When the child coughed, the whole family became anxious and scared:
Doctor, doctor, the child coughs old bad, is how to return a responsibility?
Doctor, doctor, is there any medicine for the child to cough?
In fact, it is not a bad thing for a child to cough, but it may also be a good thing.
On the contrary, blind cough relieving is prone to more serious problems.
Cough is the body’s protective mechanism.
When pathogens and foreign bodies invade the respiratory tract, stimulation is generated, and the body’s protective reflex, cough, will open.
Babies’ nasal cavity has a special physiological structure and is more sensitive than adults’. In addition to pathogen invasion, changes in temperature and humidity can also cause babies to cough:
- When children get up in the morning, they will cough twice gently, which is usually caused by inhaling cold air. When children eat, they sometimes cough twice gently, which is related to being choked by food and stimulating respiratory tract. In the high incidence season of allergy like spring and autumn, the increase of allergens in the air will also cause children to cough.
The baby coughed, instead of rushing to stop cough and seek superficial peace, it is better to investigate the reason first:
- Does the air suddenly get cold/dry/bad? Did the child just eat some stimulating food? Are there any allergens that have not been ruled out inside and outside the home?
Cough is a symptom, the essence of which is a protective reflex caused by certain substances (which may be pathogens, or sudden changes in air, etc.) that stimulate our respiratory tract.
When a child coughs, what parents should do more is to find out the real cause of the child’s allergy and stop cough only to treat the symptoms but not the root causes.
Cough can help clear up irritants in the respiratory tract.
First of all, we need to know the mechanism of cough:
First, short, deep inhalation
Then the glottis closes
With the opening of the glottis, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles contract
Elevated pulmonary pressure
Under pressure
Sudden discharge of high-pressure air from the lungs
Cough–
Cough–
Two full-blown coughs were on the verge of coming out.
If the speed of tennis balls flying out is 80 kilometers per hour, then the air flow generated when we cough can reach 161 kilometers per hour.
Such high-speed air flow can help the human body remove foreign bodies, pathogens, allergens and mucus from the airway.
Giving children cough medicine is instead helping [the enemy]
When a child coughs, the body is fighting against foreign bodies entering the respiratory tract.
But cough can also be controlled. This is also why cough medicines such as [dextromethorphan] and [codeine] can work.
However, cough relief is not a good thing:
1. The respiratory tract will secrete sputum due to inflammation. Once taking antitussive drugs, children may suffer from the risk of asphyxia due to sputum deposition.
This is also why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not recommend children under 2 years old to use over-the-counter drugs for colds and coughs to treat coughs.
2. Foreign bodies or irritants entering the human body through respiratory tract may aggravate the child’s illness if they are not eliminated when coughing.
Using antitussive drugs to inhibit children’s cough reflex is like pouring cold water on soldiers who are taking the lead.
Does the child have a bad cough and need not take cough medicine?
Yes, no.
Children will still cough for a period of time after experiencing a cold, in fact, because there are still some pathogens still lingering in our bodies and refusing to leave.
Our immune system will still launch follow-up attacks, making our throat itchy and causing cough reactions.
If the child only coughs after catching a cold and is not accompanied by other special disease symptoms, parents need not worry, let alone take cough medicine.
If the child’s mental state is not good, cough affects daily life and sleep, or cough lasts for more than 30 days, parents are not recommended to give the child cough medicine without authorization, but should go to the hospital in time to eliminate laryngitis, bronchiolitis, asthma and other diseases.
When necessary, some non-addictive cough medicines can be properly used under the guidance of doctors.
Parents love their children and it is understandable that they will take cough medicine whenever they cough.
However, cough is actually a child’s self-protection mechanism. Blind use of cough medicine is not only of no help to the child, but may cover up the real illness and do more harm than good.
As a parent, one should still choose the right way to deal with it and accompany one’s children through the miserable days.