How to treat adenoids in children at home: treatment without surgery
The content of the article:
- Treatment of adenoids in children at home
- What is not recommended when treating adenoids in children?
- What causes the development of adenoids
- How to identify adenoids in a child
- Video
How to treat adenoids in children at home is a question that mothers of children 3-6 years old often ask. Adenoid vegetations often occur at this age and, without proper treatment, develop rapidly, causing discomfort and impairing the health of the child. Overgrown adenoids make breathing through the nose impossible, which leads to hypoxia and the development of various complications - from defects in appearance to developmental delay.
Home treatment of adenoids can be quite effective
Meanwhile, if you seek medical help in time, the disease can be cured without resorting to surgery. Modern means allow conservative treatment with medicines, including folk remedies and physiotherapy procedures, quite successfully at home, however, only an otolaryngologist (ENT) should prescribe treatment and control it.
Treatment of adenoids in children at home
Treatment is aimed at eliminating the causes of the disease, as well as getting rid of the symptoms. At home, many diverse folk remedies can be used for this, which must be combined with classic drugs.
Treatment begins with rinsing the nasal cavity. This procedure is aimed at flushing out the infection (debridement), inflammatory exudate, as well as reducing edema and restoring the patency of the airways. For this purpose, the following means are used:
- Saline solution is the simplest and most effective remedy. A hypertonic solution is being prepared: dilute a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm boiled water and mix thoroughly. Each nostril is washed with this solution 3-4 times a day, it should be washed until a clear solution pours out of the nasal cavity, without mucopurulent discharge.
- Pharmaceutical chamomile. A decoction is being prepared: 1 teaspoon of dried chamomile flowers is poured into 100 ml of boiling water. Insist one to two hours, then filter through cheesecloth (so as not to filter, you can buy tea from pharmacy chamomile, packaged in filter bags; in this case, 1 filter bag is taken for 100 ml of boiling water). The nasal passages are washed in the same way as with saline.
- Calendula. An infusion is prepared: a teaspoon of dried calendula flowers is poured with a glass of boiling water, insisted for an hour (until it cools completely), filtered. The resulting infusion can be used to rinse the nose, as well as gargle when the tonsils are involved in the inflammatory process (tonsillitis).
The next stage of treatment is to eliminate inflammation - the main cause of airway obstruction. To do this, you can use the following natural remedies:
- Aloe juice - this plant has a whole arsenal of phytoncides that have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. The fleshy leaves of aloe are cut off, kept in the refrigerator for about 6 hours, then wrapped in cheesecloth and squeezed out. If the child is 3 years old or more, then he can bury clean freshly squeezed aloe juice 3-5 drops into each nostril. Children under three years old are instilled with aloe juice diluted in boiled water in a 1: 1 ratio. Aloe juice quickly loses its medicinal properties, so it is recommended to squeeze fresh juice before each procedure.
- Eucalyptus essential oil. Eucalyptus oil has a powerful antiseptic effect, but pure oil is not used, as it can cause burns of the mucous membrane and an allergic reaction. Before use, it is stirred in a neutral solvent; vaseline or refined vegetable oil can play its role. 3 drops of essential oil are dripped into a teaspoon of the solvent, mixed. The resulting mixture is instilled into the nose - 2-3 drops 2-3 times a day.
- Propolis. This is an effective remedy, but it can only be used if the child is not allergic to bee products. Take one teaspoon of propolis, add 10 teaspoons of refined vegetable or butter, melt in a water bath until the ingredients are completely dissolved. After cooling, an ointment is obtained, which is applied to each nostril with a cotton swab. You can also dip a cotton turunda into the not yet solidified ointment, then cool it and tampon the nasal cavity. The tamponade time should exceed one and a half hours.
- Thuja oil. One of the most popular treatments for adenoids in children. It is used at a concentration of 15%. Thuja oil is dripped 2–5 drops into each nostril three times a day. Children under 3 years old are advised to dilute the oil with water.
- Celandine. The broth is prepared by pouring two tablespoons of the dry mixture and two glasses of water and boiling for 10-15 minutes over low heat. The resulting liquid is cooled, filtered and used to rinse the nose and gargle.
- Sea buckthorn oil. The oil is dripped 2-3 drops into each nostril twice a day. The course of treatment takes two weeks.
- Carnation. A decoction of ten buds and half a glass of water is being prepared. Boil, leave for 2 hours, cool and filter. Clove broth is instilled into the nose 3 drops up to 4 times a day. Treatment of adenoids in children with cloves is recommended by Dr. Komarovsky.
Home treatment for adenoids can be supplemented with immunostimulating herbal medicines, such as echinacea. Echinacea extract can be purchased at the pharmacy, or you can prepare it yourself. For this, 100 g of raw materials are poured into 1 liter of boiling water, insisted for 2 hours, then filtered. The broth is taken orally 50 ml three times a day. This remedy cannot be used to treat children under 1 year old.
Traditional medicine is effective only at the initial stage of the disease. If traditional medicine has not had the desired effect, or the disease is already in the second stage, pharmacotherapy is necessary. Treatment is mostly local. According to the indications, antiallergic drugs are prescribed (they can reduce edema), anti-inflammatory, vasoconstrictor drugs. With the development of adenoiditis, systemic drugs may be prescribed, including antibiotics, antipyretics.
For inhalation in children with adenoids, it is recommended to use a nebulizer
At the stage of chronic inflammation, home treatment is complemented by physical therapy. Inhalation, UHF therapy, electrophoresis, UV irradiation are used. Inhalation of warm air with drugs improves circulation in tissues and relieves swelling. UHF (ultra-high-frequency current) is used to warm up the thickness of tissues and improve metabolic processes in them. With the help of electrophoresis, drugs are delivered directly to the focus of the disease. UFO helps to sanitize the mucous membrane.
In addition to therapy with home and pharmacy medicines, breathing exercises are often prescribed, which, having no side effects, helps to restore the patency of the nasal passages and eliminate hypoxia. Breathing exercises allow effective treatment of children at home without surgery, but they must be carried out regularly, daily, for 3-4 weeks, and sometimes longer. A gymnastic breathing complex is usually selected by a doctor, you can use the ready-made Strelnikova breathing complex, which was developed for singers with voice problems, but has demonstrated its effectiveness in the case of other respiratory diseases, including in children.
It is important to pay attention to the microclimate in the room - the air temperature should be in the range of 18-20 ° С, while taking care of the humidity in the room, which should reach 60-70% (dry air helps to maintain inflammatory processes). In some cases, it is advisable to use a humidifier. Wet cleaning should be done regularly. The sea air has a good therapeutic effect.
What is not recommended when treating adenoids in children?
It is not recommended for children with adenoids to take hot baths, go to a bathhouse and generally overheat the body, especially during an exacerbation of adenoiditis. You should also not consume very hot and very cold drinks, as well as drinks and foods that irritate the mucous membrane (sour, spicy, spicy). Hypothermia is contraindicated.
Contrary to popular belief, you cannot inhale with hot air, steam from boiling solutions of medicinal herbs or boiled potatoes. Only warm steam is allowed, for which a nebulizer is used.
Topical application of an alcoholic solution of iodine to the lining of the nasal passages and nasopharynx can be dangerous.
What causes the development of adenoids
Adenoids are compensatory hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil, its enlargement in response to chronic or frequent acute inflammation.
The amygdala is a large accumulation of lymphoid tissue in the nasopharynx, encased in an epithelial capsule. This formation protects the upper respiratory tract from infection, so it takes the first blow. In conditions of insufficiently developed immunity in children, the tonsils do not always cope with their function, they often become inflamed. Constant stimulation (infectious or allergic inflammation) increases the volume of lymphoid tissue. So the child's body compensates for the functional insufficiency of the amygdala, therefore, they speak of compensatory hypertrophy.
Normally, after an immune response, the amygdala returns to normal size. But often in conditions of excessive activity, the tissue is depleted and remains hypertrophied.
Separately, it is worth highlighting the inflammation of the nasopharyngeal tonsil - adenoiditis. This condition develops faster than adenoids, but responds well to antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs. Differential diagnosis is carried out by the doctor, but the difference can also be seen in systemic manifestations - increased body temperature, deterioration in the general condition of the child with adenoiditis.
In order to increase the effectiveness of home treatment of adenoids, it is advisable to supplement with physiotherapy
How to identify adenoids in a child
The process of tissue hypertrophy is long and takes more than one month, so it can be difficult to notice adenoids in the early stages. The first clinical manifestations occur when the adenoids have blocked more than a third of the airway - that is, when the hypertrophy has reached the second and third degrees. Then the following symptoms occur:
- loud sniffing when breathing;
- snoring for no apparent reason (runny nose, nasal congestion, swelling);
- apnea (short-term cessation of breathing) during sleep, followed by several deep reflex breaths, the child literally gasps for air in his mouth during sleep;
- a noticeable deterioration in nasal breathing, the child breathes through the mouth, which is why the mouth is constantly open;
- changing the timbre of the voice, which becomes less sonorous;
- nasal, the child says "in the nose";
- deterioration in sleep - the patient cannot fall asleep for a long time, wakes up several times during the night;
- decrease in physical activity, rapid fatigability, lethargy in the morning, deterioration of stamina and physical qualities;
- impairment of cognitive functions - memory impairment, an increase in reaction time to sensory information, a decline in mental activity;
- hearing impairment, frequent otitis media.
If in adults this disease mainly causes discomfort and complications only occasionally occur, then in children, long-term adenoids can lead to irreversible consequences. The point is in a hypoxic state - an insufficient amount of oxygen due to the lack of nasal breathing. It has been established that as a result of breathing through the mouth, the body loses about 20% of oxygen. The most sensitive to hypoxia organ - the brain - first of all suffers from this. It develops actively in children, so its oxygen requirements are even greater than in adults. Long-term hypoxia is most dangerous for children under 5 years of age; it can lead to developmental delays, both mental and physical.
Due to constant breathing through the mouth, the structure of the facial skull changes, the turbinates are deformed, a characteristic “adenoid type” of the face with an elongated oval and a changed shape of the mouth is formed. The shape of the teeth and dentition also suffers, the bite, and the cartilaginous elements of the skull change.
It is important to diagnose the disease in a timely manner and actively treat it, the earlier treatment is started, the more chances for the success of conservative therapy and full recovery of the body.
Video
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Nikita Gaidukov About the author
Education: 4th year student of the Faculty of Medicine No. 1, specializing in General Medicine, Vinnitsa National Medical University. N. I. Pirogov.
Work experience: Nurse of the cardiology department of the Tyachiv Regional Hospital No. 1, geneticist / molecular biologist in the Polymerase Chain Reaction Laboratory at VNMU named after N. I. Pirogov.
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