Hoarseness of the child's voice: why and what to do?

Signs that the baby is unhealthy will be noticed by any attentive parent. Symptoms of a child's hoarse voice are quite characteristic:

• The child can complain of a feeling of persecution, irritation in the throat.
• The voice weakens at first, becomes quieter.
• The child begins to cough.
• There may be difficulty in swallowing food.
• The kid complains of a sore throat.
• Often the symptom of "hoarse voice in a child" is accompanied by an increase in body temperature.
• A baby can get a headache, he becomes listless, apathetic.
• Visually, parents may notice redness in the throat.

Symptom - hoarse voice in the child, in fact, is one of the first signs of the disease, which is most often laryngitis. Clinical manifestations of laryngitis are characterized by the fact that the baby becomes sluggish, quickly gets tired, loses activity. Quite often there is a transient increase in body temperature. If the parents turn to the doctor and the child is examined according to all the rules, the blood test clearly shows the inflammatory process: - increased level of leukocytes and acceleration of the ESR.

Symptoms of hoarse voice in a child depend on the localization of the inflammatory process. Most often affects the zone above the larynx, slightly less often - the posterior zone of the throat, these inflammations affect the process of swallowing food, provoke pain when eating. In addition to pain and the "hoarse voice" symptom, the child can complain of heaviness in the chest, shortness of breath, restless sleep. Problems with breathing are caused by swelling of the mucous membrane of the throat, constriction and spasm of plica vocalis (voice folds). The acute form of laryngitis can be accompanied by dryness in the oral cavity, hoarseness, frequent coughing and even an abscess in the area of the glottis, this condition requires immediate hospitalization of the child. For chronic laryngitis, there is a long period of hoarseness, general fatigue, malaise.

Symptoms of hoarse voice in a child are directly caused by the clinic of the underlying disease, if laryngitis is diagnosed, the symptoms can be conditionally divided into the following categories:

• Chronic laryngitis, catarrhal form - constant irritation, perspiration in the throat, dysphonia (a timbre has changed, a hoarse voice). The child may also have signs of a slow inflammatory process - subfebrile temperature, drowsiness, headache. The painful condition lasts no more than 7-10 days, then the kid goes on the amendment under condition of adequate treatment and observance of all the doctor's advice.
• Acute laryngitis as a consequence of the started process of acute respiratory viral infection: body temperature jumps, periodic cough without phlegm, discomfort in the throat, sore sensations, difficulty in swallowing food, weakened intermittent breathing. Treatment is longer, often with the use of physiotherapy procedures. This form of the disease lasts from 7 to 15 or more days, including the recovery period.
• The atrophic form of laryngitis in children is less common, the symptoms are a permanent unproductive cough, an enduring hoarse voice. This kind of laryngitis is provoked mainly by functional factors - irritation of the vocal cords, their overload (intense vocal, voice, scream). It is treated for a long time, persistently with the observance of a gentle voice regime, which for children is considered a rather difficult task given their age-related motor and psycho-emotional activity.

First signs

The first signs of malaise are what parents call "hoarse voice in a child". As a rule, children are active and do not immediately complain of poor health, but symptoms are manifested in speech. Before the throat begins to sate, there is a sensation of pain and pain when you swallow food, the child's voice loses the usual timbre and the volume becomes lower, with hoarseness. In medicine, changes in voice characteristics are usually called dysphonia. The total loss of the ability to speak is aphonia. In addition to that hoarse voice, the child begins a slight cough, turning into a debilitating dry cough. Many children complain of a headache, quickly get tired and become lethargic. The most disturbing are the first signs in very young children. At them inflammatory processes proceed actively, often in the acute form that is fraught with puffiness of a mucous larynx and problems with breath. Strong, swift edema can provoke a violation of inspiration, the respiratory process becomes intermittent, noisy. Kid restless sleeps, often screaming, which further exacerbates the symptoms of the disease. The fact that in pediatrics is called a false cereal, is considered quite dangerous, a crisis state and requires the hospitalization of a small patient.

The first signs of major, provoking hoarseness, diseases:

1. Laryngitis (inflammatory process of the larynx), laryngotracheitis:

• False groats (from croup - croaking) - an acute process that provokes ARVI, ARD. Symptoms - barking, characteristic, hoarse cough, specific wheezing at inspiration, fever, hoarseness, general uncomfortable state of health, malaise. False croup should be differentiated from a more serious, health-threatening disease - diphtheria, true croup. Therefore, the first signs of illness should induce parents to show the child to the doctor and take all measures to treat the disease.
• Chronic laryngitis on the background of prolonged course of acute respiratory viral infection (parainfluenza viruses). Symptoms - pershit throat, loss of appetite, poorly swallowed food, the child loses activity, talks with characteristic hoarseness, often coughs, as if "clears" the throat. Subsequently, dry cough becomes productive and sputum is released.

1. Pharyngitis (inflammatory process in the pharyngeal mucosa). The first signs depend on the types of pharyngitis:

• Acute, chronic form and their types:
  • viral,
  • allergic,
  • fungal,
  • bacterial,
  • pharyngitis associated with a throat injury,
  • functional,
  • atrophic,
  • catarrhal,
  • granular,
  • mixed kind.
• The most common mixed form, which is characterized by the following first clinical signs - pain in the throat, transient hoarseness, irritation, perspiration, frequent cough without phlegm, transient increase in body temperature, lymph nodes in the neck can be increased.

In addition, that wheezing voice, the child may have pain in the arms and legs (myalgia), there is all the symptomatology, characteristic of acute viral inflammation, including rhinitis, fever up to 38-39 degrees, vomiting, rashes. Chronic forms of the underlying disease are less pronounced, but also inevitably expressed in hoarseness of voice and pain in the throat or larynx.

The hoarse voice of a one-year-old child

Ohrip voice, in a one-year-old child, this symptom can be considered a clear clinical manifestation of the disease. In children up to 2.5-3 years, the tissue of the larynx is very vulnerable, it is loose, unformed. In addition, the larynx is not yet anatomically developed and rather narrow. Any inflammatory process provokes compaction and swelling of the mucous membrane and causes hoarseness, dyspnea, until the total air access is blocked. The stenosing form of laryngitis, false croup for babies is a serious test. If the wheezing voice of a one-year-old child, parents need to urgently call a pediatrician and take all measures to treat the baby. Who is at risk of acute obstructive laryngitis?

• Babies from 6 months to 2-3 years.
• Children who have a history of having a risk of allergic diseases (parents are sick, one of the parents).
• Children with insufficient or excessive body news.
• Babies with thymomegaly (an increase in the thymus, thymus gland).
• Children suffering from intestinal dysbiosis (dysbacteriosis).

What symptoms, other than the sign "hoarse voice in a child," may indicate developing laryngitis? Symptoms can be varied and depend on the type, type of virus:

• ARVI is provoked by paraviruses and is accompanied by a transient rise in body temperature.
• The catarrhal form of laryngitis can be manifested in hoarseness, sore throat, but without fever.
• One of the clinical manifestations may be a cough, in the early days it is dry, frequent, then becomes deeper and is accompanied by sputum discharge.
• Cough is characteristic of coughing during sleep, often at night.
• The baby's breathing always changes, it can be with characteristic wheezing sounds, the breath is longer than the exhalation.
• One-year-old baby is anxious, loses appetite.
• Signs of false cereal can be - noisy wheezing, coughing, specific lifting and lowering of the chest with inspiration and exhalation, cyanotic skin tone in the nasolabial triangle.

If the voice is hoarse in a one-year-old child, and besides the hoarseness the above signs are observed, the baby needs to be shown to the doctor and treated. The acute form of the disease, the troubling symptomatology of difficulty breathing, requires immediate hospitalization. With timely help, the symptom itself "hoarse voice in a child" is not threatening, the baby's condition improves fairly quickly.

To remove the anxiety of parents, it should be mentioned that hoarseness of a child up to a year can be caused by a completely "peaceful" reason - frequent screaming, crying. And, the kid screams not because he is sick, but because of a specific psycho-emotional status. "Screamers" are usually very active, brightly react to any event, new people, unfamiliar circumstances. Impressiveness, lability of the nervous system and emotionality can play a peculiar negative role in the formation of the child's voice, which has not yet formed a larynx or a ligament. However, frightened functional hoarseness is not worth it. Infants grow fast enough, the voice apparatus develops, and hoarseness passes completely.

The baby has a fever and a hoarse voice

When a child has a fever and a hoarse voice, many parents think that these are signs of a common cold, but such symptoms are not standard for ARVI or ARI. More often it is hoarseness - this is the first clinical manifestation of laryngitis, which in turn has different etiological bases and is divided into species.

Ohrip voice, the child's body temperature rises, what should I do?

Of course, call a doctor. For an experienced pediatrician, sibilant, shortness of breath, hyperthermia, a characteristic sound of the voice (dysphonia) is information about a clinic of the inflammatory process in the larynx. Laryngitis can take place in an acute form, but it can also be chronic, protracted. For the baby, the second option is most anxious, because the chronic process interferes with normal breathing, drains the entire body.

What could be the reason that the child has a fever and a hoarse voice?

• Viral infection (parainfluenza) - seasonal, out-of-season ARVIs cause many troubles, both to the baby and to the parents. ARVI is most often affected by children with insufficiently active immunity, those who have an angina periodically diagnosed, in short, children, whose pediatricians are categorized as BCD (often ill children).
• Allergy. If the history of the child indicates the allergic status of the parents, laryngitis may be due to allergens. In their role most often come from smells from household chemicals, hairs, animal hair, feathers, down pillows, blankets, toys, dust or some component of nutrition. The raised temperature at an allergy happens seldom enough, nevertheless, an acute attack can be accompanied by a jump in temperature.
• Immaturity of the mucous tissue of the larynx, ligaments. Children have anatomical specificity in the structure of the larynx - it is up to a certain age narrow, mucous loose, prone to puffiness. Such a cause is often the "base" for relapsing tonsillitis, laryngitis. Frequent coughing, constant irritation of the larynx often causes subfebrile temperature.
• Psychoemotional stress. The nervous system of the baby is quite labile, unstable, an event that the adult reacts to calmly, the child responds with frustration, crying. Both the overstrain of the vocal cords and the nervous spasm of the larynx muscular tissue can provoke hoarseness of the voice and even a rise in body temperature.

Signs of developing laryngitis, in which the child has a fever and a hoarse voice:

• The creeping timbre of the voice does not pass within 2-3 days.
• The voice can "tremble", break down.
• Body temperature does not usually exceed 37-37.5 degrees, but temperature jumps can be sudden, up to 39 degrees.
• Often on the third day there is a characteristic cough, and then a kind of barking cough. Coughing occurs on inhalation, exhalation is accompanied by a wheezing sound.
• The breath of a child is atypical, it is difficult for him to do both inhaling and exhaling, the thorax visually rises and falls during the process of breathing.
• The peak of the cough is at night, most often this is the third or fourth hour of the night.
• If you attach a hand or ear to the baby's chest clearly, rattles are heard.
• The child has a fever, a hoarse voice and a constant cough - all these symptoms can lead to a primary insufficiency of breathing. A sign of insufficiency is a cyanotic shade of the skin around the nose and lips (cyanosis).

Laryngitis can be contagious, provided that it is provoked by a viral infection. As is known, the method of transmission of the virus is airborne, therefore during the period of the baby's illness it is necessary to observe the ventilation regime. Treatment of the disease is directly due to the diagnosis and form of the process. Therapeutic measures designate the attending physician, parents need to remember that independent attempts to stop laryngitis are fraught with suffocating attacks of the baby. In general, fever, hoarseness of the voice can not be considered as a sign of a health risk, mild forms of laryngitis are treated within 10-14 days and do not require therapy in the hospital.

The baby has a runny nose and a hoarse voice

If the child has a runny nose and hoarse voice, dry cough is associated with these symptoms, speech, most likely, is about laryngitis. Rare and transparent discharge from the baby's spout is often accompanied by pain in the throat, a general malaise. However, these signs are not homogeneous and can point to such root causes:

• Inflammatory process in the larynx.
• GERD (gastro-oesophageal reflux), wheezing is preceded by nausea, in toddlers of infancy - frequent regurgitation.
• SARS without laryngitis, hoarseness and runny nose are incoming, temporary symptoms.

According to statistics, most often symptoms are hoarse voice in the child, there is a runny nose and cough, indicate laryngitis. Inflammation of one or another zone of the larynx is not uncommon due to seasonal outbreaks of viral diseases. The nasopharynx of young children does not have an active local immune defense, therefore, in infants, apart from the standard "set" in the form of cough and hoarseness, nasal discharge is quite often observed. The clinical picture of the disease depends on the type of inflammation of the larynx, the types of laryngitis are as follows:

• Qatar. This is the most easily tolerated disease in which parents notice that the child has a runny nose and hoarse voice, but the body temperature is not increased and overall health does not change for the worse.
• Hypertrophic (nodular) form of inflammation is characterized by persistent cough, severe discomfort in the throat. The child complains of a malaise, the appetite is tart. This process is peculiar to children in the adolescent period, especially boys often suffer from dysphonia.
• Functional laryngitis is never accompanied by a runny nose, so we mention it in the article for comparison and differentiation of the root cause. It is more likely to overstrain ligaments during singing sessions, hoarseness may trigger a cry, long crying, but in this case - not a viral or bacterial infection.

The classic signs of laryngitis are, first and foremost, nasal congestion and runny nose, followed by coughing and coughing itself, which together leads to a change in voice - hoarseness. Moist secretions can be not only nasal, but also when coughing, the productivity of cough begins on 3-4 days. In general, a simple form of laryngitis lasts no more than 10 days provided timely diagnosis and compliance with the recommendations of the treating doctor.

The child has a hoarse voice and barking cough

Signs of malaise - a child hoarse voice and barking cough, should alarm the attentive parents. The hoarseness itself may not be related to the disease, but a characteristic cough, a persistent cough, wheezing sounds during breathing - all this indicates a risk of developing the so-called "false cereal".

To distinguish the symptoms of croup from the signs of typical viral infections, let's take a closer look at the causes, the development of the disease and the characteristic "markers".

Hoarseness of the child, why does this happen?

Kids have specific anatomical differences, the structure of their organs, the structure of tissues is special. So, the larynx of babies and children up to 3-4 years is rather narrow, the mucosal vocal folds are not sufficiently formed, the lymphadenoid tissue is loose, vulnerable and prone to rapid swelling. Any virus, bacterial infection or exposure to an allergen provokes a reaction in the form of an edema, spasm, plica vocalis (vocal cords) close and impede the breathing process. In addition, it is this state of the larynx that leads to a change in the timbre of the voice - hoarseness.

Pediatricians usually talk with parents of infants, explaining that any uncharacteristic sound released by the child, a cough that resembles "barking" is the reason for an immediate call of a doctor. In a word, it is necessary to remember:

• Laryngospasm is dangerous.
• The disease can provoke rapid flow of mucous tissue.
• The spastic process is the risk of blocking the intake of air, the risk of suffocation.
• Signs of a false groin - an occasion for immediate hospitalization of the kid.

The main signs of laryngospasm:

1. The child has a hoarse voice and a barking cough.
2. The baby can hardly breathe.
3. The child's breathing is accompanied by specific sounds similar to whistling.
4. The color of the facial skin can change in the child, especially in the area of the nasolabial triangle (cyanosis, blueness).
5. The difficult process of breathing is visible firsthand - the stomach in the epigastric region is retracted.
6. Attacks of false croup often occur at night, stop and repeat with a frequency after 25-30 minutes.

The child has a hoarse voice, there is a barking cough, what should I do?

• Call a doctor, emergency ambulance.
• Ask the doctor of the council what actions to take before his arrival.
• Before the arrival of the doctor, periodically give the baby a warm drink, often in small portions (with a spoon).
• Raise the child's body, giving it a vertical position (take in hand).
• Try to ventilate the room, moisten the air.
• Do not give cough syrup, other medication without a doctor's recommendation.

As a rule, everything passes within 3-4 days, the forecast is successful, provided that you timely contact specialists and implement their recommendations.

The child has a sore throat and hoarse voice

The pain in the throat, which is combined with perspiration and hoarseness, can be a sign of various diseases. Let us list those who most often provoke the symptom "the child has a sore throat and hoarse voice":

• ARVI.
• Laryngitis, which develops against the background of acute respiratory infections.
• Pharyngitis.
• Laryngotracheitis.
• Epiglottitis.
• Tonsillitis.
• Overvoltage of the vocal folds (functional state).

Leading in this list is laryngitis, as the most often diagnosed nosology. However, the pain symptom in the throat indicates that, most likely, the child has pharyngitis. A more accurate diagnosis, of course, can only be done by a doctor, we will only consider possible options for the development of the process.

How to distinguish between tonsillitis, pharyngitis and laryngitis, if a child has a sore throat and hoarse voice?

First of all, the difference between the above diseases in the anatomical zone of inflammation:

1. Tonsillitis is an inflammatory process of pharyngeal tonsils.
2. Laryngitis is an inflammation of one or another zone of the larynx.
3. Pharyngitis is an inflammatory disease of the pharynx.
4. Epiglottitis - an inflammation of the zone of epiglottis cartilage (epiglottis).

There are similarities in these diseases, almost all of them are provoked by the same factors - a viral infection (parainfluenza, influenza, adenoviruses) or bacterial infection (staphylococci, streptococci). Epiglottitis in children up to 7-9 years "drops out" of the etiological community, it is provoked by a specific wand Haemophilus influenzae type B. In schoolchildren, the inflammation of the epiglottis is also provoked by viral or bacterial infections.

The most characteristic signs of pharyngitis are a painful sensation when eating, when swallowing, the chronic form of pharyngitis is fraught with a specific voice timbre - hoarseness.

What are the factors provoking the symptoms - "hoarse voice in the child", "sore throat"?

1. Pharyngitis in a chronic variant. Causes:
   • Weak immune defense.
   • The constant effect of irritating factors - air pollution, fungal spores, dust.
   • Chronic sinusitis, rhinitis.
   • Tonsillitis.
   • Frequent ARVI.
   • Allergy.
2. Laryngitis. Provoking reasons:

• The acute form can be independent because of strong hypothermia, functional tension of the ligaments (screaming, crying). Also, acute inflammation is provoked by parainfluenza, measles, bacterial infections.
• The chronic course of the inflammatory process develops against a background of rhinitis, sinusitis, or sluggish ARD.

1. Epiglottitis is caused by viral, bacterial infections, hemophilic rod, and also because of cardiac pathologies.

If the child has a sore throat and hoarse voice, you need to watch the baby for several hours. Disturbing signs that call for a doctor are:

• Intensified salivation.
• Swelling of the throat, lymph nodes.
• If the child can not swallow even liquid food.
• Wheezing, shortness of breath.
• Pain symptom in the throat, which does not disappear, but grows.
• Body temperature is steadily increasing and approaching 38 degrees.
• The child has a characteristic "barking" cough.

An accurate diagnosis and identification of the cause is the sphere of activity of specialists, usually the disease is determined quickly enough on clinical grounds, and timely treatment ends with the complete recovery of the baby.

A hoarse voice in the child's mucus in the throat

Mucus in the throat and hoarseness are clinical manifestations or acute forms of catarrh in the larynx (catarrhal laryngitis), or allergic reaction, but also the symptom "hoarse voice in the child and mucus in the throat" may be a sign of any other disease caused by viruses or bacterial infection. Exact diagnosis is carried out by a doctor, most often a primary examination takes place at a pediatrician's reception, then an otolaryngologist is connected. Hyperemic mucous tissue, the presence of mucus - this is the visible parameters of the process. Talking, questions to parents, measuring body temperature, in short, collecting an anamnesis confirm the primary version of the diagnosis. Specification, if required, is carried out in the format of laboratory tests, less often the child is laryngoscopy.

Usually mucosal discharge is a manifestation of acute respiratory viral infection, laryngitis, ENT diseases, but also LFR (laryngopharyngeal reflux), which in children is often encountered recently.

A list of etiological factors that can trigger the symptoms of "hoarse voice in a child, mucus in the throat":

1. Pharyngitis.
2. Allergy.
3. Bacterial, viral or fungal infection.
4. Adenoiditis.
5. Sinusitis.
6. Laryngitis.
7. LFR (laryngopharyngeal reflux).

Since viscous or diluted sputum in the presence of hoarseness is primarily a "companion" of laryngitis, consider some of its species.

• Acute inflammation of the larynx occurs due to acute respiratory disease, acute respiratory viral infection, or due to excessive load on the ligaments.
• The chronic course of laryngitis is characterized by the involvement of submucosal tissues in the process, which the child is not completely formed.

You should pay attention to such options for inflammation of the larynx:

1. Laryngitis caused by infectious disease, it can be fraught with abscesses. This is especially typical for streptococcal infection.
2. Croup is a guttural true (diphtheria). The disease is quite rare, however, the risk of its appearance remains. Most often diphtheria affects children up to 4-5 years. The bacillus Corynebacterium diphtheriae provokes a serious lesion of the mucous tissue, the appearance of a specific mucus, a film. The disease starts with the usual symptoms similar to ARVI, which greatly complicates the timely diagnosis and carries a risk of life threatening.
3. Laryngitis as a consequence of measles, scarlet fever or whooping cough. In addition, that hoarse voice and mucus in the throat, with measles immediately visible eruptions on the child's body. If the baby has a pinpoint eruption and a specifically bright "crimson" tongue, mucous discharge and hoarseness, he may have contracted scarlet fever. Pertussis is characterized by coughing spasms, they lead to a change in voice, activation of mucus secretion.

The most easily tolerated by the child is catarrhal laryngitis, in which there is a symptom - a hoarse voice and mucus in the throat, however, adequate medical measures quickly bring the condition of the baby back to normal.