, or choke on milk or formula. and it can even lead to aspiration pneumonia.

Rhinitis in children: main symptoms

We will not consider here the manifestations of intoxication of the whole body (fever, malaise, lethargy), since they are well known to everyone and will focus only on local ones:

• nasal congestion. It is very easy to check: close one nostril and breathe “half-heartedly”. It turns out without tension - there is no symptom;
• rhinorrhea, or nasal discharge. They can be serous or serous-purulent. There is no purely purulent discharge from the nasal passages, but with puncture of the maxillary sinus you can sometimes get pus;
• sneezing. Everyone knows that its purpose is to clear the airways with the help of a reflexively caused push of air. The air speed when coughing and sneezing can reach 100 km/h or more. Sneezing is usually preceded by rich and varied sensations: burning, scratching, pleasant tickling.
• with atrophy of the mucous membrane (atrophic rhinitis), scanty dry crusts form instead of rhinorrhea;
• since the secretion of mucus and tears have much in common, with a runny nose it can sometimes occur. Sometimes it occurs on one side, with sensations preceding sneezing;
• Hyposmia or anosmia is the inability to distinguish odors. This feeling is also familiar to everyone firsthand.

There are also other discharges from the nasal passages: for example, with a fracture of the base of the skull and ruptures of the dura mater, cerebrospinal fluid may leak from the nose and ears in rare cases.

Sometimes a child may have a runny nose with blood.

Sometimes blood may drip from the nose, that is, nosebleeds occur. There is even a special area from which almost all nosebleeds originate - Kisselbach's zone.

You should not be afraid of this symptom, you need to put the child down, throw back your head and put cold on the bridge of the nose, but for no more than five minutes, so as not to catch a cold in the maxillary sinuses.

You can roll up turundas from soft paper (napkins, toilet paper) and insert them into the nostril so as not to stain your clothes with blood.

Sometimes a nosebleed can simply occur because a child who doesn't cut his nails simply picks his nose.

A child develops a runny nose: what to do?

The stages of the disease, like any developing process, are clearly defined in time. They are most pronounced in the typical case when an incipient runny nose develops due to hypothermia:

Reflex stage, which is the shortest and lasts only a few hours. It is at this stage that primary edema forms due to hypothermia, without the influence of pathogens. Mild unpleasant impressions are possible: rawness (dryness and soreness) in the nose, worsening breathing;

Stage of viral rhinorrhea. Lasts several days and is associated with the direct influence of viruses. It is at this time that the child can be infectious to others. Of course, it is advisable that he wear a mask;

The third stage most often marks the beginning of recovery - symptoms decrease in the reverse order of their appearance. But sometimes the depleted mucous membrane cannot protect itself, and then a “landing force” of microbes lands on it, after viral inflammation first occurred.

Source: website Therefore, the answer to the question “how long does a child’s runny nose last” suggests, at a minimum, two options. The first - about a week with strong immunity and the second - for as long as desired - with a weak level of immune defense, since it enters the chronic stage.

The frequency of the disease also affects the speed of recovery. If a child is bothered by frequent sniffles, it may simply be the course of chronic rhinitis with long periods of relatively pronounced remission.

How to properly treat a runny nose in a child?

To do this, you need to follow a soft, physiological approach, and in no case do harm with your activities.

The dangers of prescribing harsh vasoconstrictor drugs at the very beginning of treatment and antibiotics have already been discussed.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a general scheme according to which it is necessary to act from the onset of the disease until the “critical point” is reached, which approximately occurs on the 4th or 5th day from the onset of the disease.

It is during this period that it will become clear whether your treatment has achieved its goal, or whether you need to call a doctor and add stronger drugs to the treatment.

Principles of correct and reasonable treatment

If you look at the instructions for children's drugs for intranasal administration (numerous sprays, dosed drops), you will notice that the approach to treating an infant aged 8 to 9 months will differ in both approach and dosage of drugs from the principles of treating children, say , preschool age - at 5 or 6 years old.

toilet the nasal passages at the first the appearance of rhinorrhea and difficulty breathing, especially in infants before feeding. This is very important for proper nutrition. For the toilet, you need to use turundas made of soft cloth or gauze, which are moistened with a solution of baking soda at the rate of 1 tsp. per glass of warm water;

then to babies to create immune protection drop a drop of mother's milk into each nostril, containing secretory immunoglobulins that protect the baby from germs and viruses;

if there is no breast milk, you can drip drugs that enhance immunity, or just warm olive or linseed oil;

it is necessary to ensure constant discharge of mucus, which contains many viral particles. To do this, it must be sufficiently liquid and should not dry out.

Therefore, the child must receive a sufficient amount of fluid inside: the mucous membranes should not dry out. If nasal breathing is impossible due to crusts and a clogged nose, then breathing through the mouth causes a significant loss of moisture through the lungs;

instillation of saline solution or drops of sea water is The next remedy for combating dry nasal mucosa. You can use oil solutions of fat-soluble vitamins: A and E, even in children 1 year of age and earlier.

Their harmlessness allows you to drip as often as you want, especially if there is no ionizer or humidifier at home: this compensates for dryness, which is very high especially in city apartments in winter, when water heating radiators are very hot.

Treatment with medications

The article does not set out to give a comparative overview of all available drugs, so we will limit ourselves to covering one or two of the most effective and popular drugs in each group that can be used:

Vasoconstrictor drops

Indicated as the main remedy for allergic rhinitis, together with antihistamines:

• “Nazol Baby” and “Nazol Kids spray” for children from birth and from the age of 6 years;
• "Nasivin" is a drug that lasts about 12 hours (long-term action).

Antihistamines

• "Fenistil", "Allergodil". These drops are indicated for use even in babies aged 1 – 2 months;
• "Tizin allergy". Used in children over 5 - 6 years old, can also be successfully used by adults;
• “Zyrtec” in the form of an intranasal spray effectively relieves swelling and allergic rhinorrhea without causing side effects;

Miramistin for runny nose in children

You can find information on the Internet that Miramistin can be used as a remedy for children's runny nose. The thing is that this is not entirely true: if this drug can be used after unprotected sexual intercourse, this does not mean that it can be poured anywhere.

Below are arguments that refute the effectiveness of this remedy in almost all cases of childhood (and adult) rhinitis:

• in the market era, the manufacturer would definitely release Miramistin spray for intranasal use, however, the manufacturing company does not agree to this;
• the drug is intended to protect the mucous membrane and destroy bacteria on its entire surface Therefore, for ordinary viral rhinitis, the drug useless. It is effective against hepatitis viruses, HIV, but not adenoviruses;
• with a bacterial complication and serous-purulent discharge, Miramistin will also be ineffective, since it is first desirable to identify the causative agent.

And, although the instructions contain indications for treating the oral cavity, and in otolaryngology it is indicated for irrigation of the pharynx and ear, the drug is not indicated for instillation into the nose according to the instructions.

In addition, Miramistin promotes the formation of a dry scab in the wound, and for the nasal mucosa, this is extremely harmful, since the pathogen remains in these dried crusts.

Antibiotics for a runny nose in a child

The use of antibacterial drugs and the precautions associated with them have already been discussed above. Here are a few of the best representatives:

A good cold remedy for children

What should you put in a child’s nose when they have a runny nose without regard for safety? What remedy can a mother give, in the hope of helping, but without harm or side effects?

What to do if a child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time?

If, against the background of a decrease in immunity, a frequently ill child develops a persistent, persistent, long-lasting runny nose, then in this case he is shown immune drugs containing antiviral protection - interferon and other active components:

In order to quickly cure rhinitis in a child at the initial stage, it is not necessary to use medications, which may have various side effects.

Numerous traditional medicines can be used, which can either prevent the disease from dragging on and becoming chronic , or even prevent the disease even before its first manifestations.

So, for example, going to the bathhouse, warming up the whole body, and drinking tea with raspberries, honey and linden blossom can simply prevent a cold from becoming active in the body due to hypothermia.

Mustard in socks

This method refers to reflexology techniques. Its meaning is to pour dry mustard powder into the child’s socks to improve blood circulation in the feet.

Since the vascular networks in the body are connected by reflexes, this causes an increase in immunity in response to the irritating effect of mustard.

This method cannot be used in children under one year old, or when the temperature rises. This is a preventative method it can be resorted to only in case of hypothermia, which happened a few hours ago, and, according to the fears and experience of parents, can turn into a cold.

Mustard is poured 1-2 teaspoons into children's socks at night, and woolen socks are put on top.

Saline solution

Saline solution prepared at home is the same saline solution, provided that it has a concentration of 0.9% salt, which is equivalent to the state of blood plasma. It is very useful to use devices to rinse your nose with salt water heated to 38 - 40 degrees.

In addition to mechanical and atraumatic cleaning of the mucous membrane, water has the ability to draw water out, and with the water, swelling of the nasal mucosa goes away.

In the case of multiple drug allergies, the use of saline solution along with cleansing, moisturizing, and warming can cause the disease to recede.

Beetroot juice for a speedy recovery

How to cure a child’s runny nose quickly at home using vegetables? Many believe that for this you need to use raw beet juice, which is first left to settle in the refrigerator and then dropped into each nostril.

The entire effect of this event will be reduced to moisturizing the nasal mucosa, and beetroot juice has no advantage over ordinary salted water. In any case, studies have not shown any acceleration of the period of rhinorrhea when using this remedy.

Radish and honey

Black radish juice with honey has a great immunogenic effect: the top of the radish is cut off and a hole is made in the center. Honey is placed in the hole and closed again with a radish lid.

The entire structure is placed in a warm place for several hours. At this time, the radish will release juice, which should be taken 1 tbsp. spoon.

It can be used in children from 3-4 years of age, as it strengthens the immune system well and alleviates not only the runny nose, but also bronchitis, tonsillitis and other colds.

Essential oils

Drugs such as essential oils can only be used if the child does not have a significant allergic history.

After all, essential oils can cause severe bronchospasm. Thus, it is almost impossible to force a child to breathe essential oils of garlic and onion.

Therefore, tea tree oil, mint oil, eucalyptus oil, and lemon oil would be a good alternative. Thuja oil has a good healing effect. This oil is obtained from thuja needles, and it has a pronounced immunomodulatory effect.

In addition, vapors of essential oils can moisturize and soften the mucous membrane of not only the nose, but also the bronchi, having a beneficial effect on the ciliary epithelium.

For more detailed information on the use of a nebulizer in the treatment of ENT diseases, you can read the article below:

In addition to treatment:

The main purpose of this article was to make parents understand that in most cases, a runny nose (rhinitis) is a natural process

A runny nose appears so often in children of any age that it sometimes seems like a mandatory part of preschool childhood. Perhaps it is precisely this circumstance that makes many parents underestimate the importance frequent rhinitis in children older than one year.

If a runny nose in an infant should be treated immediately after it occurs, because the baby cannot eat and sleep properly due to a stuffy nose, then rhinitis in children older than one year requires an accurate diagnosis and a balanced approach. A common cold left to its own devices can cause...

Is a runny nose a disease?

Rhinitis, or runny nose, is an inflammation of the nasal cavities in acute or chronic form, resulting in impaired breathing. The main purpose of the nasal mucosa is to protect the respiratory organs from the penetration of bacteria, viruses and other pathogenic organisms.

Normally, they remain in the mucus of the nasal passages, and are then removed using the ciliated epithelium. If a child develops a runny nose, it means that the protection is weakened by the following factors:

• Hypothermia of the body;
• Irritation from strong odors;
• Dusty or dry air;
• Exposure to cold air.

Having overcome the protective barrier, the virus penetrates the cells of the nasal mucosa, matures and multiplies inside them, and subsequently destroys them. When bacterial flora joins the contents of the nasal passages, the runny nose moves to the next stage of its development.

If you cannot quickly get rid of a runny nose, it becomes chronic. In this case, infiltrates appear on the mucous membrane, it hypertrophies or partially atrophies.

Such ENT pathology is almost never diagnosed as a separate disease. Most often, chronic or acute rhinitis in children is a symptom of a viral, bacterial infection or allergy.

According to medical statistics, every child of preschool or primary school age suffers from 4 to 9 cases of runny nose per year.

Do not underestimate the possible consequences of prolonged rhinitis:

• Slowing down the rate of physical and mental development of the child;
• Decreased academic performance among schoolchildren;
• Sinusitis;
• Pneumonia;
• Bronchial asthma;
• Otitis media.

Diagnosis and treatment of runny nose in children is carried out by a pediatrician or pediatric otolaryngologist. For an in-depth examination and specific treatment, consultation with an allergist or pulmonologist may be required.

Causes of a runny nose

Most often, rhinitis in children is caused by rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, influenza viruses, streptococci and staphylococci, and pathogens of respiratory infections. Rarely, a runny nose can be caused by fungi and bacteria that provoke the appearance of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, as well as chlamydia and mycoplasma.

The main causes of children's runny nose:

• Infection of a child with influenza, adenovirus infection, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough, meningitis, measles;
• Decreased protective function of the nasal mucosa due to tonsillitis, sinusitis, inflammation of the adenoids;
• Side effect of vaccination;
• Catarrhal diathesis;
• Exposure to allergens (pollen, house dust, animal dander, food);
• Anatomical features (nasal polyps, deviated nasal septum);
• Disorder of neurovegetative regulation of blood supply to the nasal cavity due to long-term use of vasoconstrictor drugs;
• Vascular neurosis.

The causes of possible complications of rhinitis are associated with age-related features of the anatomy of the upper respiratory tract. If a one-year-old child does not have maxillary sinuses, then in children of early preschool age they are just beginning to form.

At the age of 5-8 years, their size is minimal; the maxillary sinuses reach their optimal size by the age of 16. As a result, improper treatment of rhinitis in children under 7 years of age is complicated by otitis media, and in adolescents – by sinusitis.

Classification of rhinitis and its symptoms

If we classify rhinitis in children according to the form of its course, we distinguish acute and chronic. The division of cases of rhinitis according to the course of the pathology is seasonal, paroxysmal and constant.

In the acute form, the pathological process develops rapidly. A burning sensation, itching appears in the nose, the nasal passages become blocked, and copious mucus flows from them.

The child begins to sneeze, tears flow from the eyes, and a headache appears. The continuous flow of mucus with a prolonged runny nose leads to irritation of the wings of the nose and the skin of the upper lip.

Since the natural drainage of the nasal cavity is disrupted and the ciliated epithelium does not perform its functions, bacterial flora actively develops in the nasal passages. This can be judged by the changed color of the mucous discharge - it acquires a yellow-green color and becomes cloudy.

After a few days, acute symptoms subside, the volume of mucus decreases, and nasal breathing improves. If it is possible to prevent a runny nose at an early stage, by 6-7 days the symptoms of rhinitis subside, and the acute form ends with recovery.

A child’s cough and hoarse voice against the background of the symptoms described above indicate that the infection has penetrated into the pharynx, larynx, trachea, or lower into the bronchopulmonary region. Such complications are common in weakened children with reduced immunity.

The main types of runny nose in children - classification by etiology:

Simple catarrhal rhinitis.

The symptoms are less acute - nasal breathing is impaired, one or the other nostril is alternately blocked, mucopurulent discharge is constantly present. When mucus flows into the nasopharynx, the child snores in his sleep, begins to cough, and may vomit.

Hypertrophic rhinitis.

Nasal breathing is constantly difficult, headache, hearing, voice and smell impairment are noted. Hypertrophic prolonged runny nose in a school-age child leads to increased fatigue and decreased performance.

Vasomotor rhinitis.

Diagnosed in primary schoolchildren and adolescents due to impaired regulation of blood supply to the nasal cavities. Symptoms: excessive mucus flow, frequent sneezing, periodic nasal congestion, tachycardia, sweating, headache attacks.

Attacks of vasomotor rhinitis occur after stressful situations, due to temperature changes, sudden changes in the external environment.

(ozena), or offensive runny nose.

Nasal breathing is impaired, viscous mucus and rough crusts with an unpleasant odor accumulate in the nose. With atrophy of the bone walls, the nose may become deformed.

Allergic rhinitis.

It occurs as a reaction to the introduction of an allergen into the body - most often pollen from plants, trees and cereals, less often - house dust and mold fungi. The child often sneezes, has an itchy nose, profuse nasal discharge, and disturbed sleep and appetite.

The pathological process is not limited only to the nasal cavity, it affects the maxillary sinuses, so a more accurate name for such a runny nose is rhinosinusitis.

Approximately 40% of all cases of runny nose in children are caused by allergens. Therefore, if you are wondering why your child’s runny nose does not go away for a long time, you should consult an allergist.

How to treat a child's runny nose?

Since rhinitis is most often a symptom of some pathology, the main attention is paid to the treatment of this disease. For a runny nose caused by a cold, the drug Grippferon in the form of drops or spray has an excellent antiviral and immunomodulatory effect.

The choice of treatment regimen for a runny nose depends on the age of the child, on the anatomical features of the respiratory system of preschoolers, primary schoolchildren and adolescents.

Treatment of runny nose in preschool children (from one year to 7 years)

If rhinitis is caused by viruses, the most effective remedy for a viral runny nose for preschool children is a wait-and-see approach. It is worth being patient and waiting for 4-5 days until the child’s immunity suppresses the viral infection on its own.

Refusal of medications in this case will allow the immune system to strengthen and subsequently avoid frequent relapses of rhinitis.

How to ease breathing with a runny nose in children 1-7 years old:

• Ventilate the child’s room more often;
• Maintain a stable humidity of 50-60%;
• Do not force feed your baby if he has no appetite;
• Remove excess mucus;
• Provide the child with plenty of warm drinks.

If after 5 days the symptoms of rhinitis do not subside, drug treatment is used. At this age, you should avoid rinsing your nose when you have a runny nose, since the drug, administered under pressure into the nasal passages, along with infected mucus, easily penetrates into the middle ear and causes otitis media.

For symptomatic treatment, vasoconstrictor children's drops with anti-inflammatory and anti-edema effects are used. It is important to remember that drugs of this type are not used for longer than 5 days to avoid addiction.

Effective drops for the common cold for children from one to seven years old:

• Vibrocil;
• Brizolin;
• Otrivin baby;
• Nazol baby.

If rhinitis is caused by excessive dryness in the room, saline solutions will help ease the child’s breathing at night and during the day ( Aqua Maris, Physiomer). It is important to use this children's remedy for a runny nose in the form of a nasal shower - do not rinse with it, but just irrigate the nose.

Steam inhalations are very effective if a runny nose persists for a long time in a child 3-7 years old and older. For inhalations, infusions of medicinal herbs (sage, chamomile, coltsfoot, eucalyptus, licorice) are used.

Traditional methods of treating childhood rhinitis such as instilling the following drugs into the nose are widely used:

• Sea buckthorn, black cumin, rosehip oil;
• Carrot juice with olive oil;

When using a folk remedy for acute or chronic runny nose in children, you should make sure that the baby does not have allergies. If a child snores after a runny nose, or develops a cough or sore throat, apply rubbing with Doctor Mom (from 3 years of age), or Erespal orally in the form of syrup or tablets.

Treatment of allergic rhinitis begins with eliminating the allergen, removing prohibited foods from the menu, and stopping contact with animals.

Therapy for this condition includes the use of antihistamines in the form of tablets (Desloratadine, Clarotadine, Fenistil), glucocorticosteroids (Nasonex), and Vibrocil drops with an antiallergic effect.

Treatment of runny nose in children 8-16 years old

How to treat an incipient runny nose in a teenager or a child of primary school age? To remove mucus and prevent sinusitis in children of this age, the nose is washed with an isotonic solution. For the same purposes, the nasal cavity is irrigated with antiseptics (Protargol) and vasoconstrictors based on oxymetazoline.

To rinse the nose use:

• Saline solution (1 tsp per 1 liter of water);
• Decoctions of medicinal herbs (calendula, St. John's wort, coltsfoot, chamomile), oak bark.

Otherwise, the treatment of rhinitis does not differ from similar therapy in young children.

Uncontrolled treatment of a prolonged runny nose causes atrophy of nasal tissue, allergies, and drug-induced rhinitis in children. To prevent relapses, infections should be treated in a timely manner, the child should be hardened, and harmful factors should be eliminated.

If in kindergarten or school starts to vaccinate, be sure to ask your doctor. In almost all cases, vaccinations are contraindicated.

A nutritious diet, exercise, and an optimal microclimate in the premises where children are located will significantly reduce the likelihood of relapses.