How to Treat Strep Throat in Child
Strep throat in children often makes parents feel anxious because their child has no appetite and looks restless. However, you don't need to worry if your child has strep throat, because here I will share about how to treat strep throat in child that you can do at home.
Not only adults, strep throat can also be experienced by children. When children have strep throat the child will become uncomfortable and restless because they feel pain when swallowing food or drinking. In addition, strep throat in children is sometimes accompanied by other symptoms such as a runny nose, hoarse voice, fever, itchy or watery eyes, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Causes of Strep Throat in Child
Generally, strep throat in children is caused by a virus, but it can also be caused by bacteria. Transmission of strep throat can occur through direct contact with infected children, be it when playing together or while studying at school. In addition, viruses and bacteria that cause strep throat can also be transmitted through splashes of saliva when a child infected with strep throat coughs or sneezes and when sharing food or drink.
Strep throat in children caused by a virus usually gets better on its own in about 1 week. Meanwhile, strep throat caused by bacteria can usually be treated with antibiotics according to a doctor's prescription.
How to Treat Strep Throat in Child
The first thing you need to do when your child has strep throat is to make sure the child has plenty of time to rest so that his immune system can be stronger to fight the virus that causes strep throat.
In addition, you can also do several things to relieve the symptoms experienced by your child when experiencing strep throat:
1. Give enough food and drink to children
To help relieve strep throat in children, make sure you give your child enough food and drink, especially when the child has symptoms of fever or diarrhea. This is important to do so that the child does not become dehydrated.
If your child is still breastfeeding, you should breastfeed more often than usual. In addition to meeting the fluid needs of the child's body, the various nutritional contents found in breast milk are also good for increasing the child's immune system to fight the causes of strep throat.
You can also give your child drinking water or cold water, warm tea mixed with honey, chamomile tea, warm ginger water, and fresh fruit juices such as pear or apple juice. If your child has difficulty swallowing, you can give him soft foods, such as porridge or steamed rice.
However, you should not give honey if your child is less than 1 year old. This is because giving honey at that age can cause botulism.
2. Give salt water to rinse
This method is believed to relieve the symptoms of strep throat in children. However, this method should only be used for children who can rinse their mouths.
To make salt water, you can mix half a teaspoon of salt with a glass of warm water and stir until dissolved. Teach your child to gargle and make sure the salt water is not swallowed by your child. Gargling with salt water is done 3 times a day so that your child's strep throat can subside.
3. Use a humidifier in the room
You can use a humidifier in the room to relieve your child's breath and reduce the symptoms of coughing. The reason is, if the air in the room is dry, it can worsen the symptoms of strep throat in children.
Also read articles about: How to Treat Cough and Cold in Child.
In addition, keep your child away from dust and pollution, including cigarette smoke, so that his throat does not become irritated or inflamed.
If some of these natural methods are not effective in relieving the symptoms of strep throat your child is experiencing, you can give your child a fever-reducing medication as well as a pain reliever such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. However, you should not give these drugs if your child is under 6 months old without a doctor's prescription.
If after you try how to treat strep throat in child above, but it doesn't get better within a few days or maybe the symptoms are getting worse, then you should immediately consult your child to the doctor to get the right treatment.
