Runny nose: causes and symptoms
Features of the development of runny nose in newborns
Most often, mothers look for the causes of a runny nose in hypothermia, but in fact the reasons can be very different. Your doctor will help you accurately determine the origin of your runny nose.
The health visitor should tell you how to understand that a newborn has a runny nose and how to avoid it. However, if you have any questions, it is better to consult a doctor. He will be able to correctly determine the cause of the disease and prescribe treatment.
The main causes of runny nose in newborns:
- Physiological reasons. In small newborn babies, increased moisture in the nose is normal. The body adapts to environmental conditions, so the nasal mucosa works more actively. There is no need to treat such sniffles. It is enough to provide the child with a flow of fresh air, sometimes ventilate the room and monitor the normal humidity in the room.
- Viral or bacterial infection. This is what parents fear most. Such infectious diseases can be quite severe in a young child, require special treatment and can have unpleasant consequences. However, if you consult a doctor in a timely manner and follow all his recommendations, the child’s body can quickly cope with the disease.
- Allergy. An allergy in a small child can occur to anything: dust, pollen, chemicals, or foods that a nursing mother eats. To determine the allergen, you need to carefully monitor, after which the child develops watery eyes and snot.
- Vasomotor causes. A very rare cause of runny nose in a newborn baby. It is associated with vascular problems, and since the nasal mucosa is lined with blood vessels, swelling and runny nose appear.
- Sometimes a child has a runny nose as a defensive reaction to too dry air. This is especially common in the cold season, when the windows are closed and the radiators at home are hot. The room where the child is located must be ventilated, for example, when walking with the child. If the room is too hot, you can cover the radiator with a blanket. You can also use various humidifiers that will automatically increase the humidity to the desired level. But it is worth remembering that they need to be washed and dried regularly, otherwise bacteria and mold will grow in them, which can cause illness in the child.
Infectious runny nose
Symptoms and treatment of infectious rhinitis in a newborn
The infection can manifest itself in different ways depending on the virus or bacteria and how the child's body reacts. Most often, the symptoms of an infectious runny nose are as follows:
- The child has difficulty breathing, sniffles, snores during sleep, and tosses and turns.
- There may be mucus present. However, snot may not appear immediately. When there is swelling, the passage of mucus is difficult.
- The child is sneezing and coughing. Young children do not have a cough reflex, but they may try to cough up or regurgitate mucus that has entered the throat from the nasal passages.
- The child does not eat well. When the nose is blocked, the baby will refuse the breast because it is difficult for him to breathe. He becomes lethargic, sleepy, capricious, often cries, but cannot fall asleep.
Treating an infection is a serious matter. Only a doctor can determine which treatment will produce results. A bacterial infection must be treated with antibiotics, and the course must be completed to the end so that there is no relapse.
If the infection is viral, then it is usually sufficient to follow the standard rules: drinking regimen, rest, cleansing and rinsing the nose, vasoconstrictor drops for children at night.
If the infection is severe, your doctor may prescribe antiviral medications in the form of suppositories. It is important to avoid insufficient air humidity. In such conditions, bacteria and viruses multiply faster. It is also necessary to moisturize the child’s nasal mucosa. The doctor will also familiarize you with the peculiarities of washing. A small child should not rinse his nose under pressure; water may enter the lungs. Typically, dosed seawater sprays such as Aqua Marisa or Otrivin are used.
You can also rinse your child’s nose, usually with boiled water and salt or saline. The pipette must be clean. It is possible to treat a child with folk remedies, heating and herbal decoctions only with the permission of the pediatrician. Some of them can aggravate the situation and cause a severe allergic reaction. Mucus from the nose, if any, must be removed so that the child does not swallow it and choke. For this, there are baby bulbs or special convenient aspirators.
Allergic runny nose
Signs and treatment of allergic rhinitis in a child
An allergic runny nose is often accompanied by swelling, but there may also be mucus discharge. In this case, the mucus will be liquid and transparent. Only a doctor can reliably distinguish allergic rhinitis from infectious rhinitis. Usually, with an allergy, a child does not have a fever or thick mucus from the nose, but the eyes may become watery, sneezing will be very frequent, and a rash will appear on the body and face.
The first thing to do when a newborn develops allergies is to eliminate all contact with allergens. You need to do a wet cleaning, remove all dust from the floor and carpets, or better yet, remove carpets from the children's room altogether, stop eating any foods that can cause a reaction when breastfeeding (honey, citruses, yogurts with fillers, etc.) . It is necessary to isolate the child from any chemicals. For example, wet laundry washed with regular concentrate and powder should be dried on the balcony or in another room. An allergy can also be to down or feathers. So carefully check and replace all of your baby's duvets and pillows.
You definitely need to rinse your nose. If dust, pollen or other allergen has already reached the nasal mucosa, you need to rinse it well. To do this, you can use the same drops and sprays as for infectious rhinitis (Aqua Maris, Otrivin). In case of severe swelling, it is imperative to ensure the child’s normal breathing with the help of vasoconstrictor drops. They are also prescribed by a doctor according to age. The most commonly used are Nazivin for children, Pinosol, Vibrocil.
You should be careful when choosing drops and always consult your doctor.
Drops based on natural essential oils can also cause an allergic reaction. In some cases, the doctor may prescribe an antihistamine such as Suprastin or Diazolin, but most often this is not required. You should not give these medications to your child on your own without consulting a pediatrician. More often, antihistamines are prescribed only in cases where it is not possible to isolate the child from exposure to the allergen. For example, with seasonal pollen allergies. It will still get into the room through windows, doors, and on people’s clothes.
Consequences of improper treatment
Runny nose in a newborn: possible complications
Both lack of treatment and improper treatment of a runny nose in a newborn child can cause equal harm.
A small child under 3 years of age does not have sinusitis, but an untreated runny nose may well lead to unpleasant consequences. The infection can progress further, causing otitis media, bronchitis, etc.
The following alarming symptoms of a runny nose in children can be mentioned:
- The nasal discharge became thicker, green, white-yellow, and mixed with pus.
- The child constantly has streaks of blood in the mucus.
- The child eats poorly and is actively losing weight.
- The child has a strong fever that lasts a long time or increases.
- The runny nose is not severe, but has lasted longer than a week.
Along with a runny nose, symptoms such as a red throat, plaque on the tonsils, hoarse voice, lethargy, suspected headaches, and high fever began to appear. The most dangerous missed consequence is inflammation of the meninges, which often leads to death. Therefore, you should not neglect going to the clinic. If a child is very sick, you can call a doctor at home.
Useful video - Runny nose in a baby: treatment.
How to properly and what is the best way to rinse a child’s nose with a runny nose?
Incorrect treatment can also cause harm. For example, an abundance of traditional medicine, such as juices of vegetables and berries, oil and herbal decoctions, when instilled into the nose, can cause a burn to the mucous membrane, even more severe swelling and an allergic reaction.
You cannot rinse your child’s nose with a bulb or medical syringe; the child may inhale the liquid and choke.
Rinse the nose only in small doses using sprays or pipettes. Vasoconstrictor drops should be used with caution. The doctor selects them. These medications can also cause allergic rhinitis if used too often or for a long time. Therefore, it is recommended to instill vasoconstrictor drops into the child’s nose no more than 2-3 times a day and no longer than 3-4 days. If the swelling does not go away during this time, you should consult a doctor. When sucking out mucus with an aspirator, you do not need to try to “remove snot” from the inner areas of the nose. Under no circumstances should an aspirator or bulb be inserted deep into a child’s nose.
Treatment of a runny nose in a child under one year old
Nasal congestion and runny nose deprive the baby of proper sleep, he becomes capricious and takes breaks during feeding to get some air. The only way to relieve symptoms is crying, during which tears dissolve dry secretion. If a runny nose in children under one year of age becomes chronic, this leads to sinusitis and ear infections.
Prevention
To prevent your child from getting colds and runny nose, it is necessary to strengthen his immunity. The best protection for a child up to one year old is breast milk. It not only improves immunity, but also serves as an excellent prevention of colic and dysbacteriosis.
Of course, breastfeeding does not guarantee that the child will not get sick at all, but it has been proven that bottle-fed children are more susceptible to viral infections. For this reason, you should not wean your baby off the breast too early or for no reason. Proper daily care will also prevent runny nose in newborns.
It is necessary to ventilate the room, walk in the fresh air every day, maintain the level of humidity in the apartment, bathe the child regularly, and in the summer - harden.
All these procedures will significantly strengthen the body’s protective functions and increase resistance to viral infections. The child should be isolated from other family members who have already caught a cold. In an adult, the disease proceeds differently. He may just sneeze a little, but the child, once infected, will be sick longer and more severely. Therefore, it is advisable to at least not be in the same room with an infected person and avoid all contact. If a mother is sick, she should wear a mask, but breastfeeding does not need to be interrupted.
If an epidemic is raging at this time and someone at home is already sick, you need to use all means of protection. All family members need to wear masks, and the child needs to regularly rinse his nose with Aqua Maris and lubricate his nostrils with oxolinic ointment. For prevention, you can give Arbidol or Anaferon. The room must be ventilated regularly. If there are humidifiers, they can be included in the disinfection mode.
The child should be dressed according to the weather and not allowed to become hypothermic or overheated. Young children are especially vulnerable; they cannot yet control their body temperature. Therefore, in winter you need to carefully protect the baby’s chest, wear tight overalls or envelopes, and wrap your legs well. You can use salt warmers. In the warm season, the child should still cover his head, but there is no need to wear winter clothes for a long time. The child will overheat, sweat, and still may catch a cold.
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How to treat a runny nose in a child under one year old?
It seems that nothing worries a mother more than the health of her child. But, unfortunately, young children with their not yet fully formed immunity are very susceptible to various diseases.
As you know, the bulk of viruses and bacteria enter the body through the upper respiratory tract, and in this sense, the child’s nose is the first to fight infection. A runny nose (rhinitis) in a child under one year of age is severe, because the baby does not know how to blow his nose, and parents cannot effectively clean the nasal cavity with conventional means. Today we will tell young parents how to eliminate a runny nose in children under one year old.
