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Your Health › Pediatric Health

Pediatric Health

Proper child care has many facets. From medications, to treatments, to types of common ailments your child is most susceptible to. Read below to learn more, or contact your Pediatric Doctor with any urgent questions or concerns you have regarding your child’s health. 

What is Pediatric Health?

Pediatric health is a branch of medicine that focuses on the health of children ranging from newborn infants to adolescents, up to 18-21 years of age. This study of medicine is important as caring for an infant or child differs from how a Doctor may care for an adult. 

For example, only using medications made specifically for kids is key when considering medicating your child. Children are much smaller, and often times need a dosage strength to reflect their size difference.

As adults we often assume that just because we take a certain medication when we have a headache, that it may be fine to give the same medication to a child when they have a headache. Always be certain to check age and dosage guidelines for over the counter medications or consult your pediatrician. 

man meditating

Alternative Dosage Forms

It can be difficult to get children to want to take their medications. Often it is flavor, sometimes it is the dosage form. Working with a compounding pharmacy for a more customized approach to medicine can be beneficial in times like this. 

Dosage form:
Most commercially available medications come in a tablet or capsule form. If a child is unable to swallow a tablet a parent may consider crushing the tablet and adding it to some food. However, some tablets and capsules are intended to be swallowed whole and cannot be crushed. When in doubt, consult your pediatrician for advice and questions regarding dosage forms. 
Allergies:
Some patients may be allergic to an ingredient used in commercially available medications.

How compounding pharmacies can be a resource

Compounding pharmacies, like Valor, can compound medications in different dosage forms based on the needs of a patient. For example, a patient who is unable to swallow a tablet can get their medication compounded into a suspension. Or a patient with an allergy to an ingredient in a commercially available product may be assisted by a compounding pharmacy that can compound the medication without the allergen. Consult your doctor if you or your child is in need of a customized approach to your health.

Learn More

Some common pediatric health conditions or illnesses may include:

Common Cold

Most children have somewhere between 6 and 8 colds each year! With numbers like that, parents can benefit from knowing some facts about how to prevent the spread of a cold for their little loved ones. 
Signs of a cold:
Early signs of a cold can vary from a small tickle in the throat, to a runny or stuffed nose or sneezing, and a headache. Other cold symptoms may include loss of appetite, fever, or muscle ache.
What causes a cold?
A cold is a virus. The common cold may be caused by up to 200 different types of viruses, and must be spread by coming in contact with someone else who has the cold. A cold can be transferred from one person to another through physical contact, or from being near someone who sneezes or coughs. For physical touch, if you come in contact with the virus and then touch your mouth, eyes, or nose, you may contract the virus. For airborne, if you breathe in the virus after someone coughs or sneezes, it may infect you. 
Who is at risk?
Everyone could be at risk depending on if they come in contact with the virus, but children are at a higher risk of contracting it. One reason is that a child’s immune systems is not as strong as a fully grown adults immune system. Another reason is that adults tend to wash their hands more, and are less likely to touch their face. Lastly, since young children spend more time around other children, who, as mentioned earlier may each contract a cold 6-8 times per year, they are more likely to be exposed to the virus. 

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

This is a disease most commonly found in children. Anyone who has experienced it before knows, it can be quite discomforting. Hand, foot, and mouth disease is when a virus causes many small sores to appear on someones hands, feet, and around their mouth. Note that it is most commonly called hand foot and mouth because it affects all three areas, but that it may only effect one or two of the areas. 
The cause of hand foot and mouth is when the virus spreads from direct contact with an infected person, being around airborne droplets such as sneezing or coughing, or spread through the use of a shared drink or shared food. A few days after being transmitted (generally around 3-6 days from initial contact), the new person may begin to experience symptoms. As mentioned, the most common sign is the small bumps (sores) that appear, but children and adults infected with the virus may also suffer from a fever, sore throat, or even a loss of appetite. 

Eczema

Eczema is a condition which leads to dry and sensitive skin. It is non-contagious and can reappear over time depending on external irritants. Some of the main triggers for an eczema flare up include exposure to dust, detergents, soaps, and lotions. Flare-ups can appear on many areas of the body, and treatment options include applying ointments, wet bandages, humidifying the air, and rest.

Strep Throat

Strep throat is a common form of bacterial infection and there are approximately 3 million cases throughout the United States yearly. It is caused by a bacteria called streptococcus and can be spread through coming into direct contact with the mucus of an infected individual when coughing, sneezing or talking. While it is most common in children from ages 5-15, it is very contagious and can be transmitted to and effect people of all ages. 
  • Strep throat requires a doctors diagnosis and can cause your throat to become very irritated and painful. The pain will be persistent, and possibly increase when swallowing.
  • For individuals who contract strep throat, the incubation period for the bacterial infection is generally anywhere from 2-5 days. After that initial incubation period, your symptoms will begin to develop and may worsen over time. You can still spread the infection to others during the incubation period while you are not yet showing symptoms.
  • While a diagnosis of strep must come from a medical professional, the test itself is quick and painless. While visiting a doctor, they will swap the back of your throat with a cotton swab, which will then be sent to the lab for testing. The test results are generally available within 20 minutes.

Fever

Fevers are generally caused by an infection, and occur when the body temperature is over 100.04 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of the main reasons for a body to heat up is to help naturally fight off an infection. While the body heating up to fight an infection sounds good, it can also be a reason for parents to worry. But when should you begin to worry about a fever and seek professional help? A few signs of a fever include feeling warm, having chills or sweating, and having a headache. 

Tonsillectomy

A tonsillectomy is a procedure that removes the tonsils, which are the glands that are located at the back of the throat. The most common reasons for having one’s tonsils removed include repeated infection of the tonsils due to tonsillitis and to treat breathing related sleeping disorders that result from inflamed tonsils. After surgery, it is recommended to rest for a few days or weeks, depending on how long it takes you to recover. Consult your doctor for a more accurate timeline.