4 Common Child Health Issues and How to Deal with Them

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Children have very fragile bodies and systems, so you can expect them to deal with a wide variety of issues. It can be difficult not to panic when they come down with something, but the best thing you can do is to be well-informed. If you are well-prepared for issues, you'll know when things are serious enough to bring your child to the hospital and where it would be unwarranted.

The less time you spend at the hospital, the better the both of you can be, but you can't downplay issues either. Some things might seem benign at first glance but get worse very fast. Let's take a look at a few common child health issues and how to deal with them.

Gastrointestinal Issues

Gastrointestinal issues are very common in children for a wide variety of reasons. First of all, their digestive system is still very vulnerable to bacteria and is very sensitive. They also haven’t had the time to develop all the enzymes needed to digest certain foods.

This is why it’s very important that you feed them well. Small babies do not handle salt and saturated fats very well. Their kidneys aren’t strong enough to deal with high sodium foods and saturated fats can lead them to suffer all sorts of digestive issues. Even things like cheese can be tough on a child’s digestive system even if they’re lactose tolerant, so you might want to be careful with cheese and dairy products in general.

The tough thing with gastrointestinal issues is knowing when things are benign or when you should see a doctor. Some things might seem dramatic like the child vomiting, but it shouldn’t be cause for panic. Children will have diarrhoea and will vomit from time to time, but you have to know when it’s normal and when it’s critical.

As a rule, you should see a doctor anytime there is blood present or serious pain that doesn’t go away. If that’s the case, then we suggest that you book a consult with a general surgeon from a service like Circle Health Group. They have some of the best general surgeons in the country and will be able to test and diagnose your child fast. Their site is also a great resource you can use for self-diagnosis, so we suggest you check it out right now if you're worried about your child's condition.

Sore Throat

You can also expect your child to suffer from a sore throat from time to time. Again, the severity of the issue may greatly vary. There are some cases when the sore throat will only last a few days and go away. But if the symptoms last more than 48 hours, then you should consider seeing a doctor. From then on, they will be able to tell whether it's caused by bacteria or a virus. If it's caused by a virus, they will send you back home as there's no way to treat the virus besides taking over-the-counter medications to deal with the symptoms and waiting for the body's immune system to do its job. If it's caused by bacteria like in the case of strep throat, on the other hand, then they will prescribe antibiotics.

Ear Pain

Ear issues are also very common in children and are usually caused by infection. What is tricky here is that so many things can cause ear pain. They can get an infection after dirt gets in their ear, for instance, or after swimming. In other cases, however, ear pain doesn’t have anything to do with the ears. It’s common for ear infections to start in the jaw, for instance. This is why you need to bring your child for an examination as soon as possible when you notice that they have these kinds of issues. This will allow you to get to the root of the problem and prevent complications.

Skin Infections and Conditions

You can expect your child to experience a few skin issues as well. Sometimes they might be caused by immune deficiency diseases like eczema and psoriasis, but in other cases, they might come from external factors. In any case, it would be wise to bring your child to a doctor if the situation keeps getting worse. They'll give your child a skin culture or swab test to see what's going on. Make sure that you let them know if your child has any history of staph, MRSA, or any antibiotic-resistant bacteria infection too. This is the only way they'll be able to find the most appropriate treatment for the condition.

These are only some of the health issues you can expect to see with your children. Try to not overreact to anything but instead learn as much as you can about the human body and various conditions children may have so you take the proper course of action.