Healing Cuts, Liposuction Skin Bruises, and Womb Scrapes

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 27th, 2007

Sooner or later, everybody gets a cut or a bruise or a scrape. Of course, if we are careful, it won’t happen as often as it does when we are careless. Most of these injuries seem much worse than they actually are. For example, some cuts look as if there is an awful lot of bleeding, but most of them stop bleeding by themselves within a few minutes. And since we all have a great deal of blood to spare, it doesn’t hurt us to lose a little once in a while. Just think of it, someone who gives a blood transfusion to another person gives about two full glasses of blood, and it doesn’t do any harm at all!

For some reason that’s hard to ex plain boys and girls cut their heads quite often, and these cuts usually bleed like the dickens. But here, too, there is no cause to get frightened, because the bleeding soon stops by itself in a short time.

Broken glass, tin cans, and knives are frequent causes of cuts. When we walk barefoot, it is important for us to know that there are no pieces of broken glass biding in the dirt or sand; when we open a tin can, we ought to be certain we know how to handle the pull ring so we don’t cut our fingers or hand; and when we use or play with knives or other sharp things, we must be specially careful.

Scrapes form scabs in a day or two, and the scabs fall off a few weeks later when the skin underneath is completely healed. You should never pick at.a scab, because that will lengthen the time it takes the scrape to heal.

Did you know that most bleeding can be stopped simply by pressing the cut area with clean fingers for a few minutes? It might be a good idea for us to tell you the best things to do when someone cuts himself:

1. First of all, don’t get too excited about the amount of blood you see.

2. If the cut is dirty, run lukewarm water from a faucet over it for a few minutes. If this doesn’t get rid of all the dirt, take a clean handkerchief or a piece of cotton or gauze, wet it, and gently wipe away the dirt.

3. If the bleeding continues, take the clean handkerchief or cotton or gauze, and put it directly on top of the cut and press down on it firmly and steadily for a few minutes. In most cases, this will stop the bleeding. If it stops, then probably all the cut will need is a Band-aid, or a gauze dressing held in place with some adhesive tape.

4. If the cut still bleeds, it is best to go to a doctor’s office or to the emergency room of the nearest hospital. In one of those two places, the doctor will stitch the wound together, and it will be as good as ever within a few days’ time.

5. Never pour a strong antiseptic, such as iodine or Mercurochrome, onto an open cut. These medicines may burn the tissues. The best thing to prevent infection in a cut is to wash it thoroughly with water and an ordinary soap.

A word about having a cut stitched: it doesn’t really hurt, because when you cut yourself, the edges of the wound become numb and you don’t feel pain very well. Also, if the cut is long or deep, the doctor will inject a medicine such as Novocain under the skin edges of the cut to take away the
pain. This injection doesn’t hurt at all.

Stitches are put in with a needle and thread, almost exactly the way your mother sews a rip in your clothes. Sometimes the stitches are made of black silk, sometimes of nylon, and now there are several new kinds of threads made out of materials that the body can absorb. If this kind of thread is used, the doctor won’t have to bother removing the stitches. They will just disappear by themselves.

Stitches are left in anywhere from four to eight or nine days. The longer and deeper the cut, the more days the stitches are kept in place. Of course, as we just mentioned, the stitches that dissolve are left in place indefinitely until they disappear by themselves. But it hurts only slightly to take out stitches, so no one, even little tots, has be afraid. Sometimes, when the cut or scrape has been caused by something dirty or sty, a tetanus shot is given. This doesn’t hurt much and will prevent tetanus infection from taking hold in the injured area.

Bruises come from a hard bump something, or from being hit hard by a ball or some other solid object that doesn’t break open the skin bruises mean that the fat and the mus1es beneath the skin have been injured and that bleeding has taken place.

Bleeding beneath the skin almost ways stops by itself and requires relatively little treatment. Lots of children bump their heads, or fall on their heads and or are hit on the head, and these injuries can lead to a big swelling that hurts a lot for a while. But, of course, anyone can be bruised anywhere on the body.
Here is some advice on what to do if you should be bruised:

1. Wrap some ice in a napkin or handkerchief or towel and press it firmly against the bruised area for ten to fifteen minutes. The ice may stop the bleeding that is taking place beneath the skin.

2. After using the ice for ten to fifteen minutes, replace it with a cold, wet handkerchief or napkin or washcloth or towel for another ten to fifteen minutes.

A cut can often be cleaned by running lukewarm water over it, although deep dirt may have to be wiped away.

Bruises may take a few days before the swelling goes down and the discoloration of the skin disappears. If your skin is light in color to begin with, it will be interesting to watch the deep purple color of the bruise turn lighter over a few days’ time. As the bruise heals, the skin turns a bluish-green, then a lighter greenish-yellow, and finally the bruise disappears entirely. And if your skin is brown to begin with, the color of the bruised area will be much darker than that of the rest of your skin. But it, too, will lighten and return to normal as the bruise heals.

All children trip and fall and scrape themselves from time to time. It is natural to fall and scrape our skin when we run and play so much, and ride our bikes or skate or ski. And do you know the favorite places to get scrapes? Well, the knees seem to get it very, very often. And sometimes, our elbows or the tip of our noses.

Most scrapes don’t bleed very much, but they do ooze a yellowish substance called serum. Serum is made up of blood without the red cells. Scrapes can get infected very easily unless they are treated properly. And when they do get infected, they sometimes leave ugly looking scars when they heal.

Here are things to do when you get a bad scratch or scrape:

1. Since most scrapes happen outdoors, it is not unusual that dirt gets into the wound. As a result, it is very important to clean a scrape thoroughly so it doesn’t get infected. To do this, we should scrub the scraped area with ordinary soap and warm water for several minutes until it is clean. And would you believe it? It doesn’t really hurt very much to clean a scratch or scrape!

2. After cleaning the scrape, it should be covered with a clean gauze dressing, and the dressing held in place with some adhesive tape. If the scrape happens to be on the nose or face, we shouldn’t cover it at all. It will heal just as well if we leave it exposed to the open air.

3. Scrapes form scabs within a day or two, and the scabs may take a few weeks before they are ready to fall off. They are ready when the skin underneath them has healed completely. It is a very bad idea to pick at a scab. If we do, a new one will form and this will delay the time before it is ready to drop off.

4. If we don’t play with the scab and pick at it, and if we don’t fall again on the scraped area, most scrapes heal without leaving scars. Some youngsters with scabs on their noses have a habit of picking at them and removing part of the scab before it is ready to come off
by itself. Do you know what happens then? A new scab forms! Why, once a boy did this and had a big scab on his nose for almost four months! His friends started calling him “cherry nose,” and for a long time after the scab fell off, he had a bright red scar on the tip of his nose.

Luckily, most children have skin that heals quickly and leaves very few bad scars. Even if it looks bad at first, as the child grows older, most scars disappear and are difficult to find even if we look for them. Therefore, never worry too much when you get a severe cut or scrape. It won’t damage your good looks. And even if it did, there are surgeons—we call them plastic surgeons—who specialize in getting rid of ugly scars.

A cut or scrape should be thoroughly washed with lukewarm water and soap. Any bleeding usually stops after a few minutes of direct pressure on the cut or scrape. It should then be covered with a gauze bandage, or clean handkerchief.

Compensation, Treatment and Signs for Traumatic Baby Head Injuries in Children

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 20th, 2007

We certainly are lucky that our brain protected by the nice thick of our skull. Think of the many times that we bump our head edges of doors or fall accident and strike our poor head on the floor and ground. Our brains sure get pretty soft if they didn’t have a strong covering over them.

There aren’t many people, children adults alike, who don’t hurt their heads at least once in a while. And it can be painful, can’t it? Fortunately, of these injuries are not serious, except for a lump and some soreness we forget about them in a few hours. However, sometimes there can serious blows and we should never neglect them.

Here is how to tell whether an injury to the head is serious and needs attend by a doctor:

1. Anyone who loses consciousness (faints or passes out) after a head injury should be seen by a doctor. Even if unconsciousness lasts only a few seconds, it should be considered serious enough to call the doctor.
The best thing to do for someone who has lost consciousness from being hit on the head is to keep that person absolutely still, even if he or he wants to get up. The person should then be taken to a nearby hospital, preferably by an ambulance.
2. Of course, if someone loses consciousness and stays unconscious after a blow to the head, everyone knows enough to call an ambulance. In almost every community in the country, the police will get an ambulance for an injured person.
3. A person who has an injury to the head and later develops a severe headache should be seen by a doctor.
4. Anyone whose head is injured and who later begins to see things double, or whose sight becomes blurred, should be seen by a doctor.
5. If bleeding from the nose or ears takes place after a head injury, the patient should be seen by a doctor, as this sometimes is an indication that one of the bones of the skull has been broken.
6. Someone who seems to recover quickly from a head injury but later gets drowsy and falls into a deep sleep must be seen by a doctor, as this may be a sign that there is bleeding inside the skull.

Following a severe head injury, bleeding on the covering of the brain (dura) beneath the skull may lead to the formation of a dangerous blood clot. Bone fragments may be driven into the brain at the site of a blow, causing a brain injury on the opposite side of the skull.

The things we have just described tell us not only that the injury has affected the bones of the skull, but that the brain and blood vessels within the head have also suffered. In many cases, the injury to the brain may be slight and temporary. But our brains are too important to neglect, and it is much smarter to keep a child who has suffered a head injury in the hospital for a day or two to make sure he or she is all right. Within a day or two, everyone can be positive that no serious damage to the brain has taken place.

When a child with a head injury goes to the hospital, they will take X rays to see if any of the bones of the skull have been broken. They will also make tests find out if any damage to the brain resulted from the blow. After they have find out the exact extent and location 1the brain injury, they will know how to treat it. Once in a while, brain surgeon will bore a small hole in the skull to relieve the pressure from the bleed within the skull. This often controls the situation pretty well, and when the round heals, it leaves practically no scar.

Most children recover completely from head injuries, even from serious ones. This is because the bones of the skull are so good at protecting the soft b rain tissue which lies beneath. As we point out in the next chapter, from a cut on the head is seldom very serious. There may be an awful lot of bleeding, but it usually stops by itself sooner or later. And when the cut is stitched, the head is as good as new again.

Here are a few things to do in order to avoid serious head injuries:

1. Always wear a helmet when playing football or riding on a motorcycle.
2. Never dive into shallow water or into strange water where rocks may be near the surface.
3. Never jump off a high place, even if your playmates dare you to.
4. Don’t run or make sudden movements in the dark where you might not see a wall or edge of an open door.
5. If you are in the country, be aware of the possibility of rocks falling down a hill.
6. Don’t play with children who throw stones.

Medicine for Treating Allergies Sore Throat, Medication for Gerd Sore Throat Relief

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 17th, 2007

Sore throats are a real pain in the neck, aren’t they? But I guess we ought to be glad we’re not an ostrich or a giraffe. Can you imagine how they must feel with a sore throat?

Nothing makes a child crankier than a throat that hurts when swallowing or talking, or just when doing nothing. And, unfortunately, boys and girls seem to get sore throats much more often than grown-ups do.

There are lots of reasons for sore throats; some we can control, others we can’t do much about. The commonest reason for a sore throat is that we are about to catch a cold. The soreness usually begins the day before our nose gets stuffed up and begins to run. We can do something to prevent this kind of sore throat. Do you know what? We can do all the things we’re supposed to do to prevent colds, such as wearing rubbers or boots when going out in the rain, wearing a jacket or coat when it’s chilly, and staying away from other children who already have colds. Then, if we don’t catch the cold, our throats won’t be sore.

Some sore throats are caused by a different kind of germ than the one that causes a cold. These sore throats may be caused by a streptococcus germ, and that can make a child pretty sick. There isn’t much anyone can do to avoid this type of sore throat, except to stay away from a child who already has the condition.

Years ago, when your mom and dad were young, it was serious to get a streptococcus sore throat, and often people with this sickness would have to go to the hospital. Nowadays, the wonderful antibiotic medicines clear up a “strep throat” in a very short time. Of course, children with strep throat must stay in bed a few days, must drink a lot of water and fruit juice and soda, and they must take their antibiotic medicine regularly.

Enlarged and infected tonsils sometimes lead to sore throats. Actually, the tonsils can easily get a streptococcus infection, and that will result in the same symptoms as someone with a strep throat. And the treatment is the same, too. Sometimes it takes a few days longer for a child to recover from tonsillitis caused by the streptococcus germ.

Enlarged adenoids, since they are located near the back of the nose, often make a child breathe through the mouth. When you do this constantly, the throat becomes dry and sore. Also, when the throat gets too dry, it begins to hurt and may easily get infected.

The streptococcus bacterium causes a sore throat that can make a child very ill. Streptococcus grows in long chains, and nowadays the infection It causes can be cleared up quickly with the use of antibiotic medicines.

This type of sore throat comes back again, time after time, until the adenoids are removed. After that, the child begins to breathe through the nose again, and—no more sore throats from this situation.

Children who live near places where there is a great deal of air pollution, like near a big factory that belches nasty smoke all day, often get sore throats. But now that everybody realizes we must cut down on air pollution, this kind of sore throat shouldn’t happen so
I often.

Don’t forget, whenever the outside air is really bad, it is a good idea to close to the windows and stay indoors. And you happen to have an air-conditioner, turn it on so you can breathe the purer air it produces. Do you know what they do in some of the Oriental countries when the air is particularly polluted? On those days, a great many people wear surgical masks when they go out in the streets. It helps a little bit to filter out some of the polluting particles, but it is not a terribly efficient way to overcome sore throats from air pollution.

In China and Japan, children with sore throats or colds wear masks so they won’t spread the conditions to others.

A common cause of sore throats is an allergy. This means that a person is sensitive to a special irritant. For instance, some people get hay fever because they are sensitive to the pollen of certain grasses or trees. Others, and they number millions of children and adults, are allergic to the pollen of the ragweed plant. It means when they breathe in the pollen of these grasses or trees or plants, their noses and eyes and mouths become swollen and inflamed. Their noses may get stuffed up and begin to run, their eyes may get red and produce lots of tears, and their throats may get swollen and become sore.

Sore throats due to any kind of allergy can be helped by avoiding the irritating pollen or other substances that are in the air. If they can’t be avoided, then the person must take anti-allergic medicines or must take injections to desensitize them from the irritant to which they are sensitive. We’ll discuss this more in the chapter on allergies.

If we take good care of ourselves when we have a sore throat, it will clear up quickly. If we don’t tell our parents about it and neglect it, we may get into further trouble. Neglected sore throats may lead to further inflammation of the larynx, and we may not be able to talk for a while. Also, if we neglect a sore throat the infection may go down our windpipe and bronchial tubes and into our lungs. Then we’ll cough a lot, and get high fever, and may have to spend a couple of weeks in bed. So it is a good idea to let our parents know as soon as we feel a scratchy or sore throat. Prompt treatment will lead to a prompt cure!

Home Remedies for Flu Swollen Prostate, Throat, Gland in Children

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 17th, 2007

Lymph glands, or, as doctors call them “lymph nodes” are bean-sized structures that are present in various places in our bodies. Although these nodes are present in lots of places, they can be felt most easily in the neck, under the arms, and in the groin where the main part of the body joins the thighs.

Lymph glands are connected to lymph channels, which are tiny hollow tubes through which the whitish fluid called lymph flows. Lymph travels through the lymph channels in much the same way as blood flows through the arteries and veins of the body. When an infection takes place and is strong enough to spread from the site where it first started, the germs or their poisons travel through the lymph channels until they reach the lymph glands. Each lymph gland is composed of millions of white blood cells that fight off the germs or the poisons the germs manufacture. In most cases, the lymph glands are successful in controlling the germs and their poisons, and are able to prevent them from reaching the bloodstream. In this way, they prevent the infection from traveling to other parts of the body.

Lymph glands do not have an easy job in fighting and winning over germs or poisons. And during the fight to control the infection, a lymph gland may become very swollen and painful to the touch. For example, when we have a severe sore throat or inflammation of the tonsils, the lymph glands in the neck become painful and swollen. If there is a severe infection of a toe, the lymph glands in the groin may get large and tender. Or, if there is an infected finger, the lymph glands in the armpit may swell and become painful.

Lymph, a whitish fluid, flows through the lymph channels to the lymph glands, carrying germs from the site of an infection. In the lymph glands, millions of white blood cells fight and destroy the germs and the poisons they manufacture.

One of the first things a doctor does when examining someone with an infection is to feel the lymph glands. If they are swollen and tender, the doctor knows that a pretty severe infection is present. Usually, the patient will be told to take antibiotic medicines to help the lymph glands stop the infection from traveling farther to other parts of the body. The patient will also have to rest in bed and drink large amounts of water and other liquids. Doing these things also helps to overcome an infection.

Fortunately, rest in bed, warm moist soaks to the infected area, drinking lots of fluids, and taking the wonderful antibiotic medicines is enough to knock out most infections, and within a few days, or at most a couple of weeks, the lymph glands return to their normal size and lose their pain and tenderness. Once in a great while, however, the infection is so powerful that it causes an abscess to form in a lymph gland. When this happens, the doctor will have to cut into the gland in order to let the pus drain out.

When the lymph glands are exceptionally painful, warm, wet soaks often relieve the discomfort. Such soaks can be applied by wetting a washcloth or towel. And if the pain is very strong, the doctor may recommend that the patient take a pain-relieving medicine, such as aspirin.

Everyone should be thankful that the body has plenty of lymph glands spread throughout it. Without them, germs and their poisons would have a much easier time going from place to place in our bodies.

The superficial lymph channels and lymph glands (nodes) lie beneath the skin and subcutaneous tissues. The white blood cells in the lymph glands combat infections and prevent their spread to other parts of the body.

Allergies in Enlarged Tonsils and Nose Adenoids Symptoms in Adult

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 14th, 2007

Until just a few years ago, almost all children had their tonsils and adenoids removed before they reached five or six years of age. That was because the tonsils and adenoids would become infected so often and would cause frequent colds, sore throats, and high fever. We are much luckier today than we used to be because wonderful new medicines like penicillin and other antibiotics are able to cure tonsil and adenoid infections before a child really gets very sick. As a result, many children nowadays don’t need to have their tonsils and adenoids removed.

Unfortunately, some youngsters get infections of the tonsils and adenoids over and over again, even though they are given penicillin or some other medicine like it. These children are much better off if they go to the hospital for a day or two and have their tonsils and adenoids removed. Then, they can’t ever get infected again!

Everyone has two tonsils, located in the back of the throat, one on each side just back of the tongue. They are about the size and shape of a large green olive, but when they become infected— wow!—they can be swollen almost to the size of a plum.

The adenoids are hidden high up behind the throat near the back of the nose. When they become infected and enlarged, they often make it difficult for a child to breathe through the nose. You have seen little girls or boys, haven’t you, who always have their mouths open and seem to have a sort of dumb look on their faces? Well, they aren’t really dumb or stupid; they just look that way because their adenoids are swollen and block air that ordinarily passes out of the back of the nose and goes down into the windpipe in the neck. In order to get enough air into their lungs, children with large adenoids breathe through their mouths.

The tonsils and the adenoids are removed at the same time so that the two problems—frequent sore throats and mouth breathing—are both solved by the one simple operation. Fortunately, removal of the tonsils and adenoids is not very serious and doesn’t cause too much pain or discomfort. Oh, the throat is usually sore for a couple of days after the operation, and it is necessary to stay indoors for a few days after coming home from the hospital. But just think how great it will be to get rid of those awful sore throats, and how good it will feel to breathe easily through the nose!

On the right, one tonsil is of normal size and the other one is enlarged because of infection. On the left, the enlarged adenoids are shown. These gland like organs are believed to localize and give immunity to some respiratory infections. However, when they are chronically enlarged they should be removed.

Flush Hard Wax in the Ears, Safe Removal Tools and Products

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 14th, 2007

The part of the ear that sticks out from the side of the head is not the really important part of the ear. It is called the external ear, and it merely fetches sounds and directs them into the ear canal. From there, the sound laves pass through the eardrum into the middle ear where hearing actually starts to take place.

Did you know that a person can hear almost as well as normal even without the part of the ear that sticks out from side of the head?

The ear canal is curvy, and that helps to protect the eardrum from anything that might accidentally get into the ear. Also, the skin that lines the ear canal manufactures an orange-colored, sticky wax that prevents tiny insects or dust from getting near the eardrum. An insect’s feet will get caught in the sticky wax, so he won’t be able to get very far inside. Dust and dirt that might fly into the ear from a gust of wind also get stopped by the sticky wax. This system of protection works beautifully. Just think, you never heard of anyone getting a mosquito bite deep inside the ear, did you?
Some children have the bad habit of sticking things into their ears, and it is possible that they could scratch or injure the skin that lines the ear canal. So, everyone is taught not to put pencils, sticks, or other pointy things into their ears.

Once in a while, the glands in the skin of the ear canals make more wax than is actually needed. Then, the wax collects in the canal and from time to time, pieces of the wax fall out of the canal. Occasidhally, the wax hardens in the canal and it doesn’t fall out as it should. As a matter of fact, a big collection of hard wax in the ear canal can interfere with hearing.

Excess wax in the ear canal can usually be wiped out with a bit of cotton, but a child should not try to do this alone. Most times, a mother or father will take a cotton applicator and will remove it easily. Sometimes, though, there is so much wax, and the wax is so hard, that even a mother or father can’t get it out. In such cases, the child is taken to a doctor who will remove it without much trouble. The doctor may first have the child use some eardrops to soften the wax so it will come out easily in a day or two. Or, the doctor might take a syringe and fill it with warm water and then syringe out the wax. It doesn’t hurt to remove wax from the ear, although it might feel a bit uncomfortable for a short time. But it is amazing how much better a person hears after getting rid of a lot of ear wax.

The skin that lines the ear canal manufactures a sticky wax that prevents tiny insects or dust from getting near the eardrum, and protects the ear’s delicate hearing mechanism. Once in a while, the wax can build up and harden into a plug that interferes with hearing. Then it must be removed by a physician.

Protection for Hearing and industrial deafness Aids

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 11th, 2007

Deafness means loss of hearing. It can affect one or both ears. Deafness may mean complete loss of hearing or only a partial loss. Most children who are born with good hearing will grow up to hear well. Years ago, many children developed deafness as a result of illnesses that led to ear infections. Nowadays, with the use of early treatment, including the antibiotic medicines, ear infections that would lead to deafness can be controlled before they damage hearing.

In the old days when your grand- I parents were young, there were many illnesses around, like measles and mumps and scarlet fever, that were sometimes followed by severe ear infections and loss of hearing. Today, thank goodness, there are vaccines to prevent measles and mumps, and antibiotics to knock out scarlet fever, so practically nobody has to fear deafness from these conditions! Unfortunately, no one has yet learned how to do away with the ordinary cold. And colds can be followed by ear infections if they are especially severe, or if they are neglected by not going to bed and taking medicines when there is a fever.

Infections of the middle ear and mastoid bones behind the ear are the commonest causes of hearing loss. Do you remember, we talked about the middle ear in the first volume of these books? The middle ear contains the eardrum and the three little bones of hearing, and the middle ear connects with the Eustachian tube which leads to the throat. Once in a while, when someone has a severe cold or sore throat or infected tonsils, the infection travels up the Eustachian tube to the middle ear. The infection sometimes travels even further and infects the mastoid bones near where the inner ear is located. Unless these middle ear and mastoid bone infections are cleared up quickly by giving large doses of antibiotic medicines, some permanent damage to hearing may result. Luckily, in most cases, hearing returns to normal after these infections clear up.

Naturally, the best way to avoid ear infections is to treat the cold or sore throat or tonsillitis before the infection has a chance to spread. And, of course, if a child gets repeated infections of the tonsils, the best thing to do is to have them removed. Another thing: children who have stuffed noses should not sniff up the mucus, as this may cause it to get into the Eustachian tubes. And besides, they should not blow their noses too hard to get rid of the mucus because this, too, may cause some of it to get into the Eustachian tubes.

The mastoid air cells can become infected by an extension of the inflammation from the middle ear. When they do, antibiotics are given to control the infection. Sometimes it requires surgery to get rid of the infection by scraping and draining the mastoid cells.

There are a few other conditions that can lead to deafness, but, fortunately, they don’t happen very often. A child can lose some hearing if he or she runs an extremely high temperature for a week or two or has an infection of the brain such as encephalitis or meningitis. Once in a while, a severe fall on the head may cause damage to the nerve of hearing, and that can cause deafness, too. And, as we have mentioned elsewhere in these books, occasionally a child is born deaf. In such cases, the deafness is usually permanent. However, some day doctors may discover a way to restore hearing to children who are born deaf.

In addition to the kinds of deafness that are permanent, there are several types that last only a short time. For example, wax can collect in the ear canals and can be so heavily packed in the canal that it interferes with hearing. Loss of hearing can also result when children put something into their ears, like a marble or a bean or a bead or a pebble. And, as we all know, we can lose hearing temporarily when we get water into our ears when swimming.

Teachers and parents sometimes complain that a child doesn’t seem to hear normally. In most instances, it is not due to real deafness. The lack of hearing in these children comes about because they don’t pay attention to what is being said to them. Actually, no one hears well unless he pays attention.

Would you like to try an experiment? If you are reading this book, you are not paying attention to all the sounds coming from outside. Put the book down, or if someone is reading to you, ask them to put down the book. Now, listen quietly to all the sounds you weren’t hearing while you were reading or being read to. The same sounds were there all the time, but you didn’t hear them because you weren’t paying attention. That’s why your mother gets so angry when she calls and calls you, and you don’t answer. In all probability, you were concentrating so much on a TV or radio program that you didn’t hear her calling.

We hear everything much better when we look at the person who is speaking to us. Without knowing it, we watch their lips move as they speak, and this helps to hear and understand what they are saying even if they are talking in a quiet whisper. In other words, our eyes help our ears to work better. If you want to prove this, have someone talk to you very softly while he covers his mouth with his hand. You may not hear what he is saying. Then, ask him to say the same thing again in the same soft tone but not while covering his mouth with his hand. See how much more clearly you hear him? He covers his mouth with his hand. You may not hear what he is saying. Then, ask him to say the same thing again in the same soft tone but not while covering his mouth with his hand. See how much more clearly you hear him?

Loss of hearing can result when a child puts something in his ear, like a bean or a pebble. Such foreign bodies can be removed from the ear with a small forceps, but this should only be done by a physician.

People with hearing loss can use their eyes to help themselves, too. They can be taught how to understand what others are saying by lip reading. There are courses given in special schools for the deaf that teach how to read lips, and it is amazing how quickly a person with hearing loss can learn it.

Actually, deaf people who read lips are hearing with their eyes! Children who have lost hearing due to an infection of the inner or middle ear can often be helped greatly by using a hearing aid. These are little gadgets that make things sound louder in much the same way as a loudspeaker in a radio or television set makes sounds louder. Hearing aids use a tiny electric battery that is no bigger than the tip of a finger. A hearing aid is fitted snugly into the ear canal and is made so cleverly that it is hardly noticeable. Of course, if a boy or girl wears long hair, it can’t be seen at all. Hearing aids can be worn all day long and will not fall out while a child is running or playing. Naturally, we take them out of our ears when we go in the water.

Surgery and Treatment to Cross Out the Eyes in Children

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 10th, 2007

Newborn babies often look as if their eyes are crossed. This is because it takes them a few weeks to learn how to make both their eyes work together properly. Once in a while, a child’s eyes don’t straighten out and they remain permanently crossed.

Having crossed eyes usually doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with the eyes themselves. The trouble is with one or more of the muscles attached to the outside of the eyeball. All of us have ocular muscles, six around each eye, which allow us to move our eyes in all directions. For some reason or other, certain children have muscles that are either too weak or too strong. When that happens, the affected eyeball doesn’t move the way it should. Instead of both eyes moving in the same direction at the same time, the eye with the problem muscle or muscles stays in the same place or turns the wrong way. The child then looks cross-eyed.

Movement and position of the eyeball are controlled by muscles at the sides and top and bottom of the sclera, or hard white shell of the eye. Crossed eyes are corrected surgically by weakening a muscle to lengthen it or shortening a muscle to strengthen it. Such operations are usually done when a child is four or five years of age.

Unfortunately, there are boys and girls who tease and make fun of a child with crossed eyes. This is a very mean thing to do, and we know you would never do it, would you? Of course not! You understand that crossed eyes are just like any other thing that may go wrong with a child that is beyond his control.

Eye doctors know how to fix crossed eyes without too much trouble. They usually do it when a child is about four to five years of age. To straighten out the eyes, it is necessary to go to the hospital for a few days and to have an operation. Luckily, it won’t hurt, because the child goes to sleep before the operation, and there is very little pain after the operation is over. A bandage is placed over both eyes for a day after the operation, but then the child sees again and, in all probability, will see a lot better than he or she did before. It is only necessary to stay in the hospital for three to four days after the operation. However, a child whose eyes have been straightened should not take part in too strenuous activities—like riding a bicycle, swimming, roughhousing or things like that—for a few weeks.

Occasionally, after an operation to correct crossed eyes, a child will see double for a few weeks. However, that disappears as the child learns how to make both eyes work together.

Wearing Eyeglasses, Discount Doctor Prescription Designer Eyeglass Frames

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 9th, 2007

Lots of boys and girls wear eyeglasses to help them see better, but every once in a while, a child will complain about using them. However, a child who discovers how much clearer everything looks through eyeglasses is happy to wear them. Unfortunately, almost everybody has something that is wrong. Some children have flat feet and have to wear arches in their shoes; some kids get cavities in their teeth and must have fillings put in; and still other children have large tonsils and adenoids which must be removed to improve their health. And so, it isn’t so bad to wear eyeglasses. As a matter of fact, if you look around the next time you go out on the street, you’ll find out that almost half the people are wearing glasses.

Children who wear glasses should take good care of them. They should realize that eyeglasses are expensive, so they must try not to break them. Here are a few good things to know about eyeglasses:

• Be sure not to throw your glasses around. Even the strongest ones can break if they are treated too roughly.
• Eyeglass frames can break or bend out of shape if you put them in your pants pocket when not wearing them. Accidentally, you might sit or fall on them. Put your glasses in your shirt or jacket pocket when you take them off.
• Eyeglasses are safest when you put them in their eyeglass case. The case protects them from breaking or bending. When the frames bend, the lenses may not focus the light properly on your retina and you won’t see as clearly as you should.
• Don’t play rough games like football while wearing glasses, and don’t wrestle or fight with your glasses on.
• When you take off your glasses, put them down so the lenses do not lie on the table or desk where they might get scratched.
• Wash your glasses regularly with soap and water. Dirty eyeglasses may blur your vision or strain your eyes needlessly.
• Tell your parents if you think you are not seeing clearly through your glasses. You may need another checkup with the eye doctor.
• Make sure your name and address are written clearly inside the eyeglass case. Then, if you are careless and lose them, some nice person may return them to you.

Correction Laser Eye Surgery for Nearsightedness, Farsightedness, and Astigmatism

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 9th, 2007

Some people have big ears, others have small ones; some people have long noses, others have short ones. And of course, some folks have ears and noses that are just about medium. But did you know that some people, including children, have “long eyeballs,” while others have “short eyeballs”? When the eyeball is longer than normal instead of being round in shape, people are nearsighted, and when their eyeballs are shorter than normal, they are farsighted. In other words, a nearsighted person has an eyeball that is a little bit egg-shaped, while a farsighted person has an eyeball that is flatter than the round shape of the perfect eyeball. Look at the drawings on page 32 and you will see the differences between the shapes of the normal eyeball, the nearsighted eyeball, and the farsighted eyeball.

The eye is very much like a camera. The round, black part in the center of the eye is called the pupil. It gets bigger in the dark to let more light into the eye, and it gets smaller in a bright light. The diaphragm of a camera works the same way. it is regulated so that the opening is larger in dim light and smaller in bright light.

The colored portion of the eye is called the iris and it is composed of a muscle that contracts and relaxes. When the iris muscle contracts, the pupil gets smaller; and when it relaxes, the pupil gets larger. You can see that for yourself very easily. Turn off the light in your room, so it is not very bright. Next, hold a flashlight in your hand or, if you don’t have a flashlight, hold your hand on the chain of a lamp. Now, ask your mother to sit close to you so you can stare into her eyes. Finally, flash the light into her eyes—or pull the chain on the lamp—and as you look into her eyes, you will see her pupil immediately get smaller.

Just like a camera, the eye has a lens through which the light passes. The purpose of the lens is to focus the light on the retina in the back of the eye. When it is focused properly, we see things clearly; when it doesn’t focus properly, things look all blurred and unclear. Doctors always compare the retina of the eye to the film in a camera. it is the place where the light finally strikes and is turned into something we can see.

In a nearsighted person, since the eyeball is too long, the light focuses in front of the retina, and in a farsighted person, because the eyeball is too short, the light focuses beyond the retina. As a result, nearsighted and farsighted people can’t see as clearly as those with perfectly shaped eyeballs. However, we are pretty lucky because we can correct nearsightedness and farsightedness very easily with eyeglasses. All we have to do is to have our eyes tested by an eye doctor and, in a jiffy, he can tell us exactly what kind of glasses we need to make our sight normal.

Most children don’t have to wear their eyeglasses all the time even if they are nearsighted or farsighted. A great many boys and girls will need the glasses only when they read, or watch television, or go to the movies. And nearsighted and farsighted youngsters can use their eyes just as much as those who don’t wear glasses. Eyes are not weak just because they require eyeglasses!

Treatment for types of Crohn’s Infectious Contagious Skin Diseases

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 5th, 2007

When your grandparents were young, they had a pretty hard time fighting all the many contagious diseases that affected a huge number of children. There were a whole bunch of them like diphtheria, measles, German measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, smallpox, scarlet fever, roseola and chicken pox.

Can you imagine, there are a lot of and parents around today who had or seven contagious diseases when they were young? And some of these diseases—especially polio, diphtheria, snail pox and scarlet fever—were very serious sicknesses. Nowadays, children are a great deal luckier because doctors have discovered vaccines that prevent most of the contagious diseases. As a matter of fact, the only diseases for which they don’t have vaccines are chicken pox and roseola.

Three of the ten diseases—diphtheria, polio, and scarlet fever—used to cause a tremendous amount of trouble, but within recent years, they have become almost completely controlled. Since almost every child in this country gets diphtheria and polio vaccine, it is extremely rare to see a child with these diseases. And for some strange reason, scarlet fever has become a very mild condition, instead of the serious illness it used to be when your grandparents were children. As a matter of fact, doctors don’t bother to give young boys and girls vaccinations against scarlet fever because the reaction to the vaccination will make the child sicker than scarlet fever will itself!

By the time boys and girls reach five years of age, they have received vaccinations against diphtheria, measles, German measles, whooping cough, polio, smallpox, and mumps. Therefore, there are few contagious diseases that they might get except chicken pox or scarlet fever. And, as we just mentioned, scarlet fever these days is so mild that children may have it without their parents even knowing it. They don’t have to worry about roseola, either, because it almost always comes before a child is five years of age.

Chicken Pox
Chicken pox is not a serious disease, but it does seem to get around a lot. It is very contagious and spreads easily from one child to another by a sneeze or a cough, or even from touching and playing with a child who is developing chicken pox. After being with a child with chicken pox, it takes other children about two to three weeks before they get the sickness.

There is no way to stop a child who has been with a child with the disease from getting chicken pox. A lucky child might not catch it, but most times will. Do you know how a mother tells that her child is getting chicken pox? Well, here is how it develops:

For a day or two, the child doesn’t feel very well and may have a few sniffles, and it looks as if he or she is catching cold. Then, the appetite isn’t very good, and some temperature may develop. On the second or third day of the illness, a few tiny spots appear on the body, mostly on the chest, abdomen, and upper part of the arms and thighs. Soon these spots form blisters, and they cover most of the head and neck and rest of the body. Within a couple of days, the drops of fluid within the blisters turn from a clear to a cloudy color. Then, after four or five days, the blisters dry up and form scabs. The scabs take a couple of weeks before they fall off. A child should never scratch or pick off a chicken pox scab as it may cause a permanent scar. If a blister or scab itches, a warm bath or a medicine spread over the scabs will stop the itching.

By the time all the blisters have dried up and formed scabs, the temperature is normal and the child feels perfectly all right. Also, when all the blisters are gone, the child can no longer give the disease to another child.

Boys and girls who are getting well from chicken pox are sometimes pretty unhappy because they must sit around and wait for their scabs to fall off before they can play with their friends or go back to school. Actually, it wouldn’t do any harm if they did resume their activities earlier, as the disease is no longer contagious after the scabs have formed. But teachers and mothers of other children usually don’t want to have children around when they’re still covered with scabs.

Children who have recovered from chicken pox should know that almost all of the marks left by the scabs will disappear in time. It is only when a scab has become infected from picking and scratching that it may leave a scar.

Although it may be difficult to believe, there are still many poor and undeveloped parts of the world where children are unable to get shots and vaccinations to prevent contagious dis eases. As a result, epidemics do take place from time to time. Here are some of the diseases these unfortunate children may catch:

Diphtheria
This is a disease in which there is fever and a severe sore throat. It is the condition is not treated quickly, it may cause heart trouble or paralysis of nerves. Even when the disease is brought under control, it takes several weeks to recover.

Measles
It takes a week or two to catch measles from another child. It starts out like an ordinary cold, with a stuffy nose and runny eyes, but then the child develops fever, a dry cough, and a rash all over the body. The rash lasts about a week, but it takes two or three weeks before the patient fully recovers. When measles is very severe, it may affect the kidneys or other important organs. You get measles only once.

Typical chicken pox rash. Chicken pox is by no means a dangerous disease, but it can often cause disfiguring scars if the child is permitted to pick at the scabs. It is important to keep the child’s fingernails clipped, and he should be urged not to scratch the pockmarks.

German measles
German measles is a completely different disease than measles because it is caused by a different virus. It takes two to three weeks to develop, and its first signs are a slight fever, a mild cold, and swelling of the glands in the back of the neck. Within a day or two, a light pinkish rash comes all over the body. A child with German measles doesn’t feel terribly sick and is usually better in four to five days.

The real danger of German measles is when a pregnant woman catches the condition. If she does, it is possible that her unborn child may be affected. For this reason, every young girl should be vaccinated against German measles before she gets married. You get German measles only once.

Mumps
Mumps is an inflammation of the glands at the angle of the jaws. It is caused by a virus that spreads from one person to another through coughing, or sometimes from kissing someone who is getting mumps. It usually takes two to three weeks for mumps to develop after one has been exposed to a person with the illness.

Children with mumps have fever and a painful swelling on the side of the face beneath the ears. Mumps is an inflammation of the parotid gland which secretes saliva. The pain is often made worse when the patient eats spicy foods.

The swelling of the glands lasts anywhere from five to ten days and then goes away. it is a good idea for children to get mumps vaccine to prevent mumps. In boys and girls over twelve years of age, and in grown-ups, mumps sometimes causes a serious, painful inflammation of the testicles or ovaries. And so, if the condition can be avoided by vaccination, such inflammation will not take place. Once in a great while, a child will have mumps on one side only, and then, years later, may have mumps on the opposite side.

Whooping cough
Whooping cough is passed from one person to another by coughing. It usually takes one week to a week and a half to catch the condition. The disease starts out like an ordinary cold, but the child then begins to cough more and more often, with the L worst coughing taking place at night. The coughing, once it starts, is hard for the patient to stop. As a matter of fact, children with whooping cough lose their breath, and at the end of a fit of coughing, they breathe in a huge amount of air in a sudden gulp. When I they do that, they make a loud sound like a “whoop.” That is how the disease got its name.

Whooping cough lasts a long time, anywhere from four to six weeks. Even after that time, a child may continue to cough every once in a while for a few more weeks. To prevent whooping cough, all children should be given the whooping cough vaccine. And they should take booster shots if a friend or member of the family should get the condition. Once in a while, a grown-up who had whooping cough as a child may get a mild attack if he is exposed to the disease again.

Polio
Polio used to cripple more children than any other disease, but, fortunately, we have practically done away with the condition by giving polio vaccine. All children should get the vaccine when they’re just babies, and they should get booster doses at various times when they are older. Polio takes about one to two weeks to catch. It starts with headache, sore throat, fever, vomiting, and pains in the muscles of the arms or legs. Within a couple of days, weakness of the muscles may be so severe that the child is unable to move an arm or leg, or even both arms and legs. If the weakness, or paralysis, of one or more of the limbs doesn’t clear up within a few days, it may be permanent. Isn’t it wonderful that we have practically conquered this terrible disease? And isn’t it a shame that every single child in the whole world isn’t given polio vaccine?

Smallpox
Smallpox is one of the most contagious of all diseases, and hundreds of years ago it would affect millions of people at the same time. Nowadays smallpox has been controlled by vaccination. It is so well controlled in most countries that cases seldom appear and, as a result, some doctors have stopped giving smallpox vaccinations. It takes one to two weeks to catch smallpox. The disease starts with a high fever, and the patients feel extremely weak. They then break out in a rash that looks very much like chicken pox, except that there are many more pock marks and one blister may be located right next to another. Instead of the patients getting well in a few days, as they do with chicken pox, they get sicker for about a week.

Smallpox is a very serious disease and often damages the eyes or the brain. Unfortunately, the scabs don’t heal nicely, as they do in chicken pox, and patients who have recovered from smallpox usually have scars that will remain permanently. People get smallpox once only.

Smallpox vaccination reactions. It is a common misconception that only young children need to be vaccinated against smallpox. Before traveling to areas where smallpox exists, it is wise to be re-vaccinated. Many adults will have positive reactions if they have not been vaccinated for many years.

Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is caused by a type of streptococcus germ that is much weaker than it used to be many years ago. In those days, a child with scarlet fever would have a very high fever, an extremely sore throat, nausea and vomiting, and would break out in a scarlet rash covering almost the entire body.

Peculiarly, the skin around the mouth was not affected by the rash, and a child would therefore look as if there were a ring around the lips. The child remained very sick for about a week. After that, the temperature would come down to normal and the rash would begin to fade. Then the skin would begin to flake and to peel. Sometimes it would look as if the child had dandruff all over his body.

Severe cases of scarlet fever used to damage the heart and sometimes the kidneys. As we mentioned before, scarlet fever today is so mild that a child might have a fever for only a day or two, a slight sore throat, and a light rash. No peeling results, and the child feels fine about two to three days after first taking sick. There is a vaccination against scarlet fever, but doctors don’t use it because it makes children sicker than the condition itself.

The streptococcus organism is so small that 780,000 would fit on the head of a pin. The polio virus is 20 times smaller than the streptococcus germ.

Roseola
This disease only affects infants and children under four years of age.

Symptoms of Glandular Fever, Sore Throat, Headache and Critical Illness Insurance Cover

Filed Under Our Illnesses | May 1st, 2007

It doesn’t take a mother very long to discover when one of her youngsters feels sick. She can usually spot trouble in the time it takes to wink an eyelid. She can sense that something is wrong by the way her child looks at her, or gets out of bed, or talks or walks. Mothers are pretty smart people when it comes to knowing their children. There are certain signs that a child doesn’t feel well, and most boys and girls, when sick, will show one or more of them

Fever
The normal temperature is 98.6° Fahrenheit. When a youngster is ill, the temperature often goes up as high as 101 or 102 or 103 or 104, or even more degrees. One can tell exactly how much fever there is by placing a thermometer in a child’s mouth or rectum. However, mothers can frequently tell about temperature merely by putting their cheek against their child’s cheek. If it feels hot, she will know immediately that there is a fever.

Fever during an illness is usually a good sign because it shows that the body is getting ready to fight the infection. With fever, a sick person breathes faster and therefore gets more oxygen into the bloodstream. With fever, the heart beats faster, and this gets more blood to the tissues. And blood contains the white blood cells that fight and overcome infections. When the temperature is high, various glands, such as the adrenal glands above the kidneys, secrete more hormones, such as adrenalin. And these hormones help us to fight infections better, too.

Slight infections may cause no increase in temperature or may only cause an increase of one or two degrees. And a minor infection with a slight fever usually lasts only a day or two. Temperatures above 101°F. indicate a somewhat more serious infection, and when a mother notes such a temperature rise, she will insist that her sick child rest in bed. Even when the temperature returns to normal and the infection clears up, a child should stay indoors for an extra day just to be sure the infection is fully controlled.

People with high fever develop great thirst. This is because they perspire a lot when their temperature is high, and the perspiration causes them to lose a great deal of fluid through their skin. For this reason, doctors always tell patients with high fever to drink a lot of fluids to replace what they have lost through sweating.

As a general rule, young children run higher temperatures than older children. When it gets too high, it can usually be brought down by giving such medicines as aspirin or by giving an antibiotic like penicillin. There are other methods, too, of bringing down a high temperature. Some of these are:

1. Giving a cool sponge bath, some times using a little rubbing alcohol.
2. Placing the child in a tub of cold water.
3. Giving an enema containing cool water.
4. Getting the child to drink a large amount of cold liquids.
5. In hospitals, they sometimes bring down an extremely high fever by placing the patient on a specially cooled blanket. This is called a hypothermia blanket.

Fever is often higher in the afternoon and early evening, than it is in the morning. Also, the temperature taken with a rectal thermometer is higher than that taken with a mouth thermometer.

Chills and chilliness
It is strange, but some children with high fever feel chilly, and occasionally have a chattering of their teeth and a shaking of their body as if they had just come out from a swim in ice-cold water. A chill, or chilly feelings, along with high fever means that the infection is pretty severe. The chill is sometimes caused by some of the germs getting into the bloodstream, or it might mean that some of the toxins (poisons) manufactured by the germs have gotten into the bloodstream.

Anyone who has a chill should be covered with warm blankets. Chills seldom last more than a few minutes. When they are over, the patient may break out in a sweat that is so big that it wets the bedsheets. A boy or girl who has had a real chill with high temperature might just as well face it. He or she will take several days before full recovery from the infection and will have to stay in bed or remain indoors for almost a week, or even more.

Sore throat
The normal throat contains large numbers of germs and viruses even when we are perfectly healthy. Many of them, like the streptococcus, the influenza and pneumonia germs, and others, could cause an illness at any time. It is strange that they don’t more often than they do. Probably, it is because the child’s body successfully resists these germs and keeps them from entering the membranes of the throat. Every once in a while, however, when a child’s resistance is low, the germs do get into the membranes, and the throat becomes sore. In addition, the child may begin to feel sick because the toxins produced by the germs get into the blood.

A child’s high fever is sometimes accompanied by chills, which means that the infection is severe. The chills seldom last more than a few minutes.

A sore throat is an early sign of illness in many different diseases. It may just mean the beginning of an ordinary cold or grippe or influenza. Sometimes, it means the child has caught a disease like measles or scarlet fever or mumps. Peculiarly, a day or two after the disease takes hold, the sore throat disappears.

Headache
Isn’t it curious that some children never get a headache while others get them all the time? There are about fifty different causes of headache, and many times parents and doctors are unable to learn what started a particular headache. We do know, though, that almost anything can bring on a headache if the child is the type who gets them frequently. Fortunately, most headaches disappear by themselves in an hour or two, and if they don’t, ordinary antiheadache pills, like aspirin, are usually all that’s needed in the way of treatment. Of course, if a headache should continue for a whole day, or overnight, even after the child has been given aspirin or some other headache medicine, then the mother will call the doctor to see what the trouble is.

Here are some of the commonest reasons for headache:

1. Nervousness and upsets, due to worry or caused by disagreements in school or at home, often bring on a headache. Such headaches are called tension headaches. They often seem to affect children who are not completely happy and content in their relations with their friends and parents and sisters and brothers. If tension headaches occur frequently, it is a good idea to find out exactly what is troubling the child. Then it is usually not too difficult to overcome the problem. When that is accomplished the headaches will tend to disappear.
2. Any infection, such as an infected tooth or sinus or throat or ear, or an illness like measles or chicken pox, or even a heavy cold, may begin with a headache. The higher the temperature, the more likely is the child to have a headache. This type of headache goes away as the child’s general condition improves.
3. Eyestrain may produce a headache, especially if a child reads for a long time in poor light. Also, looking at television for too long may cause eyestrain and result in a headache.
4. Overtiredness is a frequent cause of headache. Many youngsters just don’t know when to quit what they are doing and rest. As a result, they get terribly tired and develop severe headaches. it is always a good idea to follow your parents’ advice when they tell you to stop playing and to rest for a while. If you don’t, you may get an unnecessary headache.
5. Poor ventilation sometimes causes a headache. Often, a child lives and plays in a room without proper ventilation where the windows are closed, the radiator is on full blast, and no fresh air enters the room. Air in such a room is too hot and too dry, and that can easily result in a severe headache. It is best to allow a window to be open at least a little bit, even on a nasty, rainy, or cold day. Also, it is a good idea to see that room air is kept moist. This can be accomplished by having plenty of plants and water-containing vases in a room, or by having a machine known as a humidifier in the room working to supply moisture to the air.
6. Some boys and girls are so busy with their schoolwork and their playtime activities that they skip breakfast or lunch, or skip their afternoon snack of milk and crackers. A child who gets too hungry may develop a headache. This kind can be easily gotten rid of if the child will remember to eat more regularly.
7. Some children like to holler and make a lot of noise, or to play the radio or television set much more loudly than is necessary. However, without being aware of it, a good many youngsters are sensitive to loud sounds and may develop a headache if it continues any length of time.
8. It is natural for most children to move their bowels every day. However, sometimes they skip a day or two, and this might bring on a headachy feeling. This type of headache is not serious and disappears quickly once the child becomes regular again.

Migraine
Migraine is a special kind of headache that affects just one side of the head and is accompanied by nausea, and sometimes by vomiting. It is common in some families and seems to be inherited. Many doctors think that migraine is caused by an allergy. An allergy is a particular sensitivity to a substance such as a food or a medicine or the fur of an animal. If a child eats a certain food to which he is allergic, like chocolate, for example, or if he takes a medicine to which he is allergic, he may develop a migraine headache. Occasionally, migraine is brought on by a nervous upset, and of course, this kind of migraine has nothing to do with whether or not the child is allergic.

The migraine headache is very painful, and special medicines must be taken to relieve it. Many attacks last an entire day or even overnight, but they practically never last more than one day.

Eyestrain is a common cause of headache, and usually results from reading too long, or in poor light. If you put your reading aside for a time, or get proper light, you’ll concentrate better.

Pain
Pain that lasts for a few hours, or more, is a definite sign that something is wrong. We discussed earlier in this chapter what a sore throat may mean; a pain in the abdomen that continues for several hours may mean that the child has an inflammation of the stomach or intestines or an inflamed appendix; a pain in the back or side may mean that the child has a kidney infection. And of course, we all know that pain is produced when someone strains a muscle or breaks a bone.

Everybody pays attention to a child who complains of pain because young people hate to feel sick and be kept away from the fun of school and play. Parents almost always take their children’s pain seriously and will call a doctor unless the pain goes away by itself in a short time. Do you know that once in a great while a child is foolish and will complain of pain when he really doesn’t have any? If he does that too often his parents might not believe him when he actually does have a pain. And that can cause plenty of trouble, can’t it?

Loss of appetite
Generally, healthy children love to eat, and most have big appetites. When a child suddenly loses the desire for food and refuses things like hot dogs and hamburgers and ice cream, the chances are that he or she is not feeling too well. Loss of appetite is one of the earliest signs that a child is coming
down with some kind of illness. As a matter of fact, most sicknesses that children get begin with loss of appetite.

Nausea and vomiting
Healthy boys and girls rarely feel sick to their stomachs and vomit. Nausea and vomiting are seen in a great many illnesses in children, even if the illness doesn’t have anything to do with disorder of the stomach or intestines. Of course, if a healthy child stuffs his Stomach with the wrong kinds of food
and eats more than he should, he can get sick to his stomach and throw up even if he is otherwise healthy.

The organisms that cause measles, scarlet fever, and mumps are very different in both size and shape. Nevertheless, all three of these childhood diseases begin with similar symptoms runny, stuffed-up nose and red, teary F eyes. Because these symptoms accompany so many conditions, they aren’t much help in determining what disease a child has.

Stuffy noses and inflamed eyes
Lots of illnesses start with a stuffy nose and inflamed eyes. Practically every contagious disease in childhood, including mumps and chicken pox and scarlet fever and measles, begins with a runny, stuffed-up nose and red, teary eyes. Also, the ordinary cold or grippe or flu starts this way, too. Because it occurs in so many different conditions, is not often possible to tell what sickness a child is developing merely because of a stuffy nose and inflamed eyes.

Irritability
Crankiness, lack of pep, and irritability are often early signs that a youngster is becoming ill. Mothers and fathers can frequently tell in a second that something is wrong because their child is behaving differently from his or her usual happy, cheerful, friendly self. Of course, everyone acts grumpy and sour once in a while, but when an active child with a sunny disposition suddenly becomes sad or quiet or cranky or inactive, you can bet your boots that in most instances .that child is about to come down with some sort of illness. When this happens, the mother usually gets busy, and in a jiffy, she takes her child’s temperature and makes an examination to find out what’s behind the change in behavior.

Doctors can tell, in most cases, exactly what sickness a child is developing. It is not difficult because each illness has its own particular signs. For example, there are certain kinds of spots in the throat that appear only when the child has measles; there are certain kinds of sounds a doctor hears through a stethoscope when a child has pneumonia; and there is a certain tense, hard feel to the belly when the child has appendicitis. Of course, all young people must realize how important it is to cooperate with the doctor who is examining them. Some children, because they don’t want to be sick and stay in bed, try to fool the doctor and say that they have no pain when they really do. This is silly because everyone knows that the only reason a doctor examines a child is to find out exactly what is wrong in order to know the proper medicine and treatment. And if a child doesn’t tell the doctor where it hurts, and how much it hurts, it is going to be much more difficult for the doctor to make the right diagnosis and to start the right treatment.