|
The use of over-the-counter medications, especially cold and cough medications, is generally frowned upon by many Pediatricians. Usually, I think, because it is believed that they won't make help child get better any faster and they may cause side effects, including drowsiness and irritability. And there is no real proof that they work. However, even though it is true that they won't make your child better faster or make the infection go away, they can help your child to feel better and relieve symptoms until the infection goes away on its own or with the help of other medical treatments.
Personally, I often recommend that children with a cold, cough or sinus infection take something to help relieve the symptoms. I usually also try to recommend that parents only use them if they help make the symptoms better. If they aren't helping or if they are causing side effects, then I instruct parents to stop them.
Do they work? In my experience, yes they do. With the last cold that I had, I would wake up feeling terrible, with a runny nose, cough and sore throat. I took some ibuprofen, a 12 hour topical nasal decongestant and a 12 oral decongestant, and after a hot shower, I felt much better.
What are cold medications supposed to do? Many parents think that these medications are supposed to make their child's nose run more so that the infection 'runs out'. What they are really supposed to do is dry up your child's nasal passages, leading to less sneezing, less postnasal drip and less coughing. If the cold medicine is making your child cough more or have more drainage, then it likely isn't working.
In general, decongestants help with congestion and stuffiness, while an antihistamine should help stop a runny nose (rhinorrhea), sneezing and nasal itchiness, although they may also make you drowsy.
I also like using prescription strength cough and cold medications when OTC medicines aren't working. For children that are having trouble sleeping because of coughing, I will also prescribe a prescription strength cough medicine with hydrocodone. Although many doctors don't like using these medications, I think that if it helps the child sleep better, then he should feel better the next day and it may help him get better faster.
Here are some tips on using cold medications with your kids:
- decide if your child really needs a cold medicine. Remember that the main reason to give a cold medicine is to make your child feel better. If he has a cough and runny nose, but it isn't bothering him and he is eating and sleeping well, then you may not have to give him anything.
- give the least amount of ingredients as possible, for example if your child just has a runny nose, then you don't need to give a cough suppressant or fever reducer.
- learn to read the label so that you know what ingredients your child is getting and avoid medications with similar ingredients. For example, don't give Triaminic Sore Throat™ and Tylenol™ at the same time because they both have acetaminophen and giving both can lead to an overdose. Keep in mind that many multi-symtpom cold and flu medications now include ibuprofen (Advil™ or Motrin™) or acetaminophen (Tylenol™).
- give the correct dosage. This is hard when giving medications to smaller children, but find out what the recommended dosage is before giving any medicine to your child. Do not just estimate what the dosage would be by giving 1/2 or 1/4 of the dosage for an older child. Giving the wrong dosage is a common reason that medications don't work (because your are giving too little) or cause side effects (because your are giving too much).
- stop using the medicine if it isn't working or if it is causing bothersome side effects. You may also want to call your Pediatrician if your child isn't getting better or is much worse.
|
