Bronchial asthma is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment. Moreover, the younger the child, the greater the role played in the treatment of his parents. It consists not only in controlling the medication, but also in changing the lifestyle of the little allergic person and his family. Of course, it’s not easy to break the usual daily routine, home environment and long-term eating traditions, but it is precisely such help that the child needs. What exactly can parents do to alleviate the symptoms of illness of their beloved child, MedAboutMe will tell.
Dust control
Compliance with the rules of hypoallergenic life is one of the first recommendations that the doctor allergist-immunologist voices to the parents of a small allergic person at the reception. The fact is that house dust, or rather, house dust mites, is precisely the allergen that in most cases is causally significant in the development of bronchial asthma. Accordingly, in order to alleviate the symptoms of the disease and increase the effectiveness of drug therapy, contact with house dust should be minimal. This task rests entirely with the parents.
Particular attention should be paid to cleaning the floor. In the apartment where the allergic child lives, there should not be natural carpets. If you wish, you can lay a synthetic coating, assembled from separate pieces that are convenient to wash. Wet cleaning in the baby’s room is a mandatory daily ritual and an effective way to deal with dust, but cleaning with an ordinary vacuum cleaner can only do harm. After dry cleaning, dust particles rise into the air and fly for a long time. Ideal would be the purchase of a vacuum cleaner with a water filter.
Bedding is a favorite place for dust mites to live. However, the right materials and regular care will make the habitat less attractive for these microscopic insects. When updating pillows, a blanket and a mattress of a child’s bed, synthetic materials should be preferred and protective antiallergenic covers should be used. Dust mites die at high (over 60 ° C) and low (less than 10 ° C) temperatures. Care for bedding should be subject to these features.
Air quality in the house
Children suffering from bronchial asthma feel comfortable breathing moderately moist air. It protects the mucous membrane from drying out and prevents the spread of allergens at home. The most favorable humidity is 35-50%. An air humidifier will help parents create such a microclimate, or a simple and long-known method – hanging towels soaked in water and squeezed out.
No less important is the purity of the air. Smoking of parents in the presence of a child is unacceptable, because even passive inhalation of cigarette smoke affects the condition of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. In this case, a reaction to non-specific provoking factors appears: physical activity, cold air, pungent odors.
Fluffy friends are enemies of health
A pet is a joy for any child, and therefore separation from a pet can be a real test not only for a small allergic person, but also for his parents. I would like to meet my beloved child and leave my furry friend at home. However, it is in this situation that one must be firm. No tricks such as cutting a cat or washing a dog will work. The fact that allergens are not only wool, but also dandruff, saliva, excrement. For the same reason, there are no “hypoallergenic” animals. No matter how upset the child is, the task of the parents is to explain why pets are not allowed.
How to protect the baby from plant pollen?
Plant pollen is an allergen that cannot be eliminated (removed) completely from a child’s life. You can only try to reduce contact. The ideal option is to go to another region for the flowering period of the “guilty” plants and the alleged exacerbation of bronchial asthma. Unfortunately, not all parents can afford it.
Staying in the city, you need to adhere to the rules that will reduce contact with pollen. You should not walk with your baby in the forest and park, especially when the weather is sunny and dry, because under these conditions the concentration of pollen is higher. After a walk, be sure to wash your face, rinse your mouth, and wash your hair before going to bed. It is advisable to change and wash street clothes every day.
During an exacerbation of pollen bronchial asthma, sensitivity to other allergens, such as house dust and food, increases. For parents, this means that you need to carefully monitor the baby’s diet and spend more time cleaning the house.
Hypoallergenic diet
The treatment of food allergies in a child lies almost entirely on the shoulders of his parents. In this case, the basis of therapy is a strict hypoallergenic diet with the exception of the “guilty” food product, and the drugs play only an auxiliary role.
It is important to warn relatives, friends, educators in kindergarten and teachers at school about the nutritional characteristics of the child. All these people should be parents’ helpers in maintaining the child ’s diet , and not “good” uncles and aunts offering a prohibited product.
Restrictions and prohibitions on children are always a difficult issue, especially when it comes to food allergies. It is easy to blame a child who secretly stole candy from the table. It is much more difficult for parents to admit their guilt when they eat the same sweets in front of the baby. First of all, you need to change your behavior and attitude to nutrition.
Despite the fact that medications play a large role in the treatment of allergic bronchial asthma, it is equally important to observe the elimination regimen – limiting contact with allergens. If the doctor controls the effectiveness of drug therapy and its correction, then maintaining the optimal living conditions of the child is the task of his parents. Only they are able to properly equip his room, organize leisure and monitor nutrition.