Hello dear Moms!

Your empathetic paediatrician is back again with yet another topic that deals with a commonly occurring health issue among children and their mother as a result. So let me help by throwing some light on it.

As the seasons change there is sneezing, runny & itchy noses, those frequent hawking, snuffles, sometimes even itchy ears. Sounds familiar? Well these are all common signs and symptoms of respiratory allergies in our children that usually affect when there is change of weather, in sensitive children in every change of weather & in other few once a year but it is present in roughly 14-20% children in India varying as per different age groups.

Now being a children's doctor I want to make you aware of certain tips on how to manage it at home, when is a medicinal intervention required, and how prevention plays an important role.

The 2 major types are:

One which only affect the upper part of the child's respiratory system which means lungs and other deeper tissues are not involved, second one is where deeper airway is obstructed and eventually leads to involvement of the lungs as well. Now its easy to deduce from this that the former can be managed at home usually without medicinal intervention only if discomfort is not too much and in the latter case usually medicinal intervention and even hospitalization in severe cases may be required.

How to manage at home:

Remember here prevention is the key. when you sense that the weather is changing you must make sure the child is dressed according to the change in temperature (but please don't overload them with too many layers), masks can be worn by children who are above the age of 5 and are more sensitive to the dust and pollens, make extra sure that they wash hands when coming home from outside or after handling the pets, spend more time indoors than outdoors specially during dusty windy days, regular dusting inside the house is also important, beddings of children must be washed regularly, avoid strong odours and fragrances in your house (incense sticks. strong perfumes, scented candles, room fresheners, strong car fresheners, etc) basically any strong artificial fragrance can trigger an episode of allergy or cause one in case of prolonged exposure. If extremely necessary use herbal preparations (those are less harmful), fresh flowers, etc

Now that we know what to avoid in order to prevent, lets look at what to include for prevention, ginger is known to have anti-allergic properties, use ginger in your daily greens and vegetables preparations, you can also give ginger boiled in milk. honey is another example of anti- allergic food, ideal for cooler weather or winter , half or one tea spoon daily in morning is known to boost immunity in children. In our constantly expanding cities we are exposed to dust all the time so its also a good practice to include deep breathing exercises(yoga based) in our daily routines and yes I am not just talking about the kids here but also the mothers and all other motivated family members as well, since children learn what they see its good to do it yourself and include your child in a playful manner. Now these may not be advocated routinely by us healthcare professionals but these are effective tools with no side-effects.

Medicinal Intervention

It is important to prevent but when already affected it equally important to manage it wisely. here are some pointers when it is essential to visit your child's paediatrician - first and foremost if your child has been diagnosed with asthma its very very important to visit your paediatrician on the first sign of trigger, when your child is suffering with nose block it can affect his/her productivity and daily physical activity so prolonged mouth breathing is a big no- no! When you observe your child's symptoms are affecting her/his sleep, that might be a sign of sinus involvement or the allergy spreading further. When your child develops ear symptoms may be a superimposed infection or simply the allergy is spreading, when appetite and thirst are affected and his/her daily physical activity has gone down for more than a day and is not getting better even after adequate rest, when there is fever may again be a sign of some infection. Mother are usually experts in observing their children, there might be some signs or symptoms specific to your child and mothers are aware of it, so when you sense that it directs towards a severe allergy your paediatrician is your go to person at the time.

A healthy child is every parents dream and fulfilling every dream is a challenge and every challenge requires some efforts and some help from our environment. So seek help from experts when you need it and stay wise, happy and healthy.

On this note ciao till next time!