When you see your child coughing or sneezing, do you get worried, particularly in these COVID times, where one may feel every sneeze can be a symptom of COVID? Every parent gets worried when their child starts coughing. At times, this cough progresses to gradual breathlessness, and, one fine day, you get to know from your pediatrician that your child has asthma. Are these complaints of frequent cough and breathlessness affecting your child is giving you sleepless nights? Do you get worried by thinking what if this Asthma progresses and your child becomes dependent on inhalers for a lifetime? If you nodded along positively, stress yourself no further. Fortunately, you have homeopathy to treat the childhood asthma of your growing little one.
Asthma is a disease characterized by increased responsiveness of the airways to various stimuli. It is a chronic inflammatory condition of the lung airways resulting in episodic airflow obstruction.
It is important to understand that asthma occurs whenever a child with inherent genetic vulnerabilities is exposed to environmental triggers, such as smoke, dust, pollution, change of weather, cold, etc. Some children are predisposed to being sensitive to external allergens or triggers, for instance, many children are exposed to dust daily but only a few have the sensitivity to develop cough and breathlessness due to the exposure to dust. It is this sensitivity of the respiratory tract which is inborn, innate in the child which causes asthma to trigger and develop. Such children, who are already sensitive to certain allergens or triggers, act as pre-disposed hosts, and they have altered immune responses which lead to persistent asthma in your child.
Once asthma has developed, constant exposure to allergens appears makes it worse by causing recurrent acute exacerbations. So, the important question which arises is that how you will know or how you will identify if your child has Childhood Asthma. It may be difficult to identify if your child has asthma, particularly in younger children up to the age of 5 years, because episodic respiratory symptoms, such as persistent cough and difficulty in breathing, are common in children without asthma, particularly in children up to 2 years of age. So, a probability-based approach based, on the pattern of symptoms, can help parents identify whether their child has asthma or not. Thus, if you see such persistent symptoms in your child, you can think of Homeopathy as with subtle homeopathic medications we can treat and control this childhood Asthma greatly.
Symptoms of childhood asthma vary from simple recurrent cough to severe wheezing. The symptoms occur with the change in season, and they may get aggravated by exercise and more at night. The patient’s medical history and his family’s medical history of asthma, atopic dermatitis, or allergic conditions are the most common symptoms.
Asthma usually starts with the symptoms of cold or bouts of dry spasmodic cough. In the early stages, symptoms may last for <10 days with 2—3 episodes per year. Gradually, the symptoms (cough, wheezing, and heavy breathing) last for >10 days during the upper respiratory tract infections with >3 episodes per year or severe episodes and/or at night along with worsening of the symptoms between episodes may be present.
Now that we have known the symptoms to identify Childhood Asthma, it’s important to know the most frequent triggers that cause asthma symptoms in your child. If these triggers are avoided; they help in better recovery and a brief symptom-free period for your child. Here are some common triggers of asthma that you can avoid.
- Tobacco smoke.
- Dust mites.
- Outdoor air pollution.
- Pests (e.g. cockroaches, mice)
- Cleaning and disinfection.
- Viral infections in young children and exercise in older children are more frequent triggers.
- Exercise-induced Asthma occurs in genetically susceptible individuals i.e. in children with a family history of Asthma
- Weather changes can also induce asthma
- Stress, particularly mental can trigger asthma.
- Role of food: Allergy to food proteins or additives, such as coloring agents and preservatives in food, can be a potential trigger for asthma.
Homeopathic Treatment for Childhood Asthma:
Homeopathy not only reduces your child’s sensitivity to these triggers but also reduces the intensity, frequency, and duration of childhood asthma symptoms. Thus, when we start homeopathic treatment for children having asthma, what we can expect is listed below.
Here are some benefits of homeopathic treatment for childhood asthma.
- Reduction in the attacks of asthma and wheezing
- Reduction in the severity of an attack of asthma.
- Reduced attack of frequent colds and cough.
- Improvement in the child’s appetite causing weight gain which occurs due to improvement in the overall immunity of the child.
- Reduced need for bronchodilators, steroid, and antibiotics
- It reduces the child’s tendency to have recurrent URTI’s (Upper Respiratory Tract Infections like Recurrent Tonsillitis, Recurrent Otitis Media, or Sinusitis)
Homeopathy aims to control childhood asthma in a much better way. The control of childhood asthma with Homeopathic medicines has two components:
- The child’s asthma status over the previous four weeks i.e. current symptom control
- How asthma may affect them in the future (future risk).
Defining satisfactory symptom control in children up to 5 years and younger depends on information derived from family members and carers. Therefore, the education of parents is an important aspect of asthma treatment. Childhood asthma finds good results with homeopathic treatment. Many pediatricians themselves suggest parents for starting Homeopathic treatment for their child in cases of Childhood Asthma. Also, after using homeopathic treatment, most children may not require the use of steroid inhalers as often as they needed before the treatment. Here are some known remedies from the vast arena of Homeopathic medicines for Childhood Asthma; but it’s important to consult a qualified homeopath before starting any treatment.
1) Arsenic Album
Arsenic Album is a profoundly-acting remedy for Asthma where it is indicated if your child is unable to lie down, fears suffocation, and feels constricted air passages. It helps in treating Asthma that worsens at midnight with a burning feeling in the chest. Cough worsens after midnight and lying on the back indicates this remedy. Profound weakness and debility with increased thirst during the complaints indicate this medicine.
2) Blatta Orientalis
It is a very good remedy for asthma where there is a cough with a difficulty in breathing with a lot of mucoid expectoration, particularly in stout children.
3) Drosera Rotundifolia
This homeopathic medicine is suited for treating the presence of spasmodic dry and irritating cough in paroxysms, harassing and titillating cough in children, asthma when talking where the child feels severe contraction of the throat at every uttered word.
4) Eriodictyon Californicum:
This is the best remedy for asthmatic affections in cases where asthma and complaints of breathlessness are relieved by expectoration. Wheezing in asthma with coryza and excess mucous secretions indicate this medicine.
5) Kali Carb:
Sensitivity to atmospheric changes and intolerance to the cold weather indicate this remedy. Dry hard cough which increases at 3 am with wheezing is another symptom that indicates this medicine.
6) Sambucus Nigra
Paroxysmal suffocative cough bothering at midnight with crying in children indicates this remedy. The child awakens suddenly, nearly suffocating, sits up, turns blue, and cannot exhale easily.
Now that we are aware of the Homeopathic remedies for childhood asthma, a few red liners which should be kept in mind while treating your child with Homeopathic medicines are as follows. Although homeopathic treatment is the best for treating Childhood Asthma, it should be kept in mind that every case is different, and, in cases where there is an acute emergency due to acute exacerbation of asthma, you may require to take help of the conventional medicines. Thus, it is important to consult a Homeopathic physician for the right treatment. So, it’s important to know what the goals are while we are managing children suffering from Childhood Asthma and taking Homeopathic medicines.
Goals of Asthma Management
- To see that we improve your child’s quality of life first by achieving control of symptoms such that every child can perform all his daily activities and routine without any trouble.
- It is essential to minimize future risks, which means it’s important to reduce the risk of flare-ups or severe acute exacerbations and minimize the side effects of steroids and inhalers so that your child can enjoy a normal healthy childhood.
Thus, think of Homeopathy in Childhood Asthma so that your child’s growth and development remain unhampered and your child can enjoy a healthy life.
