How to determine that a child has a sore ear. How to understand and determine if a child has ear pain

The child has a stomach ache- This is one of the most common complaints when contacting a pediatrician. And in how many cases when a child has abdominal pain, they do not go to the doctor! Every child may one day complain that he has a stomach ache. The pain can be caused by a trivial cause that does not pose a great danger, or it can be a sign of a serious illness that requires immediate and drastic action. Therefore, it is very important to understand exactly where the stomach hurts and how it hurts.

The smallest children cannot say this in words, they cry. The crying of a baby in the first months of life is often caused precisely by pain in the tummy. Most often it is -. However, a more serious reason is also possible: in children at an early age (most cases occur during the return of 5-9 months), with certain abnormalities in the development of the intestine or the occurrence of intussusception (when a part of the intestine enters the next segment, like an umbrella into a cover), intestinal obstruction may occur requiring prompt surgical treatment.

How do you know if a child has a stomach ache?

If the child still cannot tell that he is in pain, parents have to guess for themselves what worries their baby. Young children react to any pain by crying, however, if the tummy hurts, then in most cases this can be determined.

With the accumulation of gases, the tummy is noticeably rounded and becomes firm to the touch. The child pulls his legs up to his stomach, shudders for no apparent reason, refuses to eat. If these signs appear, do not risk it - show the child to the doctor.

Abdominal pain in older children (boys and girls)

In older children, abdominal pain can result from:

overeating and bloating as a result of gas;
stretching of the abdominal muscles as a result of physical exertion, as well as bouts of coughing, vomiting, etc.;
inflammation of the stomach and intestines (gastroenteritis). In this case, the pain is often preceded by fever, nausea, vomiting, after an attack of pain, diarrhea is common;
(rotavirus infection, including intestinal manifestations);
appendicitis. Appendicitis is indicated by pain in the navel or right lower side of the abdomen. The temperature may rise, there may be nausea, slight diarrhea. In case of appendicitis, immediate hospitalization is necessary;
acute (inflammation of the pancreas). In this case, the pain, as a rule, is severe, it can radiate to the shoulders, to the shoulder blades, to be encircling. The abdomen is distended and tense. The child assumes a position lying on its side. Immediate hospitalization is required;
acute inflammation of the kidneys (acute nephritis). In acute nephritis, abdominal pain is accompanied by impaired urination (urination occurs more often and in smaller volumes). The urine becomes dark in color. There is swelling under the eyes.
inflammation of the lower segments of the lungs. Usually, in this case, attacks of dry cough are observed before the onset of pain.

It should be remembered that the child is not always able to show exactly where his stomach hurts, and usually points to the navel area. You should never take pain relievers on your own. In case of pain, the child must be shown to specialists in order to diagnose and resolve the issue of further treatment tactics.

Each parent seeks to understand their child, because this brings the family very close.

But when we talk about babies, it is important to understand them not so much on the basis of establishing family relationships, as out of vital necessity - after all, a baby cannot talk about his health problems.

How to understand that a baby has a sore throat

With a sore throat in an infant, however, like an adult, the color of the mucous throat changes - from pale pink to red. The redder the throat, the more it hurts the baby. Attentive parents will quickly notice that the child began to sleep worse, suddenly began to refuse to eat, when swallowing, he screams and cries. In the event that all of the above signs are present, it is necessary to arm yourself with a stick for examination and examine the child's throat.

In addition, a sore throat and its redness can occur against the background of a number of other symptoms, such as chills, fever, fever, and nasal congestion. The correct diagnosis can only be made by a qualified doctor; also, only he can prescribe the appropriate treatment.

How to understand if a baby has a sore throat

With a sore throat, the child begins to refuse food and swallow with great difficulty. In addition, he has a special condition of his eyes - they become “glassy” and watery. Without fail, with a sore throat, the child begins to cry loudly and shows anxiety. All this happens against the background of reddening of the throat mucosa. The child begins to cry especially strongly when swallowing, because it becomes painful for him to do it.

How to understand that a baby has an ear ache

Ear pain in an infant can be recognized by the fact that the child begins to cry bitterly, tries to take the most comfortable position on the pillow, cannot fall asleep for a long time, he has a fever and begins to refuse to eat. To find out whether this is really so, you should press lightly on the tragus - they protrude above the lobe of a part of the ear concha. If the child begins to frown and move his head away, while often crying, it means that his ear hurts.

Otitis media often begins after the child has had ARVI. If this is the case, then after the child's condition improves, his temperature starts to rise again, he cannot suckle, shows anxiety and turns his head from side to side. Sometimes, after crying and screaming, the child suddenly calms down, his body temperature returns to normal and it seems that everything has passed. However, if, during the daily care of the baby, his mother observes spotting from the ear, this means that the eardrum has ruptured.

How to understand that a baby has a headache

Most often, a headache in a baby can be recognized by prolonged crying, in which the baby pulls his arms to his head and begins to ruffle himself for it. If at the same time the child cries loudly and for a long enough time, parents should, without wasting time, contact a neurologist. He is able to prescribe the correct course of treatment for the child, based on an examination of the brain, which is able to detect all existing pathologies. In the event that headaches in an infant are not given due attention, various unpleasant consequences may occur, ranging from problems with the ears and up to the fact that the baby subsequently lags behind the school curriculum in the future.

How to understand that a baby has a stomach ache

If the baby has a stomach ache, he will start crying loudly and for a long time and it will be impossible to calm this cry. At the same time, the child will begin to pull the legs to the stomach, will begin to give up the breast, and by listening to his stomach, it will be possible to make out the bubbling of gases in it. They can also accumulate due to the peculiarities of the anatomical structure of the child's esophagus, which appear during the first months of his life. In this case, his tummy becomes round, increases in size and becomes hard to the touch when probed. The child constantly shows anxiety, does not sleep well, often flinches during sleep, begins to show signs of lack of appetite.

To facilitate the position of the baby, you should change the position in which he lies, transfer him first to one barrel, then to another. Such manipulations can be repeated several times. With regular repetition, there is a chance that the gas will move through the intestines and stop bothering the child.

A child who, due to age, can complain of sore throat, greatly simplifies the task for parents and doctors. A baby does not know how to express in words his emotions, including pain, and it is not so easy to guess what the baby is worried about. In this article, we'll show you how to tell if your baby has a sore throat and how to help him.

Symptoms and Signs

Despite the fact that a nursing child cannot directly point out the source of discomfort, he will try in every possible way to make it clear that he is feeling bad. Your baby's behavior will change in response to a sore throat. He will sleep worse, the usual daily routine will be disrupted, if it was installed by his mother. Sleep usually becomes episodic. Even if the baby falls asleep, then after 30-40 minutes he wakes up again and begins to be capricious.

If the sore throat interferes with swallowing normally, then the child may refuse to eat altogether. At the same time, he will experience a feeling of hunger.

He will take the offered breast or bottle with the mixture willingly and greedily, but after a few seconds he will throw it and start screaming and crying. Feeding a toddler with a sore throat is an incredibly difficult task.

The child will be capricious, cry and be indignant outside the meal, because from time to time he needs to swallow saliva. If this process is rather painful, then it will certainly be accompanied by crying.

A symptom such as increased salivation is difficult to consider diagnostically important. In many children, long before 4 months, when the appearance of the first tooth is expected, drool begins to flow, and this is a variant of the physiological norm. Even if salivation began at 3 months, and the first tooth appeared at 7-8 months.

It should be noted that with inflammation in the throat area, the baby does indeed slightly increase the volume of saliva secreted.

The fact is that saliva is the main antiseptic provided by nature for inflammation in the oropharynx. Therefore, the body, in response to the penetration of pathogens, reacts with increased production of saliva.

Sometimes the sore throat is preceded by a runny nose. In an infant, nasal congestion is not always painful due to the narrowness of the nasal passages. But at the time of disturbance of nasal breathing, the baby breathes through the mouth, the mucous membranes of the larynx and tonsils dry out, and inflammation begins.

It should be noted that in addition to weak immunity, infants have another factor that contributes to the occurrence of ENT diseases. They have very loose mucous membranes. Getting on them, viruses and bacteria multiply faster, the disease progresses rapidly.

Diagnostics

If the above-described changes have occurred in the behavior of the baby, the mother needs to conduct a preliminary examination of the baby in order to confirm or exclude sore throat as a cause of concern. The only informative way is to look at the throat. It should be carried out carefully, with clean hands, using a medical spatula or a teaspoon. No need to press hard on the root of the uvula - the baby will reflexively vomit. It is best to lightly press the center or tip of the tongue and slightly tilt the baby's head back. Use a flashlight for a better view.

On examination, the following is assessed:

general view of the mouth and throat;

color of mucous membranes;

the presence or absence of puffiness and redness;

the size and color of the tonsils;

the color of the back wall of the larynx.

A healthy child's mouth and throat are pale pink in color. A small white coating is possible on the tongue - for a baby who is mainly on a milk diet, this is normal. There is no swelling in the norm. Exceptions are gums if teething is expected soon. The tonsils are not enlarged, their color is even, pink. There are no blood vessels on the back of the throat, redness.

If the cause of concern for the little one is in a sore throat, then the mother will be able to see enlarged tonsils, a large amount of plaque that covers not only the tongue, but also the inside of the cheeks, palate, and the back wall of the larynx.

Enlarged tonsils

Redness can be observed in the area of the tonsils, both palatine and pharyngeal, on the back of the pharynx. The appearance of ulcers, vesicles, pustules, caseous plugs (commonly referred to as casios) can be added to the color change.

It is imperative to probe the submandibular and occipital lymph nodes, they can be enlarged. The temperature can be from subfebrile (37.0-35.7) to high (with angina - up to 40.0 degrees), in some cases the temperature can generally be normal.

If the mother did not find such alarming visual signs, she should visit the pediatrician with her child in order to start looking together for another cause of restless behavior, appetite and sleep disorders. If the throat is really sore, the doctor should be called at home to prevent the spread of infection if the baby has a contagious ailment.

It is impossible to hesitate with treatment - untimely treatment for ENT diseases can lead to chronic forms of diseases, complications, impaired pulmonary respiration, which can cause suffocation. If the child wheezes, you should immediately call the ambulance.

Possible reasons

In a newborn child, up to about six months of independent life, innate maternal immunity acts. After 6 months, his own immune system begins to gradually "learn". And this happens when faced with viruses and bacteria. Nature has not invented another, safer and more painless way.

Thus, the risk of contracting viral or bacterial infections increases after six months., but in the first half of the first year of life, anything can happen too.

Respiratory viruses are the most common cause of sore throat in infants.... It is quite problematic to "catch" them on a walk, especially in cold weather, but it is very simple - in crowded places - clinics, shops, public transport. Viruses that penetrate the nose can pass further, "settling" on the mucous tissues of the larynx, on the lymphoid tissue of the tonsils.

Viral sore throat

Healthy throat

Children under one year old learn the world not only with their eyes, ears and tactile, but also taste. Partly because of this, and partly because of the itching during teething, babies drag absolutely everything that falls into their hands into their mouths. Together with a toy or other object, a crumb may well bring bacteria into the oral cavity, which live almost everywhere. Streptococci and staphylococci, which cause severe forms of sore throat, are especially dangerous. Bacterial and fungal infections of the oropharynx can also occur as a result of contact with an adult carrying the bacteria or with food, such as water.

During the period of teething, the child may also have a sore throat. This is due to the work of local immunity. Since there is a painful gum in the oral cavity during this period, when an infection joins, the situation deteriorates significantly.

Allergies are another fairly common cause of oropharyngeal disease in infants. Most often, an inadequate reaction of the body develops to chemicals that are contained in detergents and washing powders, with which the mother does the cleaning and washes the baby's diapers and bedding. Dry air, heat in the apartment is another factor in the appearance of inflammatory processes in the respiratory organs.

Treatment

A doctor should treat a child up to a year in all cases. Self-medication is unacceptable, since the risks for the life of the crumbs are too great.

That is why it is important to consult a doctor immediately after detecting problems with a throat. He will be able to determine what kind of disease happened to the baby. Laboratory capabilities will help the specialist in this - a throat swab is subjected to a thorough examination in order to detect a specific causative agent of the disease.

As soon as a virus, bacteria, fungus or allergen becomes known, the child will be prescribed appropriate treatment. Quite often, infants with serious infectious diseases, manifested, including sore throats, are recommended to undergo therapy in a hospital under the round-the-clock supervision of doctors. If the reason is not so serious, and the pediatrician is sure that the mother will fulfill all the appointments, then the child can be left to be treated at home.

Throat viral lesions

With such ailments, no special treatment is needed, although most pediatricians try "just in case" to prescribe antiviral drugs - "Viferon" in candles and other preparations in syrup or drops. These drugs do not have clinically proven efficacy, and therefore, together with homeopathic antiviral agents, they are agents that, at best, do not harm. There is no need to wait for the benefits. In a few days, the immune system will cope with the virus on its own, and taking medications does not affect the speed of recovery in any way. " pre-irrigated with an antiseptic Miramistin. "Vinilin" can only be used if the child is not allergic to medications. For the smallest, pediatricians recommend mixing the drug with sea buckthorn oil in a 1: 5 ratio.

Bacterial and fungal diseases

With bacterial inflammation of the throat and oral cavity, the baby and the mother are likely to be hospitalized, because the treatment of most of these sore throats, candidiasis and even pharyngitis caused by bacteria requires the mandatory use of antibiotics.

Babies under one year old usually begin treatment with a drug of the penicillin group. Additionally, they may recommend treating the throat with "Vinylin" or an oil solution "Chlorophyllipt", which shows high efficiency against staphylococcus, which, as you know, can be exterminated by not every antibiotic.

Fungal diseases can be successfully treated at home and will include treatment with antifungal agents such as "Chinozol" and taking antifungal drugs by mouth. You can find out what medications will be prescribed after determining the type of fungus.

During the period of massive growth of respiratory viral infections, it is not worth visiting with a child up to a year, a place where many people are at the same time. Walking is useful, but only where there is a lot of fresh air, and there are almost no potential virus carriers - in a park or a public garden.

Wash your baby's linen and clothes with baby hypoallergenic powders.... Rinse the garments additionally after washing. This will reduce the risk of allergic inflammation of the oropharynx.

To protect the infant's throat, you need to maintain sufficient humidity. It should not exceed 70% and should not be lower than 50%. Heaters in the children's room dry the air a lot. They do not need to be installed indoors.

Preventive vaccinations should be done on time... Usually, by 10 months, the baby is already vaccinated against most severe infections.

For information on how to treat a sore throat, see the next video.

Colic is a very common and not the most pleasant phenomenon in the life of a newborn. Usually, parents are trying with all their might to alleviate the condition of the baby.

And how to understand that a child has colic? Experienced parents can usually identify this process without difficulty. But what about young new parents?

What is colic

The concept of "Colic" is literally translated from Greek as pain in the intestine. Colic is called pain in the intestines in somatically healthy babies.

Usually, such painful sensations are caused by the accumulation of gas in the intestines. They cause spasms of the smooth muscles of the intestine, which leads to bouts of pain.

Unpleasant sensations are episodic and can last up to 3 hours in a row.

The main causes of colic

In order to help the baby and eliminate colic, you need to roughly imagine for what reasons they arise. This can, at least to some extent, help prevent their occurrence.

The most common causes of colic are:

insufficient maturity of the digestive system;
dysbiosis;
getting into the esophagus of acid secreted by the stomach (this process is also called gastroesophageal reflux);
sensitivity of newborns to environmental factors;
negative psychological attitude of a young mother during breastfeeding;
non-observance of the rules of feeding (due to the wrong position of the body or head, the baby swallows air along with breast milk);
the baby is lactose intolerant;
migraine of newborns.

Knowing the reasons, you can quickly understand how to help and alleviate the child's condition.

But before rushing to help, it is necessary to determine that the baby really has colic. After all, the crying of a child can be caused by many other reasons.

Colic symptoms

Colic is quite easy to recognize, usually accompanied by the following symptoms:

The baby goes into fits of crying - long, loud, literally heartbreaking.
It is practically impossible to calm the baby while crying. The most acute attacks of painful colic occur in the first month of life.
Another important sign - during the rest of the day, the child looks healthy, calm and cheerful, consumes food with appetite.
Colic often occurs at the same time, usually in the evening.
The knees of newborns instinctively press against the tummy.
Baby's tummy, distended, tight and tight to the touch.
The baby can spit up food, because during colic he intensely pushes, grunts and strains.
The kid refuses the offered food.
The newborn's face turns red.
With each attack of fighting, the baby bends, knocks on the air with his arms and legs.

Methods for getting rid of colic

There is no generally accepted way to treat colic. The intensity and duration of colic is different for each baby, therefore, therapy can be individual.

Perform a light massage of the baby's tummy 15 minutes after eating.
Performing gymnastics: press the child's legs to the tummy, use the "bicycle" exercise.
If the attacks are very acute and additional methods do not help, you can resort to using a gas outlet tube.

Drug therapy

The leaders in terms of effectiveness in getting rid of colic are:

Probiotics: Lactobacteril, Linex, Acepol, Probifor, etc.
Laxatives based on simethicone: Bobotic, Smecta, Espumisan, etc.
Sedatives for babies: Phenibut, Pantogam, Anvifen. The mother of the baby is recommended to use valerian, chamomile or motherwort.
If colic is provoked by dysbacteriosis, the child may be prescribed Probifor, Bifikol, Atzilakt, etc.
Means to reduce gassing: Gaviscon, Milikon.
Enzymes to improve the digestive tract: Creon, Lactazar.
When the cause of colic is acid reflux, Nizatadine, Ranitidine, Famotidine are usually prescribed.

It is possible to eliminate the manifestations of colic with the help of folk remedies. So, decoctions of fennel, dill and anise are well suited for this purpose.

To establish the exact cause of colic, it is necessary to undergo a thorough examination with the baby. It is unacceptable to engage in self-diagnosis, as well as self-medication.

Correction of the diet of a nursing mother

Often the cause of acute colic in the intestines of newborns is the mother's unhealthy diet. If the baby suffers from tummy pains, the mother should reconsider her diet.

So, it is permissible to eat the following foods and dishes:

cereals based on cereals;
green tea;
dried fruit compote (unsweetened);
unrefined vegetable oils;
cheese without spices;
bran bread;
lean meat;
stewed, boiled or baked vegetables;
biscuits and crackers;
still mineral water;
butter (in small quantities).

Mom should consume some foods with caution, carefully monitoring the baby's reaction. These include:

bananas, apples, raw vegetables;
pasta;
baking and baking;
cabbage;
strong tea and coffee;
legumes;
eggs;
raisin;
garlic;
ice cream, dairy products;
grape.

The following list of products for use by a nursing mother is strictly prohibited:

alcohol;
canned food;
margarine, mayonnaise;
semi-finished products;
smoked meats, pickles;
condensed milk;
chocolate.

To avoid and alleviate colic in a newborn as much as possible, you should adhere to several not too complicated recommendations:

You should not give the crumb to overeat. Colic is much more common in children who eat greedily.
Immediately before the feeding process, you should let the baby lie on his tummy.
After eating, you need to give the child the opportunity to regurgitate the air that he swallowed with food. For this, the baby needs to be held for a while in the position of the column (leaning vertically against the shoulder of an adult);
An adult can place his palm on the baby's tummy and make pressing movements as gently as possible. This can help to clear the gas that is tormenting the newborn.
As often as possible, you should carry your child in an upright position (on your hands, in a sling, a special backpack). Thus, conditions are created that vaguely resemble the mother's womb so familiar to the baby. It is possible that the baby will calm down, being close to a loved one, and new unfamiliar views that open up will distract the child from pain. Also, in this position, a certain angle of pressure on the tummy is provided, which is also able to stop pain.
A nursing mother should be more attentive to her diet and exclude from it all foods that contribute to the formation of gas in newborns.
In some cases, it may be worth contacting a breastfeeding specialist. It is possible that the colic was caused by improper attachment of the baby to the breast.
If the baby is breastfed, you must carefully follow all the instructions for preparing the formula to prevent the baby from overeating.

You can use special anti-colic bottle nipples. If necessary, consult a pediatrician to select the optimal formula for feeding your baby.

When do you need a doctor's help?

Sometimes colic is accompanied by additional alarming symptoms. In no case can you ignore them, you must immediately invite a doctor to the newborn. These are the signs:

the child will have a high fever;
stool problems: unusual color, odor, or consistency;
the baby cannot calm down for too long;
colic accompanied by profuse vomiting;
the baby is pale and lethargic, weakly reacts to what is happening around;
after the cessation of an attack of colic, the baby still looks sick.
parents have taken all possible measures to get rid of colic, but the pain still does not go away for a long time.

Colic is the physiological state of the newborn's body, which is quite often manifested in most babies.

Parents of children who have tummy pains should learn more about the nature of colic and how to treat it.

And the most important thing is to be patient and remember that colic will most likely disappear by 3 months, and possibly even earlier.

Useful video

Instructions

Keep a close eye on your toddler who has a cold. If a child has recently had a respiratory illness, then he can develop otitis media as a complication quite easily. A single hit of mucus from the nasopharynx into the ear canal is enough.

Measure the baby's temperature. With otitis media, it is most often increased, and it can reach 39 degrees Celsius and above.

Click on the child's ear tragus. With otitis media, she will scream and cry or become very worried. The tragus is the tubercle of the ear that opens the external auditory canal. So you can determine if the baby's ear is sick.

Call your doctor even if ear pain is suspected. Timely treatment will help avoid complications.

Symptoms of ear infections

To accurately recognize that it is the pain in the ears that is causing certain discomfort, you should gently press on. So called the part of the ear that closes the entrance to the canal. If you noticed that this procedure is unpleasant for the baby, he cried, shuddered, this means that there are still problems with the ears.

You should immediately seek help from a professional medical institution if you have the following symptoms:

Is naughty, began to behave worse;
- does not sleep well, especially at night, screams, groans in a dream;
- became restless and irritable;
- greenish or from the ear, sometimes mixed with blood;
- discharge from the nose;
- the temperature has risen.

Diseases

Otitis externa occurs when an infection gets on the surface of the skin of the ear canal while brushing your hair or brushing your ears. Symptoms of this disease: translucent discharge, redness around the ear canal.

Erysipelas occurs as a result of various skin injuries and microcracks. Symptoms: blisters on the outside of the ear canal, red and swollen concha, chills, fever.

Inflammation of the hair follicle or appears due to a temporary drop in the immune system and microtraumas. Symptoms: enlarged lymph nodes, ear pain. The boil appears gradually, after which it matures, while secreting pus.

Treatment of inflammation of the external ear with a mild course of the disease can be carried out in: balms, ointments, lotions. In the presence of complications, hospitalization of the patient and the appointment of anti-inflammatory and antibacterial drugs by a qualified specialist is necessary.

As a result of complications after ARVI, acute otitis media may occur. The eustachian tube infection eventually travels to the ear. In addition, the cause may be the ingress of formula or breast milk from the nasopharynx into the baby's ear when. Symptoms: lethargy, fever, ear pain, sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.

If pus has gone out of the ear, this means that otitis media has turned into purulent. This disease, with a number of complications, turns into mastoditis - a severe inflammation of the mastoid process of the temporal bone.

Treatment for otitis media is prescribed exclusively by the attending physician. In acute otitis media, a specialist prescribes vasoconstrictor nasal drops, antibiotics, warming and compresses.