Category: children

children Children Therapy Pain Stress Teenage Therapy • • By Dr. Rajeshwari Yadav 1 Comment

Headache In Children: Things You Didn’t Know

“ Head pain in children“???  Yes, you heard it right, many of us can’t imagine that children can get headaches too. Many parents don’t realize that their children are suffering from chronic headaches as children who are younger than 6 may not be able to describe the symptoms they are experiencing. 

About  20 percent of 5-year-olds and About 75 percent of teenagers get occasional head pain, these can be harmless and can be managed with the help of simple treatment and home remedies.

In this post, I will help you understand headaches in children, the types of headaches children can have, the possible causes of head pain and its symptoms, and treatment.

What is the treatment for childhood headaches?

The conventional medicines for headaches include medicines to control the pain and nausea and vomiting, which are effective to control the acute attack of pain and other symptoms but fail to control the recurrence of the attack. Sometimes the use of beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, sodium valproate, and antidepressant to control the frequency of attacks.

Our Pediatric Headache Approach

  • We have devised a unique treatment approach for children, under which detailed inquiry of children, current complaint, past medical history, along with physiological and psychological assessment with diet and lifestyle and day-to-day struggles of the child is taken into consideration. 
  •  Our approach is intended to manage the physiological changes, hormonal changes, and immunological defects which are making a child prone to recurrent headaches along with diet and nutrition consultation along with lifestyle modification to overcome the triggering factors like stress, anxiety, poor sleep, dietary errors.
  • Our approach has proved beneficial in reducing and controlling the inflammatory and autoimmune processes, which can cause neuroinflammatory changes which can lead to stimulation of the trigeminal nerve which can lead to migraine in children.
  • Our approach helps your child develop a better immune system, and helps reduce allergies and recurrent infections, thus promoting the child’s average growth.
  • This all is done with sweet tiny homeopathic oral medications which are without side effects and often children love to take homeopathic sweet pills.

Duration of treatment of headache

The duration of treatment depends on the duration of the child’s headache, its intensity, and the frequency of occurrence of complaint, usually it takes 6 months to 1 year, in a few cases it can take longer too, depending on the factors mentioned.

Common Causes of Headache In Children

It is believed that the contraction of scalp muscles repeatedly can cause head pain. Also if the pain sensors in blood vessels and tissues around them if activated can result in Neurochemical changes in the brain which can also cause head pain.

 The headache is commonly caused by  

  • inadequate or poor sleep.
  • Long screen exposure.
  • Environmental factors. 
  •  Common illnesses like colds, flu, and ear and sinus infections, can cause headaches.
  • Hormonal changes in teens can also cause chronic recurring headaches.
  •  Stress and anxiety, and depression in children can also trigger head pain.
  • Genetic predisposition. Headaches, particularly migraines, tend to run in families.
  • Certain foods and beverages like Nitrates, food preservatives, food additive MSG, and caffeine in soda, chocolates, and sports drinks can cause headaches.
  • Head injuries: Bumps and bruises can cause headaches. ,
  • A chronic headache that is severe and debilitating can be because by an underlying brain tumor or abscess or bleeding in the brain but is usually associated with visual problems, dizziness, and lack of coordination.

Complication of headache

  • Acute recurring headaches affect all aspects of a child’s functioning, leading to negative affective states like anxiety, depression, and anger.
  •  Recurring head pain can increase psychosocial problems, like school absencenties which can lead to poor grades in school and, problematic social interactions.

How to prevent headaches in children

  • Practice a healthy lifestyle, which includes taking adequate sleep, eating healthy meals and snacks, staying physically active, and drinking enough water.
  • Limiting screen time
  • Reducing stress in children can be as simple as difficulty in doing homework to strained relationships, checking if a child’s headaches are liked to any anxiety or depression, taking help from experts
  • Avoid food or drinks which trigger headaches in your child.

children • • By Dr. Rajeshwari Yadav 0 Comments

Nausea In School-Going Children

Does your child, complain of feeling sick or feeling sensations like throwing up frequently, this feeling is known as nausea. 

Throwing up is no fun for your child, and it’s worrisome, for you too, Watching your child in distress,  the thought of something that could happen like a terrible disease or something awful happening to your child is sufficient to raise your heartbeats and anxiety.

 Nausea may or may not result in vomiting. 

Your child may call it a sick feeling in the stomach, nausea is not a disease but a complex symptom that your child can experience in a variety of conditions.

Associated Symptoms In Children

Symptoms that often accompany nausea.  Some of the common ones among children.

  • Fever
  • Abdominal pain
  • Vomiting
  • Dizziness
  • Headache
  • Loss of appetite
  • Sore throat

What is the common cause of nausea in children?                     

Here are a few common causes of nausea.

  • Food poisoning
  • Viral gastroenteritis ( stomach flu)
  • Food allergy
  • Abdominal migraine:- About 10% of school-going children suffer from abdominal migraine, as it is the most underdiagnosed condition in children
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)  
  • Anxiety nausea: some times stress, anxiety, or emotional distress can cause functional diarrhea in a child
  • Constipation
  • Indigestion (overeating
  • Medications: Drug-induced nausea is one of the most common side effects of medicines.
  • Peptic ulcers: They are often caused by infection from Helicobacter pylori bacteria
  • Kidney stones
  • Gallbladder disease: This condition occurs due to blockage of the bile duct, because of gall stones
  • Urinary tract infection
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

When To Seek Help of  Doctor?

Seek immediate medical attention if your child experiencing red flag symptoms with nausea

  • Severe abdominal pain
  • Severe headache or stiff neck with fever
  • Confusion
  • Reduced alertness
  • Faster pulse or breathing
  • Jaundice
  • Low urine output
  • Blood in urine or stools or vomitus
  • If the child looks dehydrated.

Diagnosing The Cause Of Nausea In Children

There is no special investigation to diagnose nausea, but investigations are done for underlying disaeas conditions which can be causing nausea.

  • A detailed medical history of the child along with abdominal examinations.
  • Blood examination, stool, and urine test to diagnose any infection.
  • Ultrasound of abdomen
  • Colonoscopy is required if suspecting small or large intestine pathology 
  • CT scan and MRI 

Treatment of nausea 

  • The treatment of nausea depends on identifying the underlying cause.
  • For which the doctor needs a detailed medical history of the child.
  • Detailed physical examination, and abdominal examination, to assess the severity of symptoms.  
  • The milder symptoms do not require much intervention, many a time, it settles by themself.
  • But identifying the red flag symptoms on time saves a child from life-threatening conditions.
  • Conventional medicines used for treatment include Antimicrobials for the treatment of infectious diseases, Anti-inflammatory medicines, Antacids, H2 blockers, or proton-pump inhibitors for acid reflux, Antiemetic medications, prokinetics
  • Dietary changes in the case of IBS or food intolerance

 Homeopathic protocol in the treatment of nausea in children. 

  •  In Homeopathic management,  a detailed history of the child is taken into consideration, which includes the child’s overall development, present history complete psychological assessment which gives us the chance to take different, and hopefully better perspectives on children.
  • We can see that  “symptoms” are just the manifestation of a failure to cope with whatever has challenged or injured a child, and we can also come to under­stand  why a particular child develops a specific pattern of illness.
  • In children, it needs to understand their fear, anxiety, and unresolved conflicts, to rule out mild to serious medical and surgical complications.
  • Homeopathic management also helps in balancing the metabolism and correcting digestive errors—a combination of well-taken homeopathic case history with diet and lifestyle. 
  • Also,  it helps by improving the child’s immune system and can control the inflammatory changes that are initiated because of food intolerance, and chemical and medicine exposure.
  • Homeopathy helps to cure the child in the most gentle and helps in achieving a permanent cure.

How to prevent nausea in children?

  • Eating slowly, and proper chewing food
  • Avoiding hard-to-digest foods, like fried food, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, high carb dense foods
  • Eating small meals throughout the day instead of 2-3 large meals
  • If the child is experiencing nausea in the morning, give some crackers in the morning or high protein snack at the night.
  • Offer plenty of water

How to relieve nausea in a child?

  • Eat light, bland foods (such as saltine crackers or plain bread).
  • Avoid fried, greasy, or sweet foods.
  • Do not mix hot and cold foods.
  • Avoid activity after eating.
  • Avoid brushing your teeth after eating.
  • Can give ginger juice and honey to the child when nauseous,
  • Try fennel seed water with honey to reduce nausea.