How to Treat GREEN Nasal Discharge

I am responding late, but you could try Horehound by Herbs for Kids. That is what we use. We have had better results with it than we do with antibiotics.

Green snot=infection. It sounds like the eye thing could be pink eye too. My daughter has had it several times (without her eyes being pink---just the goop).
So you need to get them to the drs. I know you're not a fan of antibiotics...but with infections that is the only route to take. I hpoe everyone gets well soon.

I know you've gotten lots of suggestions, but here are three more homeopathic ones that don't seem to have come up. For sinus issues, get some tea tree oil at the health food store and, for children, mix a couple of drops into a tablespoon of olive oil (adults can just use it straight). Spread this on skin outside the sinuses (forehead, upper cheeks, then a couple of dots right under the nose) several times a day. Tea tree oil is a natural anti-bacterial, and the smell, also, will help loosen up congestion (like Vicks, but natural). For the ear infection, this looks a little funny, but stick a whole clove of garlic in your kid's ear (peeled, and be gentle--don't shove, just stick it in enough to stay put), and just leave it there as long as he'll tolerate it (seriously, just let him walk around with it all day). The garlic oil will slowly leech into his ear--also kills infections naturally. If he won't tolerate that, you can also slowly cook a couple of sliced cloves of garlic in a tablespoon or two of olive oil, then put 1-2 drops in his ear 2-3 times a day (obviously, make sure the oil is COMPLETELY cooled, and make a new batch every 24 hours). Finally, to help everything drain, chop an onion, wrap it in cheesecloth, and hang it over the kids' crib/bed overnight--yes, the room will smell VERY ONIONY in the morning, but this will make the nose run and the eyes tear and flush stuff out.

All these suggestions come from our homeopath/shiatsu therapist. PM me if you'd like a referral to her. GL!

Yes I've been helping many people with similar issues this past month. There is a homeopathic remedy called Pulsatilla that seems to fit the symptoms you describe for your 4 year old and yourself. You can get the 30C potency from a healthfood store, Whole Foods, etc. and give it 3 times a day up to 3 days. Stop if it is better before then. Sometimes Pulsatilla needs to be dosed a bit more, so an extra day if needed would be ok. The 2 year old could be one of a few remedies but would need more information. There are also choices for your daughter with autism that are gentle and safe.
Give everyone a lot of vitamin C that is not corn-based, and D3.
Take care,
Liz

It sounds like a sinus infection to me -- the green discharge is usually a sign that one has set in.

Green snot does NOT equal in infection. That's a myth. It may or may not be a sinus infection. Treat as any respiratory issue--push fluids, rest and an antihistamine MAYBE.

Squirt some little noses saline up the nostril and use the blue super sucker to get the green stuff out.

Sounds to me like an infection. It could also be a sinus infection. You want to nip this in the bud because with my daughter, every time she had a cold this year, it turned into an ear infection and while the cold didn't require antiobiotics, the ear infection did!!

Better to check it out with the doctor but explain (if he/she doesn't already know) your issues with antiobiotics. He may have alternative suggestions or tell you to wait it out for a certain amount of time.

Good luck!

Neti pot! It will help with the congestion plus it isn't a medication. It will clean out the nasal cavities - in other words, gets all of that green stuff out. Do it 2-3 times a day. It's a little weird at first, you MUST breathe through your mouth. But it is immediate relief. My kids were reluctant at first, but now they ask for it when allergies hit. As far as it being green - it can or cannot be an infection - I've seen it go both ways. Go with your gut regarding contacting your doctor. You can get the neti pot at Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger etc...

From: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003051.htm

OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS
Many people think that a green or yellow nasal discharge means a bacterial infection, which requires antibiotics. This is NOT true. Colds will often begin with a clear nasal discharge, but after several days it usually turns creamy yellow or green. Colds are caused by viruses, and antibiotics will not help. A green or yellow nasal discharge is not a sign that you need antibiotics.

Considerations
Nasal discharge is common, but rarely serious. Drainage from swollen or infected sinuses may be thick or discolored.
Excess mucus may run down the back of your throat (postnasal drip) or cause a cough that is usually worse at night. A sore throat may also result from too much mucus drainage.
The mucus drainage may plug up the eustachian tube between the nose and the ear, causing an ear infection and pain. The mucus drip may also plug the sinus passages, causing sinus infection and pain.

Causes
• Bacterial infections
• Colds
• Flu
• Hay fever
• Head injury
• Nasal sprays
• Sinusitis
• Small objects in the nostril (especially in children)

Home Care
Keep the mucus thin rather than thick and sticky. This helps prevent complications, such as ear and sinus infections, and plugging of your nasal passages. To thin the mucus:
• Drink extra fluids.
• Increase the humidity in the air with a vaporizer or humidifier.
• Use saline nasal sprays.
Antihistamines may reduce the amount of mucus. Be careful, because some antihistamines may make you drowsy. Don't use over-the-counter nasal sprays more often than 3 days on and 3 days off, unless told to by your doctor.

When to Contact a Medical Professional
• Drainage is foul smelling, one-sided, or a color other than white or yellow
• Nasal discharge follows a head injury
• Symptoms last more than 3 weeks
• Syptoms last more than 10 days in a child under 3 years old
• There is fever with nasal discharge

Additional info: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671/...

Good luck!

Depending how crusty the eyes are, it could be pink eye, although I'm not sure about the snot relation.

Since you think it might be allergies, try some Zyrtec. My son was really snotty and congested, and we didn't even think about allergies (we thought a cold) until my husband ended up snotty and congested, took his allergy medication, and was better. We tried it one night, and he could breathe the next day! If it isn't allergies, then no harm, no foul, but it is a good way to eliminate that possibility without having to try out antibiotics.

Whether or not you have to go the antibiotic route, get some probiotics into them. They make chewable pills, and those can get the bowels back on track. Whenever we have to have antibiotics, or my son has loose stool, we up the dose to kick that problem before it gets too bad.

You aren't alone though, my son is about the same age, and seems to have very similar symptoms. Dealing with the allergies, I know that what is left over is the pain from his molars, and the normal 2 year old stuff too. Usually as he is being fussy, he has his hand stuffed in his mouth, which makes it that much more obvious. Good luck.

My 2 year old girl suffers of sinusitis and her eyes get swollen with green mocus coming out her nose and I treat her with lots of fluids, saline irrigations and antihistamines and it does the trick. If the condition persist for more than 5 days, fever appears or if it gets worse I take her to the pediatrician.

Typically, green means infection. So, increase the fluid intake b/c that will thin the mucus and help it to drain. You said you are already using saline and sucking out the mucus, that's another way to deal with it. As for treating the infection, I guess you just have to let it run it's course. Make sure it's not pink eye (where the white part of the eye looks pink and then the goop can get to the point where they can't open their eye in the morning). If it's pink eye, I don't know of any remedy other than antibiotics. If it's just goop, it's probably from the drainage.

Sinucleanse makes a neti pot that I use, but they also have a kids' system that works similarly but it is a mist that goes WAY up in the cavities...my kids are not bothered at all by it, and i do it at least once in the am and once in the pm. we hand the same crud for almost 2 weeks. but their snot was not green...i totally credit the sinucleanse stuff for that. i got mine at walgreens in plano..but the one in frisco did not have itl

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My son has had this issue for 5 years and I too am not an antibiotic fan. All the while I have been trying to boost his immune system. and finally we meet our deductible so I tested him for everything. Allergies by blood, I tested his blood chemistry to see if he had any vitamin deficiency. I tried a gluten free diet where he was eating mainly meat and veggies no sugar. Adding plain yogurt that was homemade to improve the good culture...Now for what worked. I also had taken him to an ENT. She found that he had Strep in his nose. She wanted to do antibiotics. I said let me try gluten free and add lots of supplements see if he can get rid on his own. ENT retested and he did get rid of the Strep. BUt the green came back and I brought him again to ENT (remember we had met deductible so I was trying many things) and now he tested positive for Staph in his nose. By this time we could not do the diet anymore. To $$ and strenuous for an 8 year old to be gluten free.. So I did the antibiotics. The ENT seems to think that the strep was the first layer and when we cured it it revealed a second infection Staph. I am still boosting his system with UDO's oil in grape juice on a full stomach. He did test a little low on Vit D so in winter mos we give him 400IUs of VIT D. And I am using Claritin or the generic and giving him a double dose as sanctioned by the pediatrician. It is helping. He has no green mucous or stopped up sounding. Netti pot also helps. we use neil med. It did not cure though we had to use antibiotics to get rid of the bacteria. and now there is a need to build up his good bacteria . A good acidophillus is key here. No more deductible is on our side. But it helped us solve a 5 year ordeal.

My son had kinda the same thing with the stuffy nose and eye discharge. He would wake up several mornings with eye goop that had dried and stuck on his eye and some morning he would cry because he couldn't even open his eye. I would just get a warm wash cloth and get it all out. This lasted for a few days but went away. He has gotten it a couple of more times when he has gotten a cold again. I guess some kids are just more prone to it than others.

The eye boogers are just back-up from the nose. Try Mucinex, the granules you can pore down the throat. It is just a cold (in the eyes as well).