Patient's question:
Cough with phlegm for three days, fever has subsided, and cough has started. Previous treatment and effectiveness: Taking Tong Ren Tang's Children's Qing Fei Oral Liquid. What assistance is needed: The effect is not very significant, please advise...Doctor's answer:
Some young parents find that if their child has a slight cough, they rush to give them various cough syrups and expectorants. After entering the body, cough medicines can quickly act on the cough center, producing a strong expectorant effect. Although this method can temporarily relieve cough symptoms, it can cause a large amount of mucus and bacteria to accumulate in the respiratory tract, leading to secondary bacterial infections. In severe cases, it may cause chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and even lead to atelectasis, heart failure, and even harm to the soul. Therefore, before identifying the cause of the child's cough, do not give cough medicines indiscriminately. If the child has a cough accompanied by obvious inflammatory symptoms, such as fever, yellow and thick mucus, and an increase in white blood cells in the blood test, it is important to use antibiotics under the guidance of a doctor.For a child's cough, in addition to using antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, many simple and practical measures are also very effective. You can often have the child jump or have someone pat their back. On one hand, this promotes blood circulation in the lungs, and on the other hand, it loosens the mucus in the airways, making it easier to expel. The method for patting the back is as follows: The child should be half-sitting or held in a half-sitting position. The parent's fingers should be slightly curved into a semi-ring shape, like a half-fist, and gently pat the child's back, alternating sides. The force of the pat should not be too strong, and it should be done from top to bottom, from outside to inside, in sequence. Each side should be patted for 3 to 5 minutes, 2 to 3 times a day.