How long croup last

Croup PDF. Skip to Content. Urgent Care. In This Section. Conditions We Treat Croup. What You will Hear and See At first, your child may have a stuffy or runny nose and may have a low fever. What to do There is no medicine that will get rid of the virus, but you can do some things to help your child breathe easier until the infection goes away.

Stay calm and try to keep your child calm. Crying and tension can trigger coughing. Offer fluids to keep him hydrated. Have him breathe in cool night air dress appropriately or humidified air. You, the reader, assume full responsibility for how you choose to use it. Financial assistance for medically necessary services is based on family income and hospital resources and is provided to children under age 21 whose primary residence is in Washington, Alaska, Montana or Idaho.

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Barky cough and hoarse voice caused by a virus Croup is a viral infection of the voicebox larynx The croupy cough is tight, low-pitched, and barky like a barking seal The voice or cry is hoarse called laryngitis Some children with severe croup get a harsh, tight sound while breathing in.

This is called stridor. Stridor: A nother Health Problem of Croup Stridor is a harsh, raspy tight sound best heard with breathing in Loud or constant stridor means severe croup. So does stridor at rest when not crying or coughing. All stridor needs to be treated with warm mist Most children with stridor need treatment with a steroid such as Decadron For any stridor, see First Aid for treatment Causes of a Croupy Cough Viral Croup.

Viruses are the most common cause of croup symptoms. Children with croup develop a harsh, barking cough and may make a noisy, high-pitched sound when they breathe in stridor. Croup mostly affects children between six months and five years old, but it can affect older children. Some children get croup several times. Croup can get worse quickly.

If your child is having problems breathing, seek urgent medical attention. Croup often begins without warning, in the middle of the night. The symptoms are often worse at night, and are at their worst on the second or third night of the illness. The signs and symptoms of croup may last for three to four days; however, a cough may linger for up to three weeks.

The stridor should not persist. A mild attack of croup is when your child has the harsh, barking cough but does not have stridor when they are calm and settled, and they are not struggling to breathe. No medical treatment is necessary for mild croup, or the virus that has caused it.

You can usually manage mild croup at home with the following care:. Steam and humidifiers are no longer recommended as treatment. There is no evidence to suggest they are beneficial. You should call an ambulance immediately if:. If your child has mild croup that lasts for more than four days, or if stridor returns after your child has recovered from croup, take them to see a doctor.

Your doctor may prescribe steroids e. The steroids help reduce the swelling in the airway, which will make breathing easier.