An allergic cough in a child is a rather alarming symptom that requires immediate attention from parents, because in the absence of timely treatment, it can eventually develop into a more serious disease – asthma. Preventive actions are recommended to be applied even before the birth of the baby – during pregnancy. With special attention during the period of gestation, you need to relate to the diet. From the routine of the expectant mother, it is necessary to eliminate all possible allergens, since the less the pregnant woman has contact with all the factors that trigger the allergy, the greater the likelihood of a completely allergic-healthy baby being born.
Prevention of allergic cough in children
After the birth of the child, parents should carefully monitor the entire routine of the baby, protecting it from contact with allergens. It is necessary to regularly ventilate the room in which the child sleeps, monitor air humidity, use special children’s hypoallergenic powder for washing children’s and bedding. The fabrics from which the bed sheets and baby linen are sewn must be natural.
At the first manifestations of diathesis in a child, it is necessary to immediately take measures and consult a pediatric doctor. With reddening of the cheeks and the first rashes on the body, the child is transferred to a sparing diet, in which the intake of red fruits and white cereals is not allowed. Parents should receive more detailed recommendations on nutrition from specialists: an allergist or a nutritionist.
How is an allergic cough treated?
Before a doctor prescribes a course of treatment for an allergic cough in a child, he must undergo a diagnosis to identify all possible allergens. After this, the contact of the child is completely excluded. This is a rather complicated process, since most often an allergic cough in a child is caused by house dust, wool, and even sometimes cotton inclusions.
When prescribing treatment, the doctor takes into account the likelihood of a threat of a transition to a chronic form of allergic cough. In such cases, a child develops chronic bronchitis with an asthma component, and in the absence of further treatment, bronchial asthma is formed.
The difference between an allergic cough and a regular one
In fact, allergic cough is common in children quite often, especially children who suffer from diathesis spots at an earlier age, since diathesis indicates an allergic predisposition. An allergic cough can be caused even by a small amount of allergen.
But distinguishing an allergic cough from a normal one is quite simple. Firstly, it is not accompanied by sputum production, but is a dry barking cough with sputum that is difficult to separate. Secondly, before an attack of an allergic cough, a child may complain that he lacks air or is difficult to breathe. This is a symptom of mild suffocation, formed due to swelling of the mucous membrane of the larynx and / or bronchi.
Thirdly, an attack of allergic cough is easily eliminated with the help of any modern antihistamine. For example, if a child is given an injection of suprastin when a coughing attack begins, then it will stop after 5-10 minutes, and after taking a suprastin tablet, after 20 minutes. The action of suprastin usually does not exceed 12 hours. But in order to achieve a result, taking antihistamines alone is not enough – to prevent the development of an allergic cough in a child is possible only with the help of the complex therapy prescribed by the doctor after the examination.