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Suctioning To Relieve Nasal Stenosis In Newborns

By Tess Thompson

Infants are obligated to breathe through their nose till they reach an age of approximately 2 months. Any obstruction in the nasal passage can cause great discomfort and prevent the child from feeding or sleeping properly. The lack of oxygen also affects the growth of the child negatively.

Parents should identify such a condition quickly and take corrective measures immediately.

Some sort of a nasal obstruction is extremely common among newborns. These can result from a swelling in the nose or an accumulation of serous fluid. An inflammation caused by an accumulation of watery fluid in tissues and cells is called edema.

If the cause of blockage is due to an edema, a simple suction process can help in clearing the opening. The process of suction is a simple one in which all a mother needs to do is to use a rubber syringe. One needs to insert the nozzle of the syringe into the nose, press the rubber bulb and then leave it to allow suctioning. Though the process is simple, it may need some steadfastness on the part of a mother who is undertaking this process for the first time.

There are other remedies that can be used to provide relief from an edema. One such home remedy is to ensure that the baby’s room is always moist. This can be done with the help of a humidifier. Care needs to be taken to keep the humidifier away from the crib to avoid the sheets from getting wet. Saline nasal drops will also loosen the mucus and restore proper respiration.

In very rare cases like those of congenital anomalies, some babies are born with malformed nasal bones. These deformations cause obstructions in the normal process of breathing. Nasal stenosis can occur if the nasal cavity is too narrow to allow free passage of air.

Nasal stenosis is similar to spinal stenosis to the extent that both conditions are caused by a certain type of compression. In nasal stenosis case the compression causes a blockage in the breathing passage and in spinal stenosis the compression leads to a nerve being pressed. Spinal stenosis can be cured with the aid of sciatic nerve treatment procedures and sciatica alternative remedies, but treating nasal cavity stenosis required different therapies and treatments.

Nasal stenosis causes severe respiratory distress in babies since the amount of air that gets that is ingested is very minimal. This is an emergency situation and requires immediate surgical correction of the nasal passage.

In most cases the surgeon tries to enlarge the nasal passageway by inserting a stent to enable free passage of air through the nose. The stent is removed later in most cases.

After the surgery, there are cases where a recurrence may occur. But you cannot avoid surgery totally due to the possibility of a relapse since the condition can lead to serious damage and can also be fatal.

Ref: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/PR/00038.html