Croup
By Dr. Brown
Croup is a viral respiratory illness (cold) that characteristically infects near the vocal cords, producing a characteristic seal bark cough and a funny breathing in sound know as stridor. Commonly the patient will also have a "hoarse voice". Croup tends to affect younger children because of a child's smaller (narrower) airway. It can also affect older children and adults and may present as just a cold.
Usually croup tends to appear at night, and typically, your child may go to bed appearing normal, only to awaken about an hour or so later with the characteristic cough. It's an extremely frightening thing for parents (and the child) to experience. The next day, your child may wake up and seem fine only to have the situation reappear at night again.
The worst of croup is about 3-5 days, however, about 10% of children can still have a cough (not as severe) lasting 4 weeks!
Treatment:
There's very little good treatment for croup, and parents many time feel helpless seeing their child in such distress. There are a few things you can try at home. Try bringing your child into a steamy bathroom - many times the mist will soothe the respiratory passages and relax your child's breathing. You can also try bringing your child out into the cool night air to calm the cough and breathing. If you don't want to go outside, you can try opening your freezer and letting your child breath in the frosty air. You will definitely want to run a humidifier or vaporizer for your child for the rest of the night and day.
Croup tends to come in spasms, so don't be too surprised if you get your child back to sleep and he or she wakes later with the same thing! That's why running a humidifier in the room may be helpful.
When to Really Get Scared:
Call the doctor on call if you're really scared. Unfortunately, you'll probably get the same advice as above, as there's not much else you can do. If none of the above works, then you may want to go the Emergency Room. There are some special additional treatments that can be done there. Oftentimes, by the time you get to the ER, your child's spasm may be gone - you might be able to turn around and go home.
If you've had a bad night, but made it through and your child is still noisy the next day, or if you're worried, call the office and have him or her seen. In some cases, we can also prescribe a medicine (a steroid - not an antibiotic - this is a virus) to help with the symptoms. It takes a several hours for the steroid to begin to work, so getting into the office in the earlier part of the day is preferable.
Check out the video below from YouTube. It's way too long, but in the first 5 seconds you can hear the characteristic seal bark cough and starting around 46 seconds you can hear the harsh breathing IN sound (known as stridor) as well as see the pulling in of the neck just above the breastbone.
Croup is a viral respiratory illness (cold) that characteristically infects near the vocal cords, producing a characteristic seal bark cough and a funny breathing in sound know as stridor. Commonly the patient will also have a "hoarse voice". Croup tends to affect younger children because of a child's smaller (narrower) airway. It can also affect older children and adults and may present as just a cold.
Usually croup tends to appear at night, and typically, your child may go to bed appearing normal, only to awaken about an hour or so later with the characteristic cough. It's an extremely frightening thing for parents (and the child) to experience. The next day, your child may wake up and seem fine only to have the situation reappear at night again.
The worst of croup is about 3-5 days, however, about 10% of children can still have a cough (not as severe) lasting 4 weeks!
Treatment:
There's very little good treatment for croup, and parents many time feel helpless seeing their child in such distress. There are a few things you can try at home. Try bringing your child into a steamy bathroom - many times the mist will soothe the respiratory passages and relax your child's breathing. You can also try bringing your child out into the cool night air to calm the cough and breathing. If you don't want to go outside, you can try opening your freezer and letting your child breath in the frosty air. You will definitely want to run a humidifier or vaporizer for your child for the rest of the night and day.
Croup tends to come in spasms, so don't be too surprised if you get your child back to sleep and he or she wakes later with the same thing! That's why running a humidifier in the room may be helpful.
When to Really Get Scared:
Call the doctor on call if you're really scared. Unfortunately, you'll probably get the same advice as above, as there's not much else you can do. If none of the above works, then you may want to go the Emergency Room. There are some special additional treatments that can be done there. Oftentimes, by the time you get to the ER, your child's spasm may be gone - you might be able to turn around and go home.
If you've had a bad night, but made it through and your child is still noisy the next day, or if you're worried, call the office and have him or her seen. In some cases, we can also prescribe a medicine (a steroid - not an antibiotic - this is a virus) to help with the symptoms. It takes a several hours for the steroid to begin to work, so getting into the office in the earlier part of the day is preferable.
Check out the video below from YouTube. It's way too long, but in the first 5 seconds you can hear the characteristic seal bark cough and starting around 46 seconds you can hear the harsh breathing IN sound (known as stridor) as well as see the pulling in of the neck just above the breastbone.