The first liquid snot may appear in a child immediately after birth. This is due to the adaptation of the organism to new conditions of "habitation". The reason transparent secretions difficult childbirth or prolonged childbirth can serve.
In infants, liquid snot is a consequence anatomical structure nasopharynx. In this case, a runny nose is a physiological symptom. A runny nose can be provoked by:
- dust;
- dry air;
- low humidity.
The newborn's room must be constantly ventilated and wet cleaned. This will reduce the pathogenic effect of the external environment on the child's body.
A common reason for the appearance of liquid transparent snot is the process of teething. Blood circulation in the gums and nasal passages is interconnected. Increased blood flow in one place provokes a similar reaction in another. As a result, the mucous membrane swells, and the appearance of excessive nasal discharge. It is advisable to control this process and remove snot from the child's nasal passages in time.
The problem may be hiding in an allergy or a cold.
Allergies are a common trigger for excessive discharge. This happens during the flowering period of trees and plants. The child's condition must be carefully monitored, this will identify the factor that affects the appearance of discharge. An allergic reaction is accompanied by a specific clinical picture. Common signs of allergies: 
- colorless discharge;
- redness of the skin;
- hives;
- swelling of the mucous membranes;
The first signs appear after interaction with a direct allergen. Parents need to follow the child and independently calculate the negative factor.
The most common cause of colorless discharge is viral damage to the body. These include:
- ARVI;
- flu.
At the first stage of the disease, the discharge is transparent, over time they become yellowish and thick.
A runny nose can be associated with the penetration of viruses and infections into the body. The clinical picture is complemented by headache, fever and breathing difficulties.
In this case, a complex treatment based on drops and tablets is used. Details will be provided below.
Competent elimination of an unpleasant symptom
Treatment of liquid snot in a child should begin with determining the root cause of the disease.
If a runny nose is caused by an allergic reaction, you should reduce contact with a potentially dangerous allergen. Special antihistamines will help improve overall health and relieve allergies. These include Zyrtek, Zodak and Diazolin.
With a viral lesion of the nasal mucosa and the body as a whole, it is necessary to take antiviral agent... For this purpose, Interferon and Oxolin are used.
Antibiotics will not help in the treatment of a common cold, especially if the symptom is caused by an allergen or a viral infection of the nasal passages. Most viruses cannot be eliminated with antibiotics. Treatment of liquid with these drugs is inappropriate.
Traditional medicine in the fight against the common cold
ethnoscience offers a lot of effective recipes to cope with all the hardships of excessive nasal discharge. Steam inhalation has a good effect. They must be done with care, in view of the preservation high risk getting burned.
Chamomile decoction can be used as steam inhalation. To do this, you need to take the plant dry and pour boiling water over it. For 30 minutes, the herb is brewed, and then its vapors are inhaled. The procedure is not suitable for babies; it can be done for older children and only under the supervision of parents. Evaporation in warm water serves as an auxiliary method. Hot liquid will not work! She is capable of provoking a burn.
It is forbidden to wipe the child with alcohol or vinegar - volatile substances quickly enter the body through the skin. Such exposure can lead to the development of severe poisoning.
How to treat a child's liquid snot with minimal risks? For this purpose, aloe and Kalanchoe juice is used. They cannot be used in their pure form, a high concentration can cause a burn of the mucous membrane.
If a runny nose is associated with teething, it is necessary to suck out the child's snot. This is done using an ordinary pear. A newborn cannot blow his nose on his own; he needs help in this matter. Otherwise, excess mucus will enter the nasopharynx, thereby provoking coughing fits.
To clarify the cause of the common cold, you must visit the pediatrician. The specialist will examine the little patient, listen to complaints and, on the basis of this, make an accurate diagnosis with the appointment of further treatment.
- Viscous fluid formation mechanism
- Features of the common cold
- Treatment of liquid snot
- Treatment of a viral rhinitis
- Vasoconstrictor drops: are they effective for the common cold?
- Traditional methods of treatment
When liquid snot appears in a child, treatment should be started immediately. Usually, parents, noticing abundant nasal discharge, immediately take out a first-aid kit and start looking for a suitable remedy there that will help improve the child's condition. But the use of medicines is not always required. Sometimes it is best not to use any medication.
A more effective way is to provide conditions conducive to recovery. If liquid snot is found in a child, treatment is in any case necessary, but, unfortunately, it is not always carried out correctly.
To understand how to act in such a situation, one should understand the reasons and factors that provoke the development of a cold. It is necessary to familiarize yourself with the types of rhinitis and try to understand how the nasopharynx functions, why a viscous liquid forms in it.
Viscous fluid formation mechanism
First, it's worth noting that a runny nose itself is not a disease. This symptom indicates the development of a painful condition. And this symptom may be accompanied by some diseases.
In medical terms, a runny nose is rhinitis, in the appearance of which bacteria and viruses are to blame. There is also a runny nose of allergic etiology.
Inside, the nose is covered with mucous membrane, which reacts to the penetration of various irritants by secreting a viscous liquid. The composition of this liquid includes substances that take part in the process of destroying pathogens in the nose. Snot forms a barrier that prevents further spread infectious lesion into the nasopharynx.
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Features of the common cold
- Liquid snot is released due to the increased production of mucus in the nasal passages. For example, during crying, tears are formed, and those that remain in the eyes penetrate into the nasal passages, then go out through the nose in the form of snot. Both liquids have the same composition.
- The main reason rhinitis develops is the presence of a viral infection in the body. The mucous membrane is a breeding ground with ideal conditions for viruses. Here they can exist and reproduce.
- Infection of the body occurs due to the transmission of pathological microorganisms from a sick person through physiological fluids (tears, saliva, snot) or air. Viruses colonize the mucous membrane and actively multiply there.
- Microbes live on the nutrient medium inside the nose. Here they leave the result of their vital activity - substances that irritate the mucous membrane, thereby stimulating the active formation and separation of a large amount of fluid. Thus, the body tries to get rid of harmful substances.
- The next reason is an allergic reaction resulting from exposure to an external stimulus. The body can react with an allergic reaction to pollen, household chemicals, perfume with a pungent smell, tobacco smoke, animal hair, dust and many other objects.
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Treatment of liquid snot
Since snot is a symptom, not a disease, treatment should be carried out by relieving the condition and eliminating the underlying cause. It is important to remove the disease itself, which triggered the appearance of the common cold. Otherwise, the child will have discharge for a long time.
With allergic rhinitis, you must first determine the allergen and exclude contact with it. If there is too much viscous liquid and it is constantly secreted, while the child often sneezes and he has tears, the nose should be dripped with an antiallergic agent. After nasal instillation, the child should be given a children's antihistamine to drink.
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Treatment of a viral rhinitis
In this case, the infection itself is treated, and not the common cold. It must be borne in mind that such secretions are needed to combat infectious diseaseand they are the medicine themselves. With a viral infection, you should not use medicines to eliminate rhinitis.
The nose needs additional moisture. Saline solutions can help the child's parents. With this approach, the discharge will disappear quickly enough, they will not become thicker, so you can not be afraid of various complications, such as sinusitis, sinusitis and other bacterial diseases.
Antibacterial treatment is required only in cases where the disease caused by the bacteria is infectious. This is a serious condition. At the same time, the discharge is not transparent and liquid, their color is yellow or green, there is pus in the composition, and sometimes even blood.
Antibiotics do not work well for allergic rhinitis or rhinitis, which is a symptom of viral disease.
It makes no sense to use them for allergies, since there are no pathogens and there is no one to fight with. In the case of viruses, they are also ineffective because they are unable to kill viruses.
It can be concluded that it is pointless and even dangerous to treat rhinitis with antibiotics, because as a result of taking such drugs, beneficial bacteria present in the intestines may suffer.
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Vasoconstrictor drops: are they effective for the common cold?
As a result of the effect of vasoconstrictor drops in children, there is a restoration of stuffy nasal breathing and the cessation of snot secretion. Preparations of this action are recommended to be used only in emergency cases (viral rhinitis, bacterial), when it is very difficult for the child to breathe.
Before using drops, you should carefully read the instructions. Rhinitis of allergic etiology cannot be eliminated with these drugs. The result will be increased irritation of the mucous membrane and a more vivid manifestation of symptoms.
Warning. Vasoconstrictor drugs have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system. They are not used for children under 3 months of age. Overdose for small children is very dangerous, as respiratory arrest and death are possible.
The drops are addictive, especially if they are used for a long time and too often. The permissible period of application of the product is a maximum of 4-5 days, observing the necessary intervals (depending on the composition).
There is a risk of side effects: rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, vomiting, insomnia, dry mucous membranes, swelling of the nose. The appearance of undesirable effects is the reason for calling an ambulance. In this case, it is prohibited to continue using the tool.
When a liquid and transparent discharge appears from a child's nose, most parents immediately begin to look for a cure for a cold in the home medicine cabinet. As a rule, the first aid kit contains vasoconstrictor drugsthat relieve the symptom of nasal congestion or complex drugs that have an antimicrobial effect. Such treatment tactics will not bring the desired result, and may even harm.
In order to cure liquid snot in a child, you should first find out the reason for their appearance, or rather, what caused the increased secretion of the mucous membrane - a virus, allergy or bacteria.
The nasal mucosa constantly produces a small amount of liquid and transparent mucus, which cleans the nasal cavity from small debris and dust that have penetrated with the air, preventing them from entering the lower airways... The nasal mucus contains various proteins that have a protective function and neutralize bacteria, viruses, allergens.
Since the nasal cavity is an ideal route for infection to enter the body, it is the snot that becomes the first defensive reaction of the immune system. By the composition of the nasal secretion, you can determine what provoked the disease. So, with a viral infection, the analysis will show a high content of leukocytes, with allergic rhinitis, eosinophils will be found in the nasal mucus, and against bacteria, the body produces neutrophils - proteins, thanks to which the snot acquires a greenish tint. It is possible to treat a runny nose only by knowing the cause of its occurrence and choosing the appropriate treatment.
From which we can conclude that the excessive flow of nasal mucus is not a disease, but the body's reaction to the penetration of an allergen or infection. And since snot, as it turned out, are our allies in the fight against infection, the treatment is not to stop this flow, but to maintain the ability of the mucous membrane to constantly release new secretions, and to cleanse the nasal passages from the already used ones.
Causes of liquid snot
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Liquid transparent snot can appear for several reasons, having determined which the doctor will prescribe the correct treatment.
In most cases, liquid and transparent snot occurs when a viral infection has penetrated nasal cavity against the background of a decrease in immunity with a cold or hypothermia. When nasal mucus for the first time 2 - 3 days clear and liquid like water. With an increase in the production of leukocytes, the mucus becomes thicker and may become cloudy, but it is during this period that the snot have the greatest antiviral effect.
Allergy is also accompanied by a profuse discharge of liquid and transparent snot. Allergic rhinitis can be provoked by animal hair, dust, pollen of plants, as well as tobacco smoke, city smog. As a rule, in addition to the current nose, allergy sufferers give out reddened, teary eyes, a puffy face, sneezing and severe nasal congestion.
In children of the first year of life, during the period of teething and a decrease in immunity associated with this event, watery snot may also occur. It is not worth treating such a runny nose with medicines, since this is a physiological condition. However, in order for excess moisture not to become a breeding ground for bacteria, it is necessary to cleanse the nose of mucus in a timely manner and moisturize the cavities with salt drops.
Also, do not forget about one more possible reason abundant discharge of nasal secretions in children - finding a foreign object in the nasal passage. Often, while playing, children push small parts of toys into their noses, which leads to constant irritation of the cilia of the mucous membrane. In response to irritations, a large amount of clear mucus is produced in order to push the foreign object out of the nose just like dust or small particles inhaled with air. Conventional treatment runny nose does not improve because no cause has been identified. Therefore, when diagnosing a runny nose in a child, the doctor is simply obliged to conduct a rhinoscopy, which excludes such a cause of a runny nose in a child.
Treatment methods
Viral rhinitis
So, having determined that the cause of the common cold is a virus or an allergy, the doctor prescribes treatment. With the viral etiology of the common cold, the technique on which the treatment is based is, as mentioned above, maintaining the mucous membrane in a moist state and removing the used secretion.
It is not worth treating a child from viruses, the body itself will be able to cope. To maintain the work of the mucous membrane, the nasal cavities should be cleaned with an aspirator, after moistening the mucous membrane with saline drops, for example, Morimer, Aqua Maris, Rinosol, or saline solution.
In order for the treatment to be successful, without being complicated by the addition of bacteria, it is necessary to humidify and clean the air in the room, preventing the mucous membrane from drying out. To do this, it is enough to ventilate the room and carry out wet cleaning. It is much more convenient to use an ultrasonic humidifier. Such treatment involves drinking plenty of fluids, daily walks in the fresh air and excluding fried and fatty foods from the menu.
Many parents think that this is not enough to cure a runny nose, however, the period during which the body digests the virus is about a week. During this time, antibodies are produced that destroy viral cells and no drugs can replace or accelerate this process. In very severe cases, with a weakened child's immunity or when viral disease passes with complications, doctors may prescribe medications with interferon, which act as an adjunct to combat viral infection... If a common cold is often treated antiviral drugs the child's own immunity begins to lose ground, as it gets used to outside help.
Allergic rhinitis
If the symptoms indicate an allergic etiology of the common cold, it is not worth treating it yourself in any case. First of all, you should consult a doctor, allergists or otolaryngologist for diagnosis. In the event that the allergy is confirmed, it is necessary to limit the child's contact with the alleged allergen.
Treat allergic rhinitis follows only according to the doctor's scheme, using antihistamines and local drops that prevent an increase in vascular permeability. To the list medicines you can include vitamin complexes corresponding to the age of the baby.