How is laryngitis manifested in a child. Symptoms, treatment

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

This article will discuss how to identify laryngitis in a child. Symptoms, treatment of this disease are sometimes unknown to parents, so they are at a loss, not knowing how to help their child. In fact, inflammation is quite easy to treat.

What you need to know about the disease?

Laryngitis is an inflammation of the larynx. There is a course of the disease in which the larynx swells, its lumen narrows, making it difficult for air to pass into the lungs. Then the doctor diagnoses "stenosing laryngitis" in the child. Symptoms, treatment of this form of the disease require medical intervention. The cause of such a complication may be an allergy, an infectious disease, a burn of the larynx (for example, when inhaling hot steam). Stenosing laryngitis in a child, caused precisely by an infection, has a specific name - croup. For example, it occurred earlier with diphtheria, but today, thanks to diphtheria vaccinations, it is extremely rare. A serious condition can also develop after respiratory viral infections, to which children are most susceptible. Andof course, when a child has symptoms of laryngitis, parents need to show it to a pediatrician.

Symptomatics

Recognizing inflammation of the larynx is quite simple. For example, Dr. Komarovsky names the following symptoms of laryngitis: fever, "barking" cough, voice change and shortness of breath. As a rule, they accompany the course of SARS or may occur after the virus has been expelled from the body. It is also rare for the first croup to occur at age 3 or more. It is most often caused by the parainfluenza virus, and small children (from six months to 2.5-3 years) are more predisposed to it. The child may complain that it is difficult for him to breathe. This is a specific symptom of this disease. When the lungs are damaged (that is, with asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia), as a rule, it will be difficult to exhale, and with inflammation of the larynx, it is difficult to inhale. Croup is also accompanied by classic symptoms of an infectious disease - an acute course of the disease, runny nose, sore throat. It should be said right away that it is not worth treating stenotic laryngitis in a child yourself: symptoms, treatment should be controlled by a doctor. Croup is a dangerous situation, and there can be no talk of any self-treatment!

Treatment

What is the difference between laryngitis and croup? This unpleasant childhood disease is accompanied by inflammation of the larynx, but most often there is no difficulty in breathing. Parents may also notice a jerky loud cough with laryngitis in children, and a hoarse voice (or the voice disappears altogether). In severe cases, the mild form may develop intocroup. An attack of laryngitis in a child most often occurs at night or in the evening. Then you should urgently call the child a doctor. It is a mistake to assume that if inflammation of the larynx occurs, it means that the baby has a weakened immune system. It has nothing to do with it, so taking immunostimulants and vitamins will not help. How then to alleviate the course of the disease?

If your baby has difficulty breathing, try not to scare or worry him. If you notice that the child’s voice has “sat down”, provide him with vocal rest - do not provoke him to talk, shout or sing, and if your talker cannot be silenced, just try to speak as quietly as possible. Maintaining cleanliness in the room and regular ventilation have a beneficial effect on the course of the disease. Ideally, the temperature in the room where the patient is located should be no higher than 18 ° C, and the humidity should be 50-70%. Do not forget to give the child water and bring down the body temperature (from 38 ° C) with paracetamol or ibuprofen. If the baby at the same time cannot breathe freely through the nose, then use vasoconstrictor baby drops. It is categorically impossible to inhale with laryngitis with hot steam and give strong expectorants!

Now you know how laryngitis occurs in a child, the symptoms, treatment of this disease and you can help the baby in a timely manner!