While their bodies are a lot more limber than adults, children may still experience back pains just like we do and will most likely not notice. There is a danger in not giving attention to this right away as back pains can hinder with the body’s development and become the cause of other underlying problems.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, here are symptoms parents should watch out for with children experiencing back pains:

• Losing weight or running a fever.
• Complaining of numbness or weakness.
• Having difficulty walking.
• Having pain that extends from the back down one or both of the legs.
• Having bladder- or bowel-control issues.
• Having pain that prevents the child from sleeping.

If any of these symptoms are present, an examination done by the doctor is necessary to evaluate it. Physical exams, MRI, CT Scans and Xrays may be asked.

Back pains are usually signs of the following condition, according to OrthoInfo.Org, and develop as early as pre-teen stage, so parents must not ignore it:

Muscle Strain and Imbalances
Musculoskeletal strain is most often responsible for back pain in children and adolescents. This type of pain frequently responds to rest, anti-inflammatory medications, and an exercise program.

Stress Fracture of the Spine
Spondylolysis, or stress fracture, may cause lower back pain in adolescents. Stress fractures may occur during adolescent growth spurts or in sports that repeatedly twist and hyperextend the spine, like gymnastics, diving, and football.

Infection
In young children, infection in a disk space (diskitis) can lead to back pain. Diskitis typically affects children between the ages of 1 and 5 years, although older children and teenagers can also be affected.

Tumor
On rare occasion, tumors, such as osteoid osteoma, can be responsible for back pain. When they occur, tumors of the spine are most often found in the middle or lower back. Pain is constant and usually becomes worse over time. This pain is progressive; it is unrelated to activity and/or happens at night.

Slipped Vertebra
A slipped vertebra, or spondylolisthesis, occurs when one vertebra shifts forward on the next vertebra directly below. It usually occurs at the base of the spine (lumbosacral junction). In severe cases, the bone narrows the spinal canal, which presses on the nerves.

Image courtesy of The Green Health Spot.com

I have one child in elementary school and two in middle school.  This week I got three copies of the “When NOT to Send Your Child to School” memo.  Some of the information is so common sense, it makes me wonder, “Are there really parents out there who don’t know this?”

But it’s not always that easy of a call to make.  Sometimes you keep your child home for the child’s sake, but sometimes you keep him home for the sake of all those other kids.  And sometimes a child might display a stay-at-home symptom, but still run around like they live in the circus, and you think, “You are NOT sick!”

And of course, keeping a child at home wreaks havoc on the parents’ plans, too.  Parents have to stay home from work or arrange for child care, or if they work at home, they have to resign themselves to the fact that their day’s tasks will be lost to the demands of having a child there all day.

Still, in our little town of about 4000, we’ve had at least 2 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu (or swine flu), and rumors swirling around that one of the opposing team’s football players came to town after having been diagnosed with H1N1, and was still allowed to play.  I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is, I’m going to be highly irritated.  Like I said, sometimes you keep your kid home to protect all the other kids.

So, when should you keep your child home from school?

• Fever. The experts say that if your child’s fever is 100.4 or higher, you should keep them home.  A fever is an indication that your child’s body is fighting a bacterial or viral infection.  Be aware, though, that not all infections come with fevers–my son and I get terrible sinus infections that never sport fevers.  Also, what’s the deal with 100.4?  Do you send them off at 100.2 or 100.3?  I’m not a doctor, but it seems to me you can round down on this one.

• Bad cough or bad cold symptoms. If a child has a cold, they can go to school.  It might not hurt to send some hand sanitizer, if your school allows it (some don’t because apparently some kids have been drinking it, so they don’t spread it around, but colds are an unavoidable part of school life.  But if their symptoms are bad, like a persistent wracking or wet cough, or a stuffy head that doesn’t respond to cold medicine, keep them home.  If it’s just a cold, they feel too rotten to get anything from school, but chances are it could be a severe allergy, a sinus infection, or even pneumonia.

• Diarrhea or vomiting. If things are coming out faster than they’re going in, keep your child home.  The guideline for this is 24 hours after the last episode of those symptoms.  I don’t always follow that strictly–if a child throws up after dinner, but then feels fine, I’ll usually send them to school.  Some tummy troubles have more to do with what they’ve eaten than being sick.  But if there are repeated episodes, they shouldn’t go.

• Sore throat. A minor sore throat could just be a symptom of a cold or allergies, but if it’s more severe or if it last more than a day or two, keep your child  home and take her to the doctor.  It could be strep, which is highly contagious, or tonsillitis, which is highly annoying.

• Earache. Again, this could be part of a cold or allergies, but it could also be an ear infection or sinus infection.  A doctor’s visit is probably called for.

• Pink-eye, or conjunctivitis. The frustrating thing about pink-eye is that the child feels fine otherwise.  So, they’re home, bored, missing lessons and missing friends, but they have this itchy eye thing going on and can’t leave the house.  Fortunately, pink-eye is easily cleared up with antibiotic eye drops, but until it is, they really have to stay home.  The biggest problem is that they rub their eyes, then touch things, and spread around this very contagious condition.

• Rash. Some rashes are infectious, and some aren’t, but it’s hard to tell which is which until your child has seen a doctor.  besides, you don’t want them to be embarrassed by constant itching or discoloration.

• Stress. This one isn’t on the medical sites, but I think it should be.  Our kids deal with significant stress in their lives, and sometimes it gets to be too much.  Every  now and then–maybe once or twice a year–let them take a mental health day.  Skip school, go to lunch, let your kid curl up in your bed and sleep late.  Kids do have health problems resulting from stress, and we all need a break every now and then.

Incoming search terms for the article:

• are children w/ fevers allowed in elementery schools

I promised I’d keep everyone informed on this, so I wanted to check in.  I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the World Health Organization has upgraded the alert status for H1N1 Influenza to 5 (out of 6).  What that means is that H1N1, which we call Swine Flu, is in danger of becoming a pandemic.  A pandemic is a disease which spreads to many or most countries on the globe. 

I said it before and I’ll say it again.  Do not panic.  The numbers of those who’ve fallen ill from this are extremely low, even if it has spread beyond the borders of Mexico into several other countries.  Yes, it should be taken seriously, but a lot of the fear we feel is manufactured by the media; don’t let the constant repetition ratchet up your anxiety level. 

H1N1 is comparable to any other type of flu that humans can get; the big difference is that we haven’t built up much of an immunity to this particular strain.  However, it presents like any other flu and is treated like any other flu. 

Here’s what the CDC says the symptoms of Swine Flu are:

The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. 

Just like regular flu, right?  Of course, regular flu is no walk in the park, and the same people who are most at risk for that illness are at risk for this one, namely, the elderly, small children, and those whose health is already compromised. 

Just remember, wash your hands and make your kids wash their hands often, and if anyone in the family exhibits any of those symptoms, they should stay home.  Don’t risk going to work or school if you’re feeling bad. 

And remember, again…this is not a pandemic and we can help prevent it.  Don’t panic.

Image from cnbc.com

I don’t know how things are in your neighborhood, but around here, we’ve got so many illnesses going around, I’m sometimes afraid to take the kids to the doctor, because who knows what else they could pick up?  

I count myself very lucky that our health care provider is also a neighbor and friend, so I often call on her informally, so that I know for sure whether a doctor or ER visit is strictly necessary.   Sometimes she’ll just give us informal advice, like “Tylenol and fluids,” and sometimes she’ll say, “Get her to the emergency room now!”

In our neck of the woods, there’s strep, flu, ear infections, and RSV going around.  The usual stuff, I guess, but that RSV is really scary.  There have also been a few meningitis deaths not far from here–another scary thing.

But I think the worst sometimes is that vague, undefined, “just not feeling well” thing they do.  My 6-year-old came home from school and crashed on the couch the other day, woke up long enough for dinner, then crashed again and slept through the night.  He was perfectly fine in the morning.  The girls do the same thing…headache or sore throat, but no other symptoms, no fever, nothing…and they usually manage to get through a school day just fine.

I sometimes think they’re doing it on purpose, just to give me one more thing to deal with, but then I remember that I sometimes feel that way, too–just tired, or icky, or off.  Not bad enough to skip work, but not well enough to really enjoy the day.  The difference is, kids still have someone to complain to–sometone who could possibly make it better, even if all we do is get them a couple of Tylenol.