Sniffing without a runny nose in a child. Why do people sniffle?

Colds

If a person constantly sniffles, but is healthy in appearance, there is no runny nose, cough or fever, then there is a possibility that he still has a cold, but the disease is asymptomatic and unnoticeable. This is especially noticeable in children, when the child simply sniffles for a long time, and then begins to cough and becomes completely ill.

1. The fact is that small ones with disease can flow down the wall of the nasopharynx. The child feels some discomfort and may sniff for a long time, trying to get rid of this discharge. The baby, without noticing, can swallow this secretion, and after a while begins to cough.

In such a situation, treatment should be done so that the discharge comes out through the sinuses. It is best to use sea water and salt solutions.

2. The same effect of the desire to constantly sniff can be caused by long-term use of vasoconstrictor drugs against the runny nose, because they dry out the nasal mucosa, sometimes even causing physiological changes in the nasopharynx.

3. Chronic adenoid disease can also cause sniffling, because with it the nasopharyngeal tonsils become inflamed, grow in volume, making breathing difficult.

The child sniffles, but there is no snot - reasons, what to do, doctor’s advice

As a parent, everyone notices the most minor changes in the child’s behavior and health.
Sometimes you can notice that the child sniffles, but there is no snot. Some parents do not pay attention to this, but this approach can cause serious complications in the future and various pathological conditions that require long-term treatment. What are the reasons for this phenomenon and what to do in this situation?

Most parents consider the main reason for constant sniffing to be the residual effects of a previous cold. They think that if there are no other serious symptoms, such as cough, fever or snot, then there is no problem.

Some even scold children for the sounds they make, suggesting that they are made intentionally. However, there are many reasons for this condition and they all have a different nature of occurrence. What causes the fact that a child constantly sniffles, but there is no snot?

The causes of uncharacteristic baby sounds can be divided into two main categories: physiological and pathological.

The former affect the structural features of the child’s body in the first years of his life, and the latter are acquired, caused by infections, inflammation, foreign bodies or other factors. Since the issue is quite serious and concerns the health of the child, each reason should be considered in more detail.

They are relevant for the newborn organism and are associated with the peculiarities of its work and gradual adaptation to the environment. In the womb, the baby was in completely different conditions, warm and without exposure to any external factors, for example, small particles of dust. Doctors identify the following physiological reasons:

Features of the structure of the nasopharynx. When a child is born, all the systems of his body are not yet fully developed. This also applies to the nasal cavity, namely its mucous membrane. The mucous membrane reacts too actively to inhaled odors, the smallest particles of dust, as well as to bacteria or viruses in the air. To protect yourself from an unknown danger, the body secretes a large amount of mucus, which contributes to nasal blockage. The child reflexively begins to sniffle to clear the ducts and ensure full breathing. This phenomenon even has its own name in pediatrics - physiological runny nose.
Lying position. The mucous membrane of the nasopharynx always secretes a certain secretion that protects it from drying out. We don’t notice this because we spend most of our time in an upright position and the secretions fall into the throat without obstruction. Babies spend most of their time lying down, which complicates the flow of mucus. It accumulates in the passages and begins to interfere, which causes characteristic sounds.
The temperature and humidity of the room can also play a significant role in creating this problem. Too high a temperature and, as a result, dry air contribute to the drying out of the mucous membrane. Trying to recover, the amount of discharge increases and eventually crusts form. Because of them, grunting and sniffling appear.

Parents are especially concerned about the condition of children in the first years of life. At this age, the baby cannot yet say or even hint at any inconvenience caused by both the state of health and the microclimate in the room.

Do not make hasty conclusions and do not start treating your child for a runny nose with a slight sniffle - this will not be beneficial.

Pathological causes

The number of pathological causes is much greater, since the nasal mucosa is very sensitive and reacts sharply to the influence of various factors.

Colds are the main cause of nose sniffing

The most common reason that a child sniffles is a cold. If there is a mild, initial form of the disease, then there may be no other symptoms other than minor discharge. Parents may easily not notice these minor mucous secretions.

The child will behave as usual, without even noticing that from time to time he swallows a lump of secretions that flows into the nasopharynx.

After a certain time, a cough may appear in the morning or after lying in bed for a long time, since the mucus in this position cannot flow further.

Most often, this condition occurs with minor temperature changes, which contribute to slight freezing and the manifestation of only part of the symptoms of the disease.

It is best to avoid complications and, if possible, show the child to a doctor. An experienced pediatrician will immediately notice the presence of discharge and prescribe treatment in a timely manner.

Difficulty in nasal breathing can also be caused by drops from a runny nose, which cause vasoconstriction. They dry out the mucous membrane quite strongly, which facilitates its subsequent recovery within several days. To avoid this, do not use such drops for more than five days, but rather use oil-based cold remedies.

Inflammation of the nasopharyngeal tonsil is quite dangerous for the baby’s condition. It can lead to many negative consequences and even surgical intervention. A swollen nasopharyngeal tonsil blocks the passage of air and causes significant discomfort, from which the child begins to create uncharacteristic sounds through the nose.

If you suspect adenoid disease, you should immediately consult a doctor. Symptoms of this disease may include not only sniffling sounds, but also the baby’s complaints about lack of air. He may wake up in the middle of the night and start crying because he cannot breathe fully and something is bothering him inside.

The disease can cause constant colds, weakness and general malaise. The adenoids become an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, which can spread the disease to the ears and cause partial hearing loss.

Allergy

Parents may not even suspect that the cause of nose sniffing may be an allergic reaction.

Such reactions do not always occur acutely; some of them proceed almost asymptomatically for quite a long time, especially if they are caused by exposure to a constant factor, for example, book dust or clothes washing powder. They can also appear as a reaction to temporary factors, such as plant pollen.

Pay close attention to your child; sniffling and grunting may increase or decrease in certain circumstances or at certain times of the year.

The listed reasons are the main ones, but not the only ones. The following factors can be separately identified that contribute to the appearance of uncharacteristic sounds:

Entry of a foreign object into the nasal cavity. Babies tend to explore their bodies in different ways, so it's likely that the gurgling noise is caused by an assembly piece or small toy stuck up their nose.
Trauma to the nose can easily lead to improper fusion of bones or displacement of the nasal septum. In this case, there is a violation of proper air circulation and sounds emitted due to the presence of any obstacle.
A deviated nasal septum can also be a birth defect that can be corrected with surgery.
Presence of tumors or cysts. This is a fairly serious problem that requires timely contact with specialists. If you have prolonged nasal discharge, nasal sounds, or complaints of lack of air, contact your pediatrician.
No matter how strange it may sound, caries of the upper teeth (especially the sixth and seventh) can cause problems. Their roots go deep into the jaw and reach the maxillary sinuses. If there is inflammation, it will be transmitted to the adenoids. The result is the same unpleasant symptom - the child grunts and sniffles.
Sometimes the cause is diseases of the nervous system. Due to unknown psychological factors, he involuntarily sniffles, despite the absence of any health problems.

Treatment options

A child sniffles, but there is no snot - how to treat it and what to do in such a situation? Treatment can begin only after an accurate determination of the causes of sniffing. However, there are basic rules that will help in almost all cases and prevent problems from arising in the future:

Maintaining a suitable microclimate in the apartment. Do not try to create a greenhouse in your room, since dry and warm air has a negative impact on health.
Ventilate the apartment regularly, try to walk outside with your baby more often.
Carry out regular wet cleaning to get rid of dust and other allergens and bacteria.
For symptoms of dry mucous membranes, use special medications, such as Aqualor or Humer, which will gently help restore its function.
Do not use vasoconstrictors for more than five days.
Place your baby on a higher pillow or raise the head of the bed slightly to allow natural clearing of the nasal passages.
If you suspect inflammation of the adenoids, a viral infection or a cold, contact your pediatrician for help and appropriate treatment.
Limit your child's contact with possible allergens and carefully monitor his condition for several days.
Inspect the nasal cavity for the presence of foreign bodies.

Sniffling without the appearance of additional symptoms should alert parents. There can be many reasons for this condition, and most of them require timely diagnosis.

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Source: https://feminissimo.ru/mama/deti-do-1-goda/rebenok-shmigaet-nosom-a-sopley-net-prichini-i-chto-delat-pri-etom.html

Caries

The reason for the habit of sniffing is carious 6th and 7th teeth, because their roots are located in the maxillary sinuses. Inflammatory processes cause sniffling and treatment is necessary.

Deviated nasal septum

. Most often, this problem occurs in the male part of the population. As a rule, as a result of trauma (including birth).

How to determine

:, disrupting air exchange in the sinuses, can be C- or S-shaped, as well as with spikes or so-called bone ridges. All the shortcomings of this design can be determined by a simple examination by an otolaryngologist, but in some cases an X-ray examination will be required.

What to do:

The only treatment for a deviated nasal septum is surgery. During the operation, the deviated sections of the nasal septum are removed. At the same time, the mucous membrane covering them is preserved.

The child grunts his nose, but there is no snot? Komarovsky: possible causes and treatment features

A reverent attitude towards the health of the child is the primary duty of conscious parents. Modern pediatricians are not surprised by the instant reaction of adults to the slightest sneeze of a baby.

However, is such a reaction to changes in a child’s body always justified? For example, should you worry if a child grunts through his nose, but there is no snot? Komarovsky E.O. educates concerned parents on this issue.

Let's find out what the doctor thinks about this.

Infant grunts his nose

Literally immediately after being discharged from the maternity hospital, a young mother may discover that her baby is sniffing loudly through his nose and making specific sounds. The newborn does not cough, there is no mucus coming from the baby’s nose, there is no purulent discharge, and the body temperature is not elevated. To put it simply, the child grunts through his nose, but there is no snot.

Komarovsky does not consider this phenomenon to be a reason for parental hysteria and excessive excitement. According to a specialist, the baby’s grunting breathing disappears by the 2-3rd month of life. Your baby will sniffle through his nose for up to a year, after which his breathing will return to normal. What is the reason for this unpleasant phenomenon?

Physiology is to blame

Why does the baby grunt through its nose? Dr. Komarovsky attributes this manifestation to the child’s body’s attempts to adapt to new conditions.

Snot can bother a newborn baby even during teething. Excessive regurgitation after feeding is another physiological factor that provokes grunting breathing.

Babies, having eaten their mother's milk (formula), return to their usual position - horizontal. Some of the food ends up in the back of the nasal passages.

When air passes through the child's nasopharynx, a specific sound occurs, reminiscent of grunting.

Your child's nose is grunting, but there is no snot. “Is this a runny nose?” - you ask. We are talking about a physiological runny nose. The mucous membrane of a newborn will become irritated in response to dry indoor air, dust, animal hair, and plant pollen. This is a kind of allergic reaction caused by factors in the new environment.

If, exclusively after a night's sleep, your child grunts through his nose, but there is no snot, Komarovsky associates this with an accumulation of snot in the posterior nasal region. The reason for this is the child’s narrow nasal passages, which swell in response to changing environmental conditions. This can happen after turning on the heating in winter.

Isn't this a pathology?

A newborn baby “grunts” but there is no snot. The reasons for this may also be pathological.

Among the most common:

Congenital abnormal structure of the nasal septum. Pathology arises during the intrauterine development of the fetus. Correction is made after preliminary consultation with a specialist.
Swelling of the mucous membrane, which was preceded by injury to the nasal cavity. Parents who carelessly cleaned their child’s nose with cotton swabs and thereby damaged the nasal mucosa may encounter something similar. The result is swelling and grunting breathing.
Mechanical damage caused by bruise, blow or foreign body entering the nose.

Stridor is a disease that can be diagnosed by ENT during examination of a newborn child. The diagnosis literally sounds like “breathing noise.” Some babies have softened laryngeal cartilage or narrow nasal passages from birth. In such situations, the child wheezes while breathing and makes specific sounds reminiscent of grunting. As the baby grows, breathing normalizes.

If stridor is diagnosed, there is a need for additional examinations that will help rule out serious illnesses associated with heart disease, problems with the thymus gland, and bronchi. This fact explains the need for additional examination of the child by a doctor at the age of 2-3 years.

How to help a baby?

The baby grunts through his nose, but there is no snot. What to do? In the case of physiological reasons, to solve the problem, parents need to eliminate allergens and provide comfortable living conditions for the child, namely an air temperature within 20 degrees and a humidity of 50-70%.

Remove all dust accumulations from the nursery: furniture, carpets, books, etc. Try to keep pets as far away from the child as possible. The same applies to food for aquarium fish, flowers and other potential allergens.

In order to alleviate the baby’s condition, Komarovsky advises using saline solution to moisturize the nasal passages. You need to drip the product every 60 minutes, 3-4 drops. Rinsing with water and sea salt will also help.

Don't forget about regular walks in the fresh air, which help the nasal mucosa stay moisturized and the nasal passages clean. Contraindications to long walks can only be an aggravated form of the disease, provoking high body temperature.

Give your baby plenty of water. This will help establish water-salt metabolism and replenish fluid imbalance in the child’s body. Children older than six months can be given fruit drinks containing vitamin C (cranberry, raspberry, etc.).

Is your baby literally choking on snot? You can get rid of white transparent mucus using a special suction, syringe or regular syringe. During the procedure, you should use a composition to cleanse the nasal passages. They can be found at the pharmacy.

Prolonged secretion of mucus, its abundant accumulation in the nasopharynx, change in the color of snot to yellow or green are clear reasons to seek medical help. A specialist’s opinion is also necessary for any of the mentioned pathological causes of the phenomenon.

We wash children's nose correctly

We found out why the child grunts through his nose, but there is no snot. We also learned about ways to alleviate the baby’s condition, among which regular rinsing of the nasal passages is paramount. What about event technique?

To begin, place the child on his side and irrigate the upper nostril with the solution. In the case of newborns, it is better to use isotonic drops rather than sprays. It is also not worth rinsing the nasal passages with saline solution. The salt concentration in it exceeds the salt percentage in the child’s blood by hundredths. This is quite enough to dry out the mucous membrane of a child’s nose.

Then we carry out the same actions with the second nostril. Upon completion of the procedure, the aspirator (syringe) must be cleaned. Komarovsky recommends rinsing the nasal passages every time you have nasal congestion.

Does your child snort but there is no snot? Komarovsky reassures parents by focusing on the child’s physiology. However, this does not mean that preventive measures should be neglected.

How to properly care for your baby's nose?

In the first month of a baby’s life, his nose should be cleaned twice a day – in the morning and evening. The procedure is carried out using cotton swabs.

Before the instrument touches the mucous membrane, it must be dipped in oil or lubricated with Vaseline to avoid damage. White mucus must be removed regularly using a syringe (syringe).

If crusts have formed in your child's nose, soak them with oil.

The nose is stuffy, there is no snot - what to do?

What to do in a situation where there is no snot, but the child is not breathing? The Ukrainian pediatrician comes to the aid of worried parents here too.

Often the cause of this phenomenon is an enlarged pharyngeal tonsil - adenoid. It stands in the way of the nasopharynx, thereby complicating the passage of air. The child gets used to breathing through his mouth, he talks through his nose.

A similar situation can be encountered with polyps - benign formations located on the nasal mucosa and preventing normal breathing. The clinical picture is complemented by headache and high fatigue. Polyps are removed surgically.

A deviated nasal septum is also one of the possible causes of congestion. This can be caused by injuries accompanied by swelling and hematoma.

In each of the above cases, the need to address the problem to an otolaryngologist is obvious.

Compliance with preventive measures and a vigilant attitude of parents to the child’s health guarantee the avoidance of the described problems with the baby’s nose. Does your child have grunts in his nose for a long time, but there is no snot? Komarovsky advises immediately contacting the supervising doctor. This is especially true in cases of increased body temperature, lethargy, and cough.

Source: https://FB.ru/article/312339/rebenok-hryukaet-nosom-no-sopley-net-komarovskiy-vozmojnyie-prichinyi-i-osobennosti-lecheniya

Reason two:

Polyps

. Enlarged in size, which are protrusions of the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity and its paranasal sinuses, sometimes reaching such sizes that they completely block the nasal passages.

How to determine

: You can suspect something is wrong by the occasional nasal voice, difficulty in nasal breathing, decreased or complete loss of sense of smell, discomfort in the nose, headaches or pain in the paranasal sinuses. You can confirm your suspicions only after a visit to an otolaryngologist who will perform a rhinoscopy or diagnostic endoscopy. The final picture will be provided by computed tomography, which allows you to determine how affected the paranasal sinuses are.

What to do

: Today, there are only symptomatic ones, aimed at removing polyps using a shaver - a thin tube at the end of which there is a miniature cutting instrument or using radio wave, laser “evaporation” of polyps. Another way to combat polyps is to slow down their growth with special hormonal sprays and antihistamines.

Physiological reasons

In young children, when the nose makes suspicious sounds, in many cases the disease is not to blame. In newly born children, this phenomenon is most often due to the fact that the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity adapts to the surrounding conditions, and the nasal passages are narrow, so the passage of air through them is accompanied by corresponding sounds. Over time, usually by the age of one, everything returns to normal.

You may also want to make sure that the situation is an opportunity to have fun or try to distract your child from the surgery. The most important thing is that the adult, using the drug, is controlled and smiling. Children react to the emotions of others and quickly sense our mood. A quiet adult will ease and calm any possible distress the child may have. If, despite our efforts, the child continues to react with irritability and anxiety, we must be patient. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, the use of the drug is so unpleasant for the child that we had to cry for a long time.

If a child sniffles during sleep, this may be due to swelling of the mucous membrane or the accumulation of thick, dry matter in the back of the nose. During the cold season, this often happens after turning on central heating in houses. Warm and excessively dry air in the room, accumulation of dust in traditional places (upholstered furniture, carpets, books) lead to drying of the nasal mucosa and accumulation of mucus with the formation of so-called “crusts”. In such cases, you should ventilate the room more often, do wet cleaning and, if possible, use a humidifier.

This doesn't mean it will always be like this. Common karma mistakes in children Childhood illness, especially if this is our first child, often causes great concern. We don't always know what we should do. In such situations, recommendations from other mothers help us a lot. However, some of the advice given does not always agree with what the medicine says. Always consult your doctor before taking any action or giving up. What are some common myths about what to do when your child has a runny nose?

Often mothers, “just in case,” fill the child’s nose with various rinses. At the same time, the mucous membrane begins to swell, as a protective reaction to fluid entering the sinuses, and squelching sounds appear.

Pathological causes

In some cases, the reason that a child sniffles may indeed lie in diseases and pathological processes. First of all, these are congenital anomalies in the structure of the nasal passages, formed during the period of intrauterine development.

This is one of the most common mistakes. The child should be dressed so that he is just warm, but not hot. Overheating weakens the immune system and reduces the body's ability to fight disease. Remember that feeling hot and cold is a personal matter and we shouldn't dress our baby the way we think. The child is not expressing himself, so it is worth looking at sweat, a baked face or stubbornness - then he is probably too warm. However, when hiccups occur, the skin becomes marbled or sneezing - it is possible that the baby is too cold and needs to be covered or warmed up, the doctor emphasizes.

Quite often, an infant begins to sniffle in the initial stage of the disease - an acute viral or bacterial infection.

A child may sniffle if there is an infectious or allergic infection; this may be explained by development (sinusitis, as it is now called). The appearance of sniffling sounds can be caused by foreign bodies trapped in the nasal passages, and, in addition, by tumors that arise as a result of damage to the nose.

In any case, if the baby constantly sniffles, it is better to contact a pediatric otolaryngologist, who will identify the cause of this phenomenon and, if necessary, prescribe appropriate treatment. If the doctor does not find any pathologies, you can help the child by daily moisturizing his nasal passages with preparations based on sea water, such as aquamaris.

Any change in the child's breathing should alert parents. There are many reasons for respiratory distress. To determine the root cause of the deterioration of the condition, it is necessary to pay attention to the frequency, depth of breathing, sounds when inhaling, exhaling, and checking the patency of the nasal passages. If a child grunts through his nose, this is a cause for concern, since normally children breathe quietly and through the nasopharynx.

By purifying and warming the air in the nasopharynx, it enters the lower respiratory tract in ready form, which prevents irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane. Laryngitis is considered the most dangerous in childhood, since one of its complications is laryngospasm. It occurs against the background of swelling of the vocal cords and mucous membrane of the larynx, as a result of which suffocation develops.

Why do infants get sick less often? Babies under one year of age are much less likely to suffer from a runny nose, since the body still contains immune components transmitted from the mother. In addition, the child's environment is limited to his parents and a few neighborhood children. Once you start attending kindergarten, the risk of infection increases hundreds of times, so a runny nose can occur 4-6 times a year.

There are many reasons for the appearance of sniffling in a child, they differ in the strength and duration of the impact. Conventionally, all causes can be divided into infectious and non-infectious. Now let's take a closer look at each group.

Reason three:

These hollow formations with liquid contents in the paranasal sinuses are quite common. Their sizes and locations can vary, and they can cause different problems.

How to determine

: Frequent complaints of patients with cysts of the paranasal sinuses are headache, a feeling of discomfort in the cheek, forehead, and occasionally, mucous discharge from the nose. Cysts can be asymptomatic; they are often discovered accidentally during X-rays, computed tomography scans of the paranasal sinuses, or during studies of brain structures.

What to do

: If the cyst causes discomfort in the area of the affected sinus, one-sided nasal congestion, surgery cannot be avoided. The most gentle and more physiological method is to remove cysts endoscopically - without external incisions, through the nose under optical control.

Reason four:

Untreated teeth

. Those who do not like to have their teeth treated also expose themselves to the risk of making money and subsequent complications. The danger zone is the sixth, seventh and eighth teeth of the upper jaw, the roots of which “look” into the maxillary sinuses. According to otolaryngologists, any inflammation of one of them in combination with a runny nose is an explosive “mixture”.

How to determine

: By contacting your dentist, who, if necessary, will prescribe an x-ray examination.

What to do

: Treat caries and other dental ailments.