Does a baby snore mean he is sleeping soundly? NO! Actually, the baby is “crying for help”

Many parents think that their children’s snoring is hereditary and a sign of a good sleep, and do not take their children’s snoring seriously.

Director Peng Bo of the Otolaryngology Department of Hunan Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine) reminds you that children’s snoring is not because the child is sleeping soundly, but because the child’s body is sending a “help” signal to the parents: enlarged adenoids cause brain hypoxia.

1. How does snoring occur?

When a child is sleeping, if the respiratory tract is blocked or narrowed, the flow of air through the respiratory tract will be obstructed, causing the soft tissue in the throat to vibrate and make a sound, which is called "snoring".

The narrower the airway, the louder the "snoring" and the more severe the child's brain oxygen deprivation. The most common cause of airway obstruction in children is enlarged adenoids.

2. What are adenoids?

The adenoids are located in the nasopharynx at the back of the nasal cavity. They are the body's immune organs. Under normal physiological conditions, they grow to their largest size at the age of 6-7 and gradually shrink after puberty.

If the adenoids proliferate excessively and cause corresponding symptoms, it is called adenoid hypertrophy, which is a pathological phenomenon and a common disease in children aged 3 to 10 years old.

3. What effects does adenoids hypertrophy have on children?

The adenoids are located in the ear, nose, and throat. When enlarged adenoids block the Eustachian tubes on both sides, it can cause secretory otitis media, with symptoms of stuffy ears and hearing loss.

When the enlarged adenoids block the posterior nostril, nasal secretions accumulate and are difficult to blow out, causing sinusitis in children, with symptoms of nasal congestion and runny nose, accompanied by symptoms such as open mouth breathing, nasal tinnitus when speaking, and snoring during sleep.

Long-term nasal congestion can cause brain hypoxia, resulting in children's inattention, poor academic performance, and even affecting their growth and development.

Long-term mouth breathing can cause developmental disorders of the facial bones in children, such as elongated maxilla, high arched hard palate, protruding upper incisors, uneven dentition leading to malocclusion, drooping mandible, thick lips, upturned upper lip, coupled with mental depression and dull facial expressions, which is the so-called adenoid facies.

Nasal secretions flow downward, irritating the respiratory mucosa, causing coughing and easily leading to bronchitis.

4. Is surgery necessary for adenoids hypertrophy?

The answer is: not necessarily.

Director Peng Bo of the Department of Otolaryngology at Hunan Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine) introduced:

1. Physiological adenoid hypertrophy

It usually does not affect the child's physical health and does not require surgical treatment. For most children, the adenoids will gradually shrink and disappear after the age of 10.

2. Pathological adenoid hypertrophy

If it is caused by acute inflammation, this short-term hypertrophy will recover after the inflammation is controlled. For this type of adenoid hypertrophy caused by acute inflammation, after one or two courses of nasal fumigation and washing with special Chinese medicine formulas of the Department of Otolaryngology, significant recovery can be achieved.

When a child has repeated inflammation and the adenoids continue to proliferate and hypertrophy and cannot recover, causing nasal congestion, runny nose, snoring or mouth breathing, the Otolaryngology Department of Hunan Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine) has a systematic treatment plan combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

For children who need surgery, surgical treatment is adopted at the appropriate time to restore the patency of the child's nasal cavity; after the operation, Chinese medicine is used in combination with syndrome differentiation to regulate the spleen and stomach function, enhance the child's resistance, and can significantly reduce the recurrence rate; nasal fumigation and washing are performed with special Chinese medicine, and multiple diseased parts of the child are treated simultaneously.

Compared with Western medicine antibiotics, glucocorticoids, leukotriene receptor antagonists and other drug treatments, this method has obvious advantages such as rapid onset of action, stable efficacy, safety and no side effects.

Director Peng Bo of the Otolaryngology Department of Hunan Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine) reminds parents that winter and spring are the peak seasons for the onset of adenoids hypertrophy in children. Early detection and correct treatment can eliminate the "snoring" and allow children to breathe freely and have a good sleep.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Zheng Hui, Department of Otolaryngology, Hunan Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine)

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(Edited by ZS)