putting a stop to CROUP

Aish

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 10:24 am

Putting the Kibosh on Croup
by author Nicole Duelli, CCH, RSHom (NA)

Homeopathy can work wonders for croup. As a parent, it is a definite relief to be able to do something that is effective and safe during a frightening croup attack.

Croup is a spasm of the larynx (voice box) that develops from a viral infection in children three months to four years. The hoarse, barking cough and trouble breathing appear unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Because children may have only mild hoarseness and a cough during the day, the middle-of-the-night spasms are frightening to both the children and their parents as they seem to appear without warning.

Coping with Croup

Some parents have stopped croup by taking their well-wrapped child out into the cold night air. Also administer homeopathic remedies to quickly reduce coughing and prevent recurrences on subsequent nights. If you have a young child, keep three remedies on hand so you’re prepared to settle an attack of croup.

Remedy 1: Aconitum napellis
Give Aconite on the first night, when the cough develops without warning and sounds alarmingly loud and dry. Be prepared for your child to be clingy, crying, and anxious. Aconite is also a great remedy to have on hand for the initial stages of other coughs, colds, and earaches, especially if they are caused by a chill or a cold wind. Give this remedy once or twice, and you will rarely need to follow with another. If your child continues to awaken or if the cough returns the following night, change to a different remedy.

Remedy 2: Spongia tosta
Made from toasted sponge, Spongia is excellent for croup because it is used for respiratory infections and asthma accompanied by hoarseness that threatens suffocation and worsens with sleep. Homeopaths describe the cough as a saw going through wood. You may hear noise or whistling as the child breathes, but the air passages are dry. Asthmatics often have thick mucous and inflammation in the bronchioles even though it sounds dry.

Remedy 3: Hepar sulphuris calcareum
Whenever you hear wetness or rattling in the croupy cough, choose Hepar sulph. This remedy will resolve a croupy cough that develops very late at night or in the early morning hours (between two and five a.m.). Be sure to keep the child well wrapped and away from chill, as Hepar sulph brings on a strong sensitivity to the cold.

Preventing Recurrences

If remedies work during a croup attack but your child suffers from recurring bouts of croup, then consult a homeopath for a constitutional remedy that will strengthen the child’s immune and defence system and protect against subsequent viral infections.
You need never fear another attack of croup once you experience the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies.

How to take Remedies
Homeopathy works best when given one remedy at a time. Let the symptoms guide your choice. Give two to five 30C pills hourly, on the tongue as needed. For young children, crush the pills between two spoons and either administer them crushed or dissolve them in 1/4 cup (60 mL) water and offer the child one spoonful at a time, stirring between spoonfuls.

Practical Measures
Stay calm: even if your heart is pounding, take a few deep breaths and reassure your child in a clear, calm voice.
Take the child into the bathroom, close the door, and turn on the hot shower. The moist air will help relax the muscle spasm.
Use a humidifier in the child’s bedroom at night.
Vitamin C and zinc lozenges are helpful for immune support during croup and as a preventive. Give children under one year up to 35 mg of vitamin C and 5 mg of zinc daily. For children one to four years, give 40 mg of vitamin C daily and 5 mg of zinc twice daily.
If your child is really struggling to breathe, seek emergency medical services. Also seek emergency medical help for a child with croup who drools, cannot swallow saliva, and has a fever and very sore throat. He or she may have epiglottitis, a dangerous condition caused by swelling of the “lid” that covers the larynx when we swallow.

Nicole Duelli, CCH, RSHom (NA), enjoys sharing her love for homeopathy. She is a certified classical homeopath who trained in Germany as a naturopathic practitioner and now practises in Vancouver.

chanab

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 10:59 am

Aish, as someone who has used homeopathy exclusively for the last 8 1/2 years(myself and kids), I want to say that that this is a good article BUT it could be VERY dangerous to self-diagnose and self-treat with homeopathy. Many pple make the mistaken assumption that since homeopathy is natural, it can do no harm. It is a form of medicine and should ideally only be taken on the advice of a homeopath who is treating your child.

Aish

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 11:23 am

chanab, there is a difference between acute and non acute problems. some things MUST be taken to a homeopath. OTHERS, that are not long term problems, can be treated by buying homeopathics in the store. or as you put it , "self diagnosing". or something to that effect.
And who and where ever in the article was it implied that it should be taken freely?????????????????????????????????????????
all things medicinal have to be taken as per the instructions.....
WHICH ARE IN THE ARTICLE!

chanab

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 11:46 am

ok, Aish-to each his own but I still wouldn´t do it. There are so many variables to be taken into account (one of which: remedies are not like tylenol.They continue having an effect for 45 days and affect the person emotionally too)
Also for "non-acute" issues as you call them, if you use remedies which you decide upon yourself and buy in the pharmacy, you are diminshing the effect of the constitutional remedy. You should ideally use the constitutional for eveything.
(As a side point, I think that the strengths prescribed in the article are very high to start with--especially for s/o who is a novice. I would not start with higher than 6C or at the very least 12C.)

Quote:

all things medicinal have to be taken as per the instructions.....
WHICH ARE IN THE ARTICLE!

Are you familiar with this doctor?If yes, fantastic, go ahead and trust what she says.There could be a lot of value to what she says but since I am not familiar with her, I can´t take it at face value. To me its like reading an article about croup and saying "take such and such an antibiotic..." No-one would do it becaue you need a prescription for antibiotics. Remedies are not regulated in this way in the US, although in other countries they are.

Aish

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 12:52 pm

[quote="chanab

Quote:

"](As a side point, I think that the strengths prescribed in the article are very high to start with--especially for s/o who is a novice. I would not start with higher than 6C or at the very least 12C.)

just to bring to your attention.
there are a few schools of homeopathy. all are ESSENTIALLY the same. but some go down different paths to get to the end result.
the most common school of homeopathy goes according to the illness. another goes according to the remedy itself, in connection to the illness and physical/emotional makeup of the person.
those are just 2 examples. within each, the dosages may be a bit different.
also different companys make the remedies using different dilutions and ways and how much they dilute.
so its not so cut and dry

mali

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 4:48 pm

I had some severe cases of Croup as a child. I remember having a terrible urge to cough, but holding it back because it was so painful to cough. My parents rushed me several times to the hospital because of apnea, until they realized they could give me the same natural treatment at home:
Make a sauna, by building a "tent" around the child's bed, using plastic tablecloths and clothespins. Try to close it off almost completely. Put a hot-air vaporizer inside. It's quite annoying for the kid to be closed up like that, but the Croup goes away within a week, and becomes remarkably more bearable by a night. You can set up this "tent" once the kid is already asleep.
For first-aid treatment: make a sauna by closing the bathroom and letting the hottest water possible run from the bathtub faucet, filling the bathroom with steam. Cover the child's hair with a towel. You'll notice almost immediate ease in the child's breathing. Stay there for a while, and then transfer the kid to a warm room.

Aish

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 4:50 pm

mali, thank you for sharing that!

elisecohen

Sun, Jan 22 2006, 4:53 pm

Croup can be a life-threatening emergency (though don't get scared, it usually is not, it's most commonly just a question of keeping the child comfortable and able to sleep and be calm). If the child can't catch their breath, or is holding their mouth open and tongue out, call 911 or get him to an emergency center immediately.

Thank G-d we've only had to do that once, and we've had plenty of croup over the years. Generally the hot running water does the trick, though at times we've had to repeat at regular intervals all night.

withhumor

Fri, Oct 06 2006, 12:17 pm

http://imamother.com/forum/vie.....c83ad

Boys"R"Us

Fri, Oct 06 2006, 1:40 pm

When one of my sons was 20 months, he had really severe croup. We ended up rushing him to emergency and when we got there his oxygen level was at 80% (it's supposed to be 100%). He ended up being admitted for 3 days. So it is NOT always something that you can treat at home.
I think if I remember correctly (it was 6 years ago), we were told that there are two different types of croup, one which responds to home remedys like steam and cold air, and one (more severe), which does not respond at all to these remedies.

ALways call your doctor when you're not sure.

micki

Sun, Oct 08 2006, 11:55 pm

we always did a steam bath I just held the kid on my lap while the steam built up) and then gave them aconite as the dosage requires. a friend put the kid outside if it was cold.
some kids react to cold others to steam.