Children's cough syrup

When the human body has sore throat and cold symptoms, coughing occurs most of the time. But coughing is not a disease condition, it is just a response mechanism of the human body to protect itself. So if you want to treat a cough, you should first treat the disease that causes the cough. Coughing is a common occurrence in children. So what are some medicines that can be used to treat cough in children?

First of all, it needs to be made clear that coughing is not a disease, but just a symptom. It is a self-protection measure of the human body to keep the chest cavity clean and prevent irritants from entering the lungs. Generally, if the primary disease that causes cough is cured, the cough will naturally go away. Unless the cough is so severe that it affects sleep or eating and is not conducive to recovery from the disease, you can consider using cough syrup.

1. When cough is accompanied by asthma, you can choose cough medicine containing ephedrine. However, this type of medicine cannot be taken for a long time, otherwise it can easily cause palpitations, headaches, and even high blood pressure and dizziness. Asthmatic children with wheezing need to be treated with corticosteroids; medications containing ephedrine are ineffective.

2. For cough caused by allergic factors, you can choose cough medicine containing anti-allergic ingredients, such as loratadine. However, long-term use of this type of drug can cause adverse reactions such as drowsiness and dry mouth, so it should not be taken for a long time.

3. When you have a severe cough or are accompanied by chest pain, you can use cough syrup containing centrally acting antitussive ingredients such as codeine phosphate, dextromethorphan, and pholcodine under the guidance of a doctor, but it is generally not recommended for infants and young children. Because this type of drug has a bronchoconstrictive effect, it should not be used in children with bronchial asthma.

4. In the early stage of acute respiratory inflammation, when there is a small amount of sticky phlegm that is difficult to cough up, you can choose cough medicine containing ingredients such as ammonium chloride and guaifenesin. This type of medicine helps in coughing up phlegm, but the dosage should not be too large because it is somewhat irritating to the gastrointestinal tract. When the sputum is thick and difficult to cough up, cough medicine containing acetylcysteine ​​and carbocysteine ​​can be used. However, it is not recommended for children with bronchial asthma to use cough suppressants containing acetylcysteine ​​to avoid the risk of bronchospasm.

Some cough syrups containing codeine phosphate solution commonly used in clinical practice are not addictive at therapeutic doses due to their low codeine content. However, if taken for a long time, in large quantities, and continuously, they can easily lead to physical and mental dependence. The advantage of this type of drug is that it directly inhibits the cough center and stops cough quickly. It is suitable for severe dry cough and irritating cough caused by various reasons, especially severe dry cough accompanied by chest pain. It is not suitable for patients with excessive sputum. This type of cough syrup must be taken properly under the guidance of a medical professional.

Do not use multiple cough suppressants at the same time

When it comes to children's cough medication, parents should avoid buying too many varieties of cough syrups on their own, because some cough syrups have the same active ingredients and taking them at the same time can easily cause drug overdose and adverse reactions. Secondly, children must take medicine according to their age and weight, strictly following the single dose indicated on the instructions. Do not take more than the recommended dose. Overdosing may not increase the efficacy, but may make adverse reactions more likely.

In addition, you should develop scientific and hygienic habits of storing cough syrups. When taking cough syrup, avoid putting the bottle mouth directly into contact with your mouth to prevent bacteria from contaminating the medicine. After taking it, it should be placed in a dark, cool and dry environment in time. Cough syrup should not be stored for a long time after opening, no more than 1 month in summer and no more than 3 months in winter. Before taking the medicine, check carefully to see if the color has changed, whether there are large amounts of bubbles, flocculent suspensions, sediments, etc., and avoid taking expired medicine.

Through the above content, parents should never give their babies medicine casually when their babies cough in the future. The correct approach should be to take the baby to see a doctor first and have the baby take medicine under the doctor's guidance, so as to ensure that the baby's health is not affected.