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Every parent knows it well. A child’s cough. If it’s nothing serious, in most cases we just go to the pharmacy and buy some syrup, or sweet lozenges for an irritated throat.
However, if you reach for syrups very often, you might be interested to know that it’s not quite good and correct. „In just one hour with the TV on I noticed 8 commercials for medicines that, according to the manufacturers, should be used immediately in case of a cough, when the child coughs.
I couldn’t listen to it any longer! People, be careful! „, says Dr. Komarovský.
Severe cough
The commercials we see on TV most often talk about medicines for wet or dry cough. The main function of these medicines is to increase mucus production, which is then easier to cough up.
When a child has a runny nose, cough and fever, it is an illness of the upper respiratory tract. So it’s probably pointless to dissolve mucus in the lungs if your child only has a runny nose or is suffering from a sore throat, right?
Medicines are of course necessary in some illnesses, especially if it concerns bronchitis or pneumonia. However, medicines intended to treat such diseases should be of plant origin.
If you suspect a serious illness, you should always seek professional help from a pediatrician together with the child, who will handle the problem more easily than a TV commercial for cough syrup.
A child’s cough is also somewhat weaker than an adult’s cough. After taking expectorants, children are often unable to cough up all the mucus. In some countries, such syrups are even not recommended for children under 5 years. Giving such a medicine to a child under two years old is even a criminal offense.
How to cure a dry cough?
It is best done with fresh carrot juice in a 1:1 ratio together with milk. This drink is recommended to be drunk 4 to 5 times a day. Also try fresh tea made from the berries of the guelder rose.
Fresh, cooler air also effectively helps with mucus. In the child’s room where the child lies and rests, the temperature should be approximately 18 to 20 degrees Celsius.
Of course, the child must be well covered and must drink plenty of fluids. It is also important to monitor humidity in the room and to ventilate regularly.
If you ventilate, place the child in another room for a few minutes. In a room where the air is not exchanged regularly, the illness may not improve at all.
If the runny nose even worsens and a fever develops, it can turn into a three-week course of bed rest. Therefore always be careful how you proceed.
It is important that you do not believe all advertisements. That means you don’t have to rush for the syrup that the ad claims is the best cure for a cough at the first cough.
A cough is primarily just a very unpleasant symptom, but it is not yet anything serious. If you suppress the cough with syrups and other medicines, you will cause mucus to accumulate and the illness may take on dangerous proportions.
Among other things, abusing cough medicines leads to worsening of liver and kidney function. The use of medications for wet cough is contraindicated, which means that it is often unsuccessful.
Be more careful about that, but we believe that our mothers are informed and one little cough or sniffle won’t get them to the pharmacy.
If you see that the child’s condition is worsening in a short time, always seek professional help. Under no circumstances play doctor yourself.
