Mistakes when washing the nose of a child
Do not wash your hands before washing your nose
The habit of not cleaning hands before washing a child’s nose will affect his health.
Hands are parts that are in contact with many utensils and items, so they contain a lot of dirt and pathogenic bacteria.
When exposed to a child’s nose, parents can cause additional infectious diseases to the child due to the weak immune system of the young child.
To ensure hygiene as well as health safety, parents should wash their hands before and after cleaning the child’s nose.
Wash your nose too many times
When children experience nasal congestion, runny nose, parents often have the mentality of washing their noses several times to quickly get rid of them.
However, experts recommends sucking the child’s nose only about 3 times a day, and before the procedure parents should drip 1-3 drops of physiological saline so that the mucus in the nose is thinner, which is convenient for suction.
Parents should also not suck the child’s nose orally because it can cause damage to the nasal mucosa due to strong suction.
Doing this can also cause cross-contamination from the mouth, while leaving a sense of fear in the child.
To properly clean the child’s nose, parents should warm the tool, wash their hands with soap or hand sanitizer before doing so, and let the child lie on his side.
Use a small nasal bottle or bottle or spray to wash each side until the mucous discharge is pushed to the opposite side.
If the mucous discharge is thick, then use a suction machine, suction pump after washing for 2-3 minutes.
Use a soft towel or paper towel to wipe the fluid, the saline drains and wipe the nose again after washing so that the mucus is removed.
Experts recommends that in case the child has a runny nose, prolonged nasal congestion, parents should take the child to see a doctor to be examined and managed in a timely manner, in case of dangerous complications.
In addition, parents should be careful when cleaning their children’s noses, especially infants and young children who need to be examined and guided by a doctor.
Use a cylinder, mix salty saline, let the child lie on his back… are the mistakes parents often make when washing a child’s nose.
According to the General Hospital not all parents know how to wash their children’s nose safely and effectively.
Many parents do not know that they are using tools and methods to clean their children’s noses in the wrong way.
Using cylinders
Cylinders are common tools that parents often use to wash their children’s noses.
However, according to experts, washing the nose with a cylinder is an unsafe method, easily causing damage to the child.
Cylinders with high pressure, if parents do not have the ability to control the force can create too strong a force that damages the nasal mucosa of the child or can cause edema.
If child with rhinitis then the longer this situation may last.
High-pressure cylinders can also push washing water into the tympanic and middle ear taps causing otitis media, which in turn can cause very dangerous chokes that cause water to enter the airways, into the lungs.
If the child has ever choked, he will be very afraid every time he sees his parents preparing tools for washing their noses.
Fear will form a protective reaction that causes the child to stiffen himself, cry, and again lead to choking or unsuccessful washing of the nose.
Many parents have the habit of reusing cylinders, do not guarantee sterility, if not careful, it is easy to scratch the child’s nose, bleeding will increase the risk of inflammation, suffering from other diseases.
Instead of using a cylinder, parents should wash the child’s nose by inserting the solution directly into the nose or using a specialized washing pump.
Use self-brewing saline
Some people often have the habit of brewing on their own brine to wash the nose of the child without using physiological saline or other nasal lavage solution.
Mixing salt water is salty because it is assumed that salty brine will clean the nose, killing bacteria better than serious mistakes.
According to experts, self-brewing saline does not ensure hygiene and safety for children because the salt used to mix can mix many harmful impurities.
When self-mixing saline, it is difficult for parents to ensure the correct concentration, if the phase is too salty, too strong a concentration will cause damage to the nasal mucosa of the child.
Brine with a strong concentration (greater than 0.9%) has chemical properties, so it will always absorb the water of living cells (bacteria and human cells).
Using concentrated, highly concentrated saline absorbs water, drying cells is the cause of damage to the nasal mucosa.
Parents should use physiological saline to be safe for their children because this product is licensed and tested by health authorities, and is eligible for use.
Use physiological saline for a long time
Note that after unscrewing the product, you should make sure to clean the cap area to avoid contact with the surface of the skin or other tools as it will create an opportunity to spread bacteria from the outside into the physiological saline bottle.
The shorter the time it takes to open the lid of the product to the time of exhaustion, the less the risk of superinfection is reduced and should usually not exceed 3-5 days.
Let the child lie on his back
It is often difficult for young children to coordinate with their parents to wash their noses, but often take protest actions.
Therefore, parents often leave the child lying on his back for easier implementation and better control of the child.
Experts said that this is a mistake that many parents make.
Children lying on their backs wash their noses, especially in a state where babies cry, protesting easily leads to choking, capable of choking back into the lungs.
When choking children often have a natural swallowing down reflex that easily leads to water spilling over the ears, risk of otitis media.
If parents cause pain, choking makes the child obsessive, creates a feeling of fear when washing the nose, it is difficult to do it the next time.
You should prepare a pad or towel on the bed, then let the child lie on his knees on the pad.
When washing the nose, fix the child’s head gently by placing your hands on the head, avoiding the child’s fussing.
Does not clean mucus
Cleansing, taking mucus in the nose will help the child’s airways to be more clear, clean and pleasant.
However, some parents, when washing a child’s nose, do not clean all the mucus in the nose.
After washing the nose, parents usually only wipe the outside without sucking the nose, causing the internal mucus not to be removed completely, stagnation causes prolonged nasal congestion and inflammation.
To clean the nose in addition to washing the nose, experts recommends using it with nasal suction tools or using a towel to wipe all the mucus in the nose.
After washing your nose, parents should not tell your child to blow their nose hard to expellate water, but instead remind them to blow their nose gently on each side.
If after washing the nose, the child still feels that water is deposited in the nose, parents can let the child lie down for about 5-10 minutes, the fluid in the nasal sinuses will flow down the throat and the child can swallow or spit it out (note that this method is only applicable to children aged 2 years and older and when the child is awake because then the swallowing reflex is stable).
