Reply to "some kids just get croup a lot"--does yours?

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Reply to ""some kids just get croup a lot"--does yours?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I think as an earlier poster said, some kids get croup a lot because they have narrower windpipes.

My child's doc explained to me, (I may have it wrong but this is the explanation I remember):

When a child gets certain cold or other viruses, it makes the vocal cords swell.  Then you see either "croup" or "laryngitis" depending on how inflamed the cords are, and whether the inflamation blocks breathing or not.

If the swollen vocal cords block air between them and the trachea, the result is called "croup".   If the  vocal cords swell but do not get in the way of breathing, it is called "laryngitis".

Boys are often more affected by coup than girls, because they have narrower tracheas.  But girls also get croup.

Most kids "grow out" of croup by around age 5 or so.   For one thing, they have had a lot of the cold and other ciruses that cause the swelling of the vocal cords.  For another their windpipes are wider, so even if they do get sick, they just get laryngitis not coup.

Croup is completely different from asthma, but you can have both at the same time, and one can be misdiagnosed for the other.   Croup is a swelling of the vocal cords.   Asthma is the bronchi (airways) not the cords inside the trachea.

Croup is difficulty breathing in (stridor) and asthma is difficulty breathing out (wheezing) --[/quote]

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