Question

A 7-year-old child has severe coughing at night, affecting sleep and breathing. They need treatment. What methods can help alleviate the cough?

Answer

Strategies for Handling a Child’s Severe Cough:

  1. Elevate the Head: If a child’s coughing persists upon falling asleep, elevating their head can help alleviate symptoms. This position reduces the flow of nasal secretions to the lower throat, thereby lessening the sensation of throat itching and easing the intensified coughing at night. Additionally, regularly adjusting sleep positions, alternating between sides, can help expel respiratory secretions.
  2. Warm Beverages: Drinking warm liquids can thin mucus, relieve the tension of respiratory mucosa, and promote mucus discharge. It is recommended to give children warm water, warm milk, or rice porridge. They can also be given mild juices like apple or pear juice; however, orange juice or grapefruit juice, which are more acidic, are not recommended.
  3. External Chinese Medicine Application: Some safe and effective external Chinese medicine applications can be used. Since children may have physiological characteristics that make medication easy to induce vomiting and difficult to administer at home when treating coughs, using external adhesive drugs may yield unexpected effects, such as the Baicao Jiangjiang Yiqi Paste or the Sanfu Paste.