Folk remedies for treating cough in children

For any parent, having a coughing child can be quite stressful. Children’s coughs can be caused by a variety of things, ranging from a common cold to allergies or even more serious illnesses. While it’s crucial to speak with a healthcare provider if you’re concerned about your child’s health, many families find solace in age-old remedies. Often, these tried-and-true methods make use of organic components that you can find in your own kitchen.

Traditions have been handed down through the ages and can provide a reassuring substitute for over-the-counter drugs. Without the use of harsh chemicals, many parents discover that their child’s symptoms can be reduced with these easy, homemade remedies. These remedies, which include warm herbal tea, calming honey drinks, and essential oil-based chest rubs, can offer mild comfort and relief.

This post will discuss some of the most widely used home cures for children’s coughs. We’ll talk about what they are, how to prepare them, and their potential benefits. Recall that these treatments ought to be applied cautiously and in concert with the guidance of your child’s physician, particularly in the event that your child has any underlying medical issues.

Honey and Lemon	Mix a teaspoon of honey with a few drops of lemon juice. This helps soothe the throat and reduce coughing. Make sure your child is over one year old before using honey.
Ginger Tea	Boil fresh ginger slices in water. Let it cool and add a little honey. Ginger has natural anti-inflammatory properties that can help ease coughing.
Warm Salt Water Gargle	Mix a half teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water. Have your child gargle this mixture to help relieve throat irritation.
Steam Inhalation	Have your child inhale steam from a bowl of hot water. This can help loosen mucus and ease coughing.
Herbal Teas	Chamomile or thyme tea can be soothing. Make sure it’s not too hot and check with your pediatrician before giving herbal remedies.

Types of cough

Cough isn’t regarded as a disease in and of itself. This is a defense mechanism that our body uses to keep pathogens and foreign objects out of our respiratory system. It is activated by a signal from the brain’s cough center. Numerous receptors in the nose, larynx, bronchi, trachea, and even the pleura are irritated, which causes the respiratory muscles to contract. The child then starts to cough because this is how the body gets rid of bacteria, viruses, etc. with a forceful, sharp exhalation.

In this issue, Dr. Komarovsky will explain the causes, symptoms, and treatments of children’s coughs.

Children’s coughs are typically brought on by acute respiratory viral infections, the flu, or whooping cough. Children frequently experience allergic cough, which is a symptom of both systemic allergies and allergen inhalation. Children frequently cough in response to air pollution, extreme dryness, toxic compounds in the air, poisonous vapors, and alkalis.

A cough can be classified as acute if it started within the last two weeks, protracted if it lasts for approximately a month, subacute if it lasts up to two months, and chronic if it lasts longer than eight weeks. When a child has a recurrent cough, which can persist for several months due to certain diseases like whooping cough, it can be quite challenging to treat.

Features

Parents should seek professional advice from a doctor before selecting a therapy approach. Understanding the cause is crucial for an effective course of treatment. Additionally, a mother can easily identify the type of cough her child is experiencing on her own if pinpointing the exact cause is nearly impossible at home.

• Dry cough. With this type of cough, the child cannot cough up anything, so this reflex is also called unproductive. Sputum does not come off, there is no relief. Dry cough is quite painful and debilitating. Most often it occurs at the initial stage of a viral disease. If the child is treated incorrectly or not treated at all, the second type of cough appears – wet.
• Wet cough. This is a productive reflex, accompanied by the formation and release of sputum. After an attack, the child coughs up and feels noticeable relief. During a cough, even without medical equipment, gurgling and wheezing are heard. Often, a wet cough is a companion of serious respiratory diseases.
• Barking cough. This type is called "seal barking" for its acoustic similarity to the cry of this animal. This reflex occurs in fits and starts. The cough is rough, dry and unproductive. Sputum is not formed or secreted. It may indicate the onset of inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.

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When a child coughs for an extended period of time, the mother should examine his hands carefully. If his nails have taken on the shape of watch glasses or lenses and are bent downward, this condition is known as "drumstick syndrome," which denotes a serious lung illness.

An allergic reaction is most likely the cause of the reflex if the nose’s mucous membranes are pale and the cough lasts for a long time. On the other hand, if the child’s mucous membranes are red and swollen, this could mean that the child has an infection.

When a baby has an unpleasant mouth odor combined with a persistent cough, sinusitis in the baby may be suspected.

Let the professionals diagnose you, but mothers should be aware that wet and dry coughs require different treatments. Therapy for dry cough aims to lessen the severity of attacks. On the other hand, expectoration and sputum discharge are encouraged when coughing with moisture. A child with the first type of reflex who is given mucolytic medication will not get better from their cough; in fact, it will get worse. Additionally, giving antitussive medication to a child who has a wet cough is not advised. This may result in bronchial secretion stagnation, pneumonia, and other more severe outcomes.

Folk remedies fall under the same category. Recipes meant for dry coughs or barking reflexes are totally inappropriate for a baby’s wet cough.

When you can’t get by with folk remedies alone?

A cough does not always mean that you have a respiratory illness. This defensive mechanism can occasionally coexist with hematopoietic disorders, delayed physical development with inadequate weight gain, pancreatic insufficiency, and ischemic heart disease. The majority of these illnesses are extremely harmful and necessitate prompt medical attention, occasionally in a hospital. However, while parents diligently give their infant home remedies for coughs and compress their back and chest, time can be lost.

When the causes of chronic cough are investigated, 40% of kindergarten-aged children have small foreign bodies in their respiratory tract, according to official statistics from the Ministry of Health. They are not visible on X-rays, but a bronchoscopy’s results make them plainly visible.

Such a baby will not respond to long-term tinctures and inhalations, and the foreign body will progressively start to induce an inflammatory process.

For this reason, it’s crucial to see a doctor before treating a cough in a child. Your past experiences as a parent should not be relied upon. The doctor is likely to let mom and dad treat the child with conventional medicine if he determines that the baby’s cough is caused by viruses and is not dangerous. Pediatricians are extremely devoted to numerous recipes.

Effective folk remedies and methods

Egg cocktail

Put a tablespoon of honey and the same amount of butter on a glass of boiling milk. One chicken egg yolk should be beaten with a fork and then sprinkled with baking soda. Combine all ingredients and serve to a child multiple times daily. Parents say that this recipe works very well for treating a wet cough associated with tracheitis and bronchitis. However, due to allergies, this tool should not be used on children due to the presence of chicken yolk. Younger than three-year-olds should not consume honey and yolks together.

Pine buds

Healers advise boiling 0.5 liters of milk and adding a tablespoon of pine kidneys to make this type of beverage. The beverage should be carefully infused, filtered, and then given to the child to drink. The child should be given small portions of the resulting amount (roughly 500 grams) throughout the day. Giving this remedy for a dry cough is advised because of its great softening effect. This is not how you should treat allergy-prone kids because pine buds can cause an adverse reaction.

Onions

This nutritious vegetable has numerous uses in traditional medicine. There are cough recipes as well. Peel and finely chop two medium onions; cover with milk and cook until the onions are tender. Take the potion off the heat as soon as they soften and let it cool to room temperature. One tablespoon of honey can be added to the broth once it’s heated through. For two to three days, the child is given a tablespoon of the liquid every one to two hours (apart from bedtime).

For dry coughs, milk broth with onions is advised. The same conditions apply to contraindications: children younger than three years old and a history of allergies.

Radish

Babies can use white or green radish, while older kids can use black radish. After washing, trim off the top portion of the vegetable. A small indentation is created in the radish pulp, and a few tablespoons of honey are placed inside. A section of the radish that has been cut is placed on top. The vegetable is placed on a large plate and left for a few hours. The child may be given it to drink in rare instances, but only in small amounts. Four times a day, no more than one or two teaspoons. Wet coughs respond well to this treatment.

Mustard cakes

This is a traditional and highly successful method of treating coughing, which improves the child’s condition by acting as an expectorant. You’ll need two tablespoons of flour and vinegar (9% concentration), one tablespoon of mustard in grains, and the same amounts of honey and sunflower oil. All of the ingredients—aside from the flour—must be combined and warmed in a water bath, but not cooked. They quickly add flour to the mixture, knead the dough, and use it to make cakes.

The child’s chest and back should be treated with a piece of wet gauze, then covered with cling film. It is then the turn of the prepared mustard cakes, which must be wrapped in a warm scarf and insulated with a layer of dry cotton wool on top. The compress is left on for four to five hours.

When a cough is dry and ineffective, cakes made of mustard and honey are the ideal way to warm up the respiratory system. However, they shouldn’t be used for a wet cough, particularly if the sputum contains blood or pus. Furthermore, if the cough is accompanied by a fever, you should avoid performing warming procedures.

Naturally, because honey and mustard are both major allergies, this recipe is not appropriate for young children or babies under the age of two.

The next video has a recipe for mustard cakes that will help with coughing.

Barley

This cereal is used to make a decoction that effectively soothes sore throats and lessens cough intensity during the early phases of viral infections. Grind the grains and boil them in water for a minimum of fifteen minutes. Since this product is hypoallergenic, parents can use it without hesitation or concern for their three- to six-month-old child who has a dry, barking cough.

Blackcurrant

This vitamin C-rich berry will help a child suffering from severe dry cough episodes that aren’t producing any mucus. It needs to be squeezed out and then 100 grams of juice should be mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey. It makes sense to use the frozen berry stocks that were made in the summer if it’s winter or spring outside and there aren’t any fresh currants. One teaspoon of this mixture should be taken four times a day.

Viburnum

A child’s wet cough can be effectively treated with a decoction of viburnum. In order to accomplish this, steep a few handfuls of berries in half a liter of boiling water, then let them "reach" for approximately fifteen minutes in a water bath. The infusion can be consumed three times a day in its unadulterated form, or four times a day if combined with honey and taken as a tablespoon.

Inhalations

Herbal remedies work better for inhalations. Herbs that can be used to treat dry, ineffective coughs include oregano and coltsfoot. A few drops of essential oil, such as eucalyptus, pine, or fir oil, can be added to the inhalation liquid for kids older than five.

Cedar cone

One large cedar cone must be boiled in one liter of milk. The child should receive two tablespoons of the resulting milk, which will take on a cedar scent and beneficial essential oils during the cooking process, no more than six times per day. For a dry cough, the technique works very well.

Banana

This rare fruit is now universally accessible, and the resulting medication is pleasant and flavorful. After passing two large bananas through a sieve, thoroughly boil the resulting gruel in 300 grams of water. Give the young person a warm beverage after adding some sugar. This technique aids in preventing phlegm stagnation during a protracted wet cough. Children as young as one year old can be treated with it.

Salt

One tablespoon of regular table salt needs to be diluted in a plate of warm water. Wet bits of woolen material and use them to compress the child’s chest for the duration of the night. This product works as a strong expectorant.

Garlic

When a child has a dry cough, it is advised to rub this helpful plant on their heels rather than their chest. Peel the cloves from a head of garlic, wipe the garlic mass clean, and combine it with any fat or oil to make the ointment. Before going to bed, the product should be massaged into the heels. The child should leave until the next morning after having the procedure and put on socks (but not woolen ones).

Badger fat

When a child has a severe cough, even in infancy, you can apply this product to their palms, heels, chest, and back. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the procedure cannot be performed on a baby who has a high temperature because doing so could disrupt the child’s heat exchange and cause them to overheat, which is extremely dangerous, especially for newborns and infants.

Drainage massage

When used as an adjunctive procedure in both traditional cough treatment and folk remedy therapy, drainage massage is highly effective. When a child has bronchitis, bronchotracheitis, or bronchopneumonia, you should lay them face down on your lap to help them expel mucus. His head ought to be below his buttocks. Gently touch his back with your fingertips, then swiftly sit the infant up and ask him to cough. then carry out the process multiple times more.

A baby should not be placed across your knees; instead, you should pick him up multiple times a day and give him a gentle palm pat on the back. This will aid in clearing phlegm as well.

Apart from these recipes, effective remedies for coughs include those based on anise and sage, plantain and licorice, marshmallow and thyme.

Watch the program with Dr. Komarovsky to learn how to massage bronchitis.

Many parents use folk remedies for their child’s cough because they are simple to use and have a natural approach. For generations, people have relied on home remedies such as honey, ginger tea, and steam inhalation to relieve discomfort and alleviate symptoms. These remedies may be a gentle way to aid in a child’s recovery and relieve their cough.

It’s crucial to keep in mind nevertheless that even though these treatments might be relieving, they shouldn’t be used in place of expert medical advice. It’s imperative to see a doctor if your child’s cough doesn’t go away, gets worse, or is accompanied by other symptoms like a high fever or breathing difficulties. They can assist in determining whether a more significant underlying problem requires attention.

All things considered, incorporating these home cures into your child’s daily routine can be a secure and helpful way to treat a cough. Just remember to use them responsibly and to constantly monitor your child’s general health. You can contribute to ensuring your child’s well-being during their recuperation by striking a balance between conventional practices and contemporary medical advice.

Many parents use tried-and-true home remedies to treat their child’s cough, which provide mild relief without the need for prescription drugs. These all-natural methods, which range from steam inhalation and herbal compresses to honey and warm teas, can relieve coughing and discomfort. This post will discuss several age-old treatments that have been used for generations to help kids get better from coughs, offering a reassuring and secure substitute for over-the-counter drugs.

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