Doctor Komarovsky about inhalations

Inhalations are very popular procedures among parents. And even if you have not thought about the possibility of making them for your children at home, then someone from friends, relatives or even doctors will be obligatory, who will definitely advise inhaling the sick baby.

The famous pediatrician, author of books on children's health and famous TV presenter Yevgeny Komarovsky talks about the most common parental mistakes, the benefits and harms of these procedures.

Regarding inhalations, unfortunately, parents rarely go to doctors, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. And all because every family has its own ways of conducting this procedure. Some generations breathe in a bowl of boiled potatoes, others have bought an inhaler and experiment with herbal decoctions and essential oils. Rarely what kind of mother goes for advice to the pediatrician. And it is necessary to do it, says Komarovsky.

Are inhalations so beneficial to the body and contribute to rapid recovery from respiratory diseases - Dr. Komarovsky will tell about this in the next video.

Inhalation therapy is based on inhalation of gases or vapors in which a certain drug is dissolved. It is this medicine that will have an effect on the bronchi, lungs, trachea.. Parents who, with any illness for their child, cook a pot of potatoes, simply do not know that there is no cure during such inhalation. After all, a child inhales fumes, water. And it is not bad moisturizes the bronchi and, of course, useful. But it does not cure.

That is why any inhalation at home, Evgeny O. considers the procedure useful primarily for the parents themselves, who are simply unbearable to sit idle when the child is sick. They need to do at least something, but at least inhalation.

Special devices for inhalation are called inhalers. They are intended for treatment in hospitals and physical services. Now the whole segment of devices is intended for home use. In general, the concept of "inhaler" is quite capacious, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. This includes ready-made pharmaceutical inhalers with some kind of medication inside (for example, "Ingalipt"). You do not need to cook anything with them, just take, press the dispenser and inhale the aerosol with medicine. The most traditional inhaler - steam. It acts like an electric kettle - it warms the solution poured into it and you can breathe in pairs over it.

Ultrasonic inhalers heat and evaporate drug solutions by ultrasound. And compressor - create an aerosol from a liquid with a stream of air. The most modern device for inhalation therapy is called a nebulizer.

The differences between the inhaler and the nebulizer are that the latter create healing aerosols without steam, using a vibrating membrane, and in a fine substance that the child will inhale, resulting in small particles of medicine. How to choose an inhaler, it will become clear after the parents honestly answer the question of what exactly they are buying this or that device for. Komarovsky emphasizes that the main goal is not inhalation for the sake of inhalation, but the treatment of one or another respiratory tract disease.

As a rule, inhalers are designed for a particular dispersion (particle size aerosols). One inhaler can thus be effective in bronchial asthma, and the other in pneumonia, since the treatment of the lungs requires very small particles that will sink to the destination. There are very expensive models that provide the ability to change the dispersion. But they are so expensive that they almost never meet at home, more often - in clinics and clinics. They can treat diseases of both upper and lower respiratory tract, just changing the type of dispersion aerosols in the instrument menu.

In addition to the obvious benefits of inhalation, there is a very tangible harm that cannot be ignored. Firstly, there are diseases in which inhalation is contraindicated. And there are significantly more of them than those ailments that can be treated with an inhaler. Komarovsky warns that heal sore throat inhalation in any case impossible. Steam inhalations should not be given to a child with otitis. Heating in pairs will only intensify the inflammatory process in such situations.

The younger the child, the more dangerous for him inhalation. Feature kids - in the narrow nasal passages. And if the dried mucus is well moistened with the help of steam inhalation, it will swell, increase in volume, but will not be able to go outside and this will provoke very serious consequences, up to asphyxiation.

Inhalation should not be carried out at the request of parents and not at the whim of grandmothers, but according to strict indications and only on the recommendation of a doctor. Otherwise, the harm from the procedures will substantially exceed the potential benefits. Inhalation is always a risk, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. First, the risk of obstruction and otitis, and, secondly, the risk of burns or electrical injury.

Inhalation of vapors of essential oils by a child is very useful, especially for parents, who immediately become calmer at heart, and for those who sell these same oils. Evgeny Komarovsky emphasizes that it is impossible to use oils in any type of inhalers, except steam ones.

But is it worth it to do at all - an open question. After all, the effectiveness of inhaling cedar or eucalyptus oil vapors is not proven by official medicine, one can only guess or follow the advice of traditional healers. But Komarovsky urges not to experiment on his own children, because with such inhalations the risk of not only getting burned, but also earning an allergic reaction to some plant component, increases.

• Do not do inhalation with medications for the beginning signs of ARVI or flu. Benefit from it may be less than harm. Prevention of viral diseases is impossible with any medication, be they in pills or in the form of solutions for inhalation.
• Inhalation alone can only be done with diseases of the upper respiratory tract.
• For carrying out inhalations with hot steam, it is better to use a special device, and not a saucepan with boiling water or potatoes. After all, under the blanket above the pan, the child has very high chances to shed this pan and get multiple skin burns or sharply inhale hot steam and burn burns of the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs.
• Proper optimized drinking mode during illness, humid indoor air, and normal room air parameters may well replace inhalation. If the conditions (temperature 18-20 degrees. Humidity 50-70%) are met, the mucus will not dry out, and no need for inhalation therapy will arise.
• If the family has a choice to buy an inhaler or nebulizer, Komarovsky advises not to take either one or the other, but to buy humidifier.