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Its an age-old remedy, one that mothers and grandmothers all over the world stand by. But it’s also dangerous, and it doesn’t really work.
If you’ve ever placed your face over a steam bath to relieve a cold, you know what this is talking about.
Plastic surgeon Sarah Hemongton-Gorse, of the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, have told parents to stop using this treatment, and have encouraged doctors and nurses to stop recommending it.
“Something that is being recommended by healthcare or via old wives’ tales and grandparents is actually causing injuries to children who have a cold. And we could avoid this all together if this practice is stopped.”
In the past five years, 17 children have been treated for burns related to spilled hot water at the burns unit in Morriston Hospital in Swansea.
One patient, eight-year-old Finley Denley-Ansen, was admitted to the hospital in July, after he suffered 15 to 20 percent burns on his lower abdomen, groin and legs. He had spilled hot water on himself after being treated with it for a cold.
He was treated in the ICU, but developed sepsis afterwards. Thankfully, he has fully recovered from both.
But his mother has learned her lesson.
“My advice to parents would be never to use steam inhalation. I just wouldn’t ever put hot water by the children again and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else does it.”
Not only is it dangerous, but there’s less and less evidence that it actually works.
Consultant pediatrician Dai Nguyen said that there’s no real effect of steam on a cold. “Sitting in a steamy room, such as the bathroom with the shower running, will provide some short-term relief. But it doesn’t shorten the duration of the cold and makes no long-term difference. There is no gain but there is potential harm.”
And parental supervision makes no difference, says Dr. Nguyen. “Parents were present and supervising the steam inhalation in all the cases we looked at. You cannot catch a hot bowl of water once it starts tipping over.
