Childhood Ailments

My 5-year-old daughter loves to ask me to buy Activia, so she can “poop more” and because of her impression, thanks to crafty marketing, that Activia has more vitamins than her favorite yogurt. We see constipation constantly in the pediatric office and it is, no doubt, a struggle for many children in the first world. In contrast, diarrhea is the leading killer of children in the third world.

You’ve had a full and busy day, and you are finally home to make dinner and get ready for another day. You realize your little one has a fever and cough, and the doctor’s office is closed. What is a parent to do when you have a sick kid and your primary care pediatrician’s office isn’t open?

It's that time of year again! Yes it is Christmas, but it is also the cough, cold & flu season. If your family is anything like mine, it's a hard time of the year! In the past month alone, we had flu, ear infection & tummy bug! Because I understand how hard this season can be, I also understand the importance of our ensuring that your families have good access to excellent health care. Our practice has implemented several strategies to make ourselves available to you when that fever happens in the middle of the night or that ear pain starts Sunday morning!

Strep throat is the common term for streptococcal pharyngitis. Pharyngitis means an inflammation or infection of the throat. Strep refers to the causative bacteria – group A streptococcus. The group A Streptococcus bacteria can also cause skin infections. Interestingly, there are other types of strep bacteria but only group A causes throat infections.

Most insect bites usually cause a small red bump and begin to disappear the next day. Often times, it may look like localized hives, one large or several small ones. The red bump is the body's allergic reaction to the venom injected by the insect. For itchy insect bites, apply calamine or a 1% hydrocortisone cream. If the bite is extremely itchy, try an oral antihistamine, like Benadryl.

So the most wonderful time of the year has come and gone and now it is back to life as usual. Kids are back in school and life's routines are resuming. With that, germs are being passed back and forth on a daily basis. Cold season is here and you just wait until your little one comes home with his sniffly nose and cough. The Cough. Oh the cough. It keeps kids up at night, makes them throw up, and is a nuisance in general. So why do kids cough? Why are there so many different types and qualities of coughs? And what do you do to treat a cough? And when should you call your pediatrician?

My child has fever again..... Does that sound like a phrase you've said to your healthcare provider? Well, you are not alone. Fever is one of the most common symptoms managed by pediatricians and parents alike. Fever always seems to strike in the middle of the night or when the pediatrician's office is closed, right? And fever can be a scary thing to parents because it just simply can make most children feel bad and not act their normal selves which can be very worrisome to most parents.

First of all, I think pigeons, though pretty foul fowl, don't actually have toes and their feet point more or less straight ahead, not inward. The title of the blog might better be called: "Toeing In." Many infants toe in; their toes point inward toward each other. Fortunately, this us usually self limited and goes away by preschool age without any treatment.