If you are a parent, you would know the terror that one feels when their child has even the symptoms of a fever or cough. Yet, all the pollution and environmental crisis that we, the people of the 21st century are going through is worse than ever before. And this fact cannot be denied. We, as adults, face the air pollution and stress of our daily lives but are adapting ourselves to live with that. However, if we talk about children, things are not so simple. That is because, as children go from infants to babies to preteens, teens, and finally adults, their bodies adapt to the climate and build immunity. You would not expect an infant to have the immunity of a teenager which is why babies and children fall ill easily and there are many child health risk factors. Though it is not always possible for a parent to protect their child from everything as much as they want to, one could recognize the risk factors and work towards eliminating those. The key to being a good parent that your child can depend upon would be not to worry too much so that your child gets affected and look for the treatments of child health disorders as and when necessary keeping a calm head.

To be able to cope with the diseases or disorders your child might contract, you need to know the common child health concerns and what to do if your child ever suffers from it. Here is a list of all the common child health problems so that you can prepare for any unfortunate eventuality.

1. Sore throats: Sore throats are a common illness in children and they can cause great pain. However, you will be somewhat relieved to know that if you child gets a sore throat due to virus, they wont need antibiotics. In such cases, you won’t need any specific medicine at all and your child wouldnt automatically bounce back to health in a week or ten days. In other cases, your child might get infected by something called streptococcal or strep throat. If this happens, you would need to get your child checked in a clinic, who would undergo a wab test to determine the infection. You child would then be prescribed antibiotics which needs to taken for the full course even if they get better.
2. Ear pain or infections: Ear pain or ear infections is a very common health problem in children. They can have many causes such as otitis media, that is, ear infection, infection of the ear canal skin called swimmer’s ear, inus infection or pressure from a cold and teeth pain that could travel upto the ear. To differentiate between each type of ear pain, you would need to take your child to a clinic for a check up where the pediatrician would examine your child’s ear and diagnose the infection. In cases where your child has a fever besides the ear pain, the pediatrician might recommend antibiotics.
3. Urinary tract infection: Urinary tract infections or UTIs, also commonly known as bladder infections occur due to the build up of bacteria in the urinary tract. UTIs can occur in your child from the infant stage to when they are in their teens and even when they are adults, in some cases. You child would expreience burning or pain when urinating, the need to urinate frequently or accidents such as bedwetting even when they know how to control. To treat at UTI, you must visit a clinic where your child’s urine sample will be tested and the treatment would vary depending on the bacteria that affected your child.
4. Obesity: Childhood obesity is one of the top health concerns around children. The CDC, that is, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that over a third of the children in US suffer from being overweight or obese. These children have the risk of becoming adults who are overweight or obese. This extra weight also becomes the cause of several other health problems such as diabetes, heart diseases, osteoarthritis, strokes and even cancer. Doctors thus recommend children to eat healthy and balanced diets.
5. Skin infections: Skin infections are yet another common ailment in children. You cannot diagnose a skin infection only by through naked eyes and cannot determine the type of infection as well. Hence, it is recommended that you take your child to the nearest clinic for a checkup where a skin test such as swab test or culture test would be done to determine the infection that your child has. Your doctor might also ask if your family has a history of skin infections like stpah or MRSA, because most skin conditions are genetic. The doctor might also ask if your child has been exposed to someone who has a skin infection.
6. Bronchitis and bronchiolitis: Bronchitis, or chronic bronchitis is a lung infection that affects the larger and more central airways in the lungs. Though this generally occurs in adults, your child can have this too. However, in children it can be only s chest virus and the doctor might not prescribe antibiotics.

You would generally see bronchiolitis occurring in infants and babies during winters or flu season. When you go for a health checkup, your doctor might hear “wheezing” from your child. SInce bronchiolities is generally caused by a virus, your child would not need antibiotics but your doctor would prescribe other medications.

1. Common cold: Colds occur in children very common and the main cause are viruses which attack the respiratory tract. Young children, especially those who are in child care still could get upto eight colds a year. Symptoms of common cold are easy to spot and they include congestion, cough and runny nose. Common colds can last upto ten days. Common colds almost never require antibiotics. However, if your doctor suspects a sinus infection in your child, he may examine your child further and prescribe antibiotics.
2. Sinus or bacterial sinusitis: When bacteria get trapped in the sinuses, the condition is called sinusitis. The general symptoms of sinusitis are daytime cough, nasal discharge and sometimes even both. If the symptoms last more than ten days without any improvement, you will need a doctor to check up on your child. The doctor may prescribe antibiotics if you child suffers from fever and thick yellow nasal discharge for upto four days continuously.

Now that you know the different health problems that your child might go through, it is necessary to ensure that he gets regular health checkups. That would help check any infection or such other health problems checked in the very beginning. Dr Good Deeds is one such clinic in Patna that gives you all clinical services for adults and children a the same time. Dr Good Deeds aims to provide healthcare facilities to everyone at affordable rates as we believe in a world where healthcare should be readily available to everyone in need. So, if you or your child living in Patna ever need a clinical health check up, make sure to take a trip to Dr. Good Deeds.