A common childhood viral illness (about one in every 20 children under age six will develop it at some point), croup is easy to recognize by several distinct characteristics.
Children between the ages of six months and three years are most commonly affected, usually during the late fall, winter and early spring. Symptoms, which often include a barking, seal-like, cough, developing about 2-6 days after being exposed, and are caused by inflammation, swelling and the buildup of mucus in the larynx, trachea (windpipe) and bronchial tubes.
Here are some other common traits:
1. Sudden onset of symptoms. Often, kids will seem just fine when they go to bed, then wake up in the middle of the night with a barking cough and labored breathing.
2. A cough that is very distinctive. Unlike other respiratory illnesses, which can cause a dry, wet, or deep cough, croup causes a cough that sounds like a barking seal.
3. This will sometimes be accompanied by a loud, high-pitched, inhaling (called stridor.) This is caused by inflammation in the larger airways.
4. Croup symptoms usually manifest in the middle of the night, are often better during the day, and worsen at night (lessening in intensity each night.)
5. Symptoms become worse if a child becomes anxious or agitated.
6. Children with croup will usually also have a hoarse voice, decreased appetite and a fever, which is usually low grade, but may rise up to 104 degrees F.
While there's no cure for croup (it's a viral illness) there are some treatments that can help your child to feel better faster. Mild croup symptoms can usually be safely treated at home. Common treatments include:
1. Using cool humidified air, which can be delivered by a cool mist humidifier. Likewise, warm steam can be delivered by turning on a hot shower, closing the bathroom door and holding your child as he breathes in the steamy, humidified air.
2. On cool nights, exposure to the cool nighttime air may also help symptoms. One historic phenomenon of croup is that children often seem to get better on the way to the emergency room. Someone finally put two and two together and realized that the exposure to cool air (often in the middle of the night) seemed to lessen the intensity of the children's symptoms. To take advantage of this, it may help to bundle your child up and walk around outside for several minutes, or sit quietly on the porch or patio.
3. Since symptoms worsen if children are crying and agitated, do what you can to calm a child, and this may also improve the symptoms.
Typically, major symptoms of croup last only 2-5 days, but in rare cases they can last up to several weeks. Once the cough and difficulty breathing get better, children may still have cold symptoms for a week or more.
Although there's no medication or vaccination to prevent croup, decreasing their exposure to other people that are sick, strict handwashing, and avoiding other germ-sharing activities may lessen your child's chances of getting sick.
Children whose symptoms are moderate or severe, or who aren't quickly responding to home treatments, will need medical attention for further treatments, which usually includes administering a steroid to help decrease swelling and inflammation and improve breathing.
If you are unsure how severe your child's symptoms are, call your pediatrician immediately.
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Comments
Steamy showers have proven the most effective way to ease Croup symptoms for my child. He has a bathroom attached to his bedroom so right before bed we steam up his entire room by running the shower on the hottest setting for about 15 minutes. We repeat once more during the night, if needed. We also apply a children's menthol rub to the bottoms of his feet and cover them up with socks. Fred Meyer's Nutrition Ctr has some products we find helpful as well. There's a Throat Coat cough syrup (consult a doc for children under 3) and Throat Coat Tea that uses a mild herbal formula for children (it has a pic of a cartoon giraffe on it). Standing in front of the opened freezer door can be helpful too. Good luck!
You never would have convinced me that cold night air would help a cough- but lo and behold- when the steamy shower didn't work, we went outside and that's what helped my girl.
A corticosteroid drug, usually either prednisone or dexamethasone given by injection, will quickly reduce inflammatory swelling. This will relieve symptoms greatly and spare little ones (and their haggard parents) those nights of steamy showers and fearful moonlight strolls. Although I learned of this ten years ago, when my own croup stricken daughter was being treated at an E.R., I distinctly remember the Doctor saying that he wished more parents knew about this injection.
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