Tonsillitis, in the easiest terms, is the swelling of tonsils in our throat that is accompanied by symptoms like throat pain, difficulty in swallowing/ drinking, altered voice and fever etc.

As in the case of most infections, the occurrence of tonsillitis is more common in children due to relatively lower immunity and habits that invite infections. Let's take a look at the first line of defence when you have a cranky child with swollen tonsils.

1. Make your child gargle with salty warm water: This treatment is most helpful in any infection in the mouth. Add half teaspoonful of salt to a glass of warm water and make the child gargle with the mixture as many times in the day as possible (to a maximum of 5 times). Continue till the condition prevails.

Make sure the child spits out the water and not drinks it.

2. Antibiotics: Consult the ent specialist and have the antibiotics if it is a bacterial cause as per the doctor. Take the alternative treatment prescribed in case of other causes. The entire course of medication should be completed even if the kid gets better sooner to eliminate all traces of bacteria.

3. Painkiller/numbing lozenges: Painkillers that are prescribed by the doctor can be given to ease the pain. Same is the case with lozenges but care should be taken that he/she should not have too many of these.

4. Allow him/her to take rest: It does help in a betterment of the condition!

5. Give warm (not hot) soothing food: Soup, ginger honey mixture, ginger tea can help soothe the inflamed tonsils in most cases. The condition, more often than not, gets better within 7-10 days.


Best Ways to Deal With Tonsillitis in Kids

While siblings are the force that breathes life into any family structure, it has also been seen as a challenge of sorts to manage siblings and bring out the best in each one of them. In any family unit, there are a number of entities who need to be nurtured in a certain way to ensure that their identities are not hampered by a "one size fits all" style of parenting. Every child is different and will need to be handled differently. Besides this, there are other related challenges that will contribute to the quality of the relationships between the siblings, as well as the rivalry that they may feel towards each other when it comes to attention, achievements and varied other factors.

Read on to know the ten tips to tackle sibling rivalry:

1. Make Friends before Birth: encourage your first born to connect even before the birth of the new baby by including him or her in the changes you see and feel. Planning for the new baby with your first born will also help in such cases.

2. Staying positive is a big factor that will help the children in feeling confident despite their different qualities and strengths.

3. Comparison is a big no no. Stay away from these kind of comparisons so that the children do not feel like they have to fight with each other for your praise.

4. Time Sharing: Ensure that you divide your time well and indulge each child in his or her area of interest so that they feel like you are always there for each of them.

5. Harmonious Start to the day: this will ensure that the children have a special bond at the end of the day. Make sure that they help each other and divide chores accordingly. The older siblings should be given the care giving tasks while the younger ones should be taught to obey them and play along.

6. Humour them: It is a known fact that humour is the best medicine that breaks even the most tension filled atmosphere.

7. Family Meetings: Hold family meetings to discuss important things and even intense fights so that everyone's needs and issues are addressed.

8. Empathy: Teaching your child to empathize with others will help him or her steer clear of needless rivalry at home too.

9. Ignore the Small: Let them figure out the smaller fights, yet always be there to address the bigger issues so that they know you are there for them.

10. Equal Treatment: Treating them equally does not mean doing the same thing for each of them. It means giving them equal time and attention with personalized treatment to suit varied temperaments. This will also give them a lot of individual confidence which eventually kills any feelings of rivalry.

10 Tips to Tackle Sibling Rivalry

For a child, the first visit to the dentist can be panicky. This is because they don't realize what's in store. Children get a better idea about dentists after getting some information about the visit. We, as grown ups, must be set up to answer the inquiries and instruct our children in the most ideal way. The following are some valuable tips on the best way to set up a child for the first dentist appointment.

1. Guardians regularly ask when they ought to take their child for the first ever dental visit. The best time to begin taking children for a dental checkup is either when their first tooth pops out, or right around their first birthday. Expert dentists are capable of instantly recognizing any potential issues with the development and advancement of the jaw and delicate palate. Children's teeth are more porous and defenseless to decay than grown-up's teeth; so early mediation is a basic to guarantee those small teeth staying sound. It is also recommended that guardians begin brushing their child's teeth when they start coming out, utilizing a delicate toothbrush and plain water. Brushing should be started as early as possible.

2. It's never too early to begin acquainting your kids with tooth brushing and knowledge of oral health. The best time to begin is before your kid's first dental visit. Youngsters love to find out about their bodies, and love to grin, touch, and investigate new things. There are many fun ways to impart oral health education to children. The more agreeable they are with their mouth and teeth, the less demanding your youngster's first dental visit will be.

3. Tooth brushing is an essential piece of our everyday self-care, and it is our habit. A child, after being introduced to a brush and a toothbrush will take a certain time period to make daily brushing a habit. Guardians and the kids can brush their teeth" together. It is essential to note that toothbrushes are apparatuses, not toys, and that infants and babies ought to be firmly directed.

4. Little children, are extremely insightful and touchy to the states of mind of people around them. Children regularly reflect our conduct. When we are casual and upbeat, children will probably be loose, as well. Children are additionally more casual when they are prepared for or taught something. Invest energy conversing with children about going to the dentist. You can also discuss what the dentist will do, emphatically.

5. Always choose the most trustworthy dentist who is friendly and knows how to handle a child on his first dentist visit.

A child's first dentist appointment is a special one, and you should prepare him accordingly.

Tips to Prepare Your Child For First Dental Visit

As we go about life and routine activities, we may be exposed to a lot of different types of environments. We may have to travel in heavy traffic and may be exposed to vehicular pollution, there may be times when we are at places that allow smoking and that may expose us to smoke from cigarettes. Our nature of work today requires us to be constantly in a situation where we take in industrial fumes and exhausts. Being in any of these conditions temporarily may not be a big matter of worry, but when the incidents get more frequent they may lead to troubles in breathing and diseases such as bronchitis or acute bronchitis.

Acute bronchitis is a condition in which the bronchial tube that carries air to and from the lungs gets inflamed due to different reasons. The biggest hazard related to the inflammation of the bronchial tube is that the patient may suffer from constant coughing and irritation of the throat putting pressure on the lungs. In advanced cases, a bronchial infection may also leave the nodes of the lungs inflamed, making it more difficult for the patients to breathe.

Causes of Acute Bronchitis:

The most common causes of bronchitis include the infection of the bronchial tube with bacteria or virus, which lead to the inflammation of the tube and subsequent bouts of coughing.

A habit of smoking cigarettes or being exposed to cigarette smoke as a passive smoker may lead to the infection of the bronchial tube.

Vehicular smoke and fumes also lead to the inflammation and infection of the tube that plays an imminent role in supplying oxygen to the lungs.

Finally, when one works in a position where he/she is exposed to chemicals or harmful exhausts on a constant basis may also have to suffer from acute bronchitis.

Treating the Problem:

One of the best ways to combat health issues such as problems of bronchitis may be to lead a lifestyle as healthy as possible and to make sure that bad habits such as cigarette smoking are kept at bay. Apart from lifestyle habits, if a person falls prey to acute bronchitis, it may be important to undergo treatment so that long term effects to the lungs may be avoided.

Choosing the right treatment is of essence when you need to get the best results. One of the most effective treatments in maintaining a healthy bronchial tube is to opt for homeopathic treatment. The most viable trait of the treatment is that it does not lead to affecting the other body systems in a negative manner and the results are achieved by ensuring that it remains easy on the body. The natural ingredients and components of the medicines in homeopathy do not leave the patient weak and fighting for strength. This is one of the main reasons why people today prefer homeopathy over other conventional medicines.  

Acute Bronchitis - Causes and Treatment

A genetic disorder, Down s Syndrome is caused due to extra genetic material during cell division. It is the faulty arrangement of chromosomes which results in the Down s Syndrome. It approximately affects one in 800 births around the world, across a wide spectrum of race, gender, region, and socio-economy. Since it is a naturally occurring condition whose underlying cause cannot be controlled or regulated, there is nothing one can do to undo this condition. Instead, people with Down s Syndrome, because they are generally socially and intellectually underdeveloped, are equipped with learnings and interventions related to life-skills from very early in life and striving towards making them independent. Various therapies can be incorporated for improving the overall quality of life of the people born with Down s Syndrome.

Occupational Therapy and Down s Syndrome -

Development of motor skills is delayed in the children born with Down s Syndrome. This is due to their certain physical characteristics like low muscle tone (hypotonia), loose ligaments or ligamentous laxity making the joints extra flexible, and decreased strength.

The aim of the Occupational Therapy for children born with Down s Syndrome is to facilitate or enable the development of movement patterns optimally, as against accelerating the rate of development which is a general assumption. It helps in achieving developmental milestones in an efficient manner. Occupational Therapy hence helps children in developing a good or correct posture, aligning their foot properly for proper balance and movement, improving their walking pattern, and helping them generally through developing fine and gross motor skills for carrying out daily activities.

Moreover, Occupational Therapy helps in teaching self-care skills like getting dressed, eating, toileting writing, using a computer, etc. For teenagers, Occupational Therapy helps in identifying suitable skills, careers, jobs, and vocations to match with strengths, capabilities, and interests. Sensory integration activities help in teaching the child to produce an appropriate response to any situation, and in developing attention and concentration.

Occupational Therapy Assessment -

Children with Down s Syndrome have delayed gross and fine motor skills, and lack basic cognitive and communication skills among many other issues they face due to their condition. Occupational Therapy addresses all these shortcomings of development for comprehensive management of the disease.

Occupational Therapy checks the sensorimotor components like muscular tone, strength, endurance, coordination, balance, range of motion, hand function, and posture. It also checks the perceptual and cognitive components like memory, attention, figure-ground, and directionality. For checking social skills, areas like peer relationship, verbal and non- verbal communication, and group interaction are assessed.

According to the assessment results, intervention strategies and fun activities are devised for the child to promote optimal function of motor senses.

Take Away -

Down s Syndrome cannot be cured but can be managed through methods like Occupational Therapy which helps in teaching basic life skills for making the patients confident and independent to face the world on their own.

Down Syndrome - Know How Occupational Therapy Can Help!

The word epilepsy brings to mind visions of people frothing at the mouth and rolling on the ground. However, epilepsy affects each patient in a different way. This can make it hard to recognize at times. In the more serious cases of epilepsy, an epileptic attack can make a patient injure himself or develop other life threatening conditions. In rare cases, epilepsy can even cause death. Thus it becomes imperative to understand how to deal with epilepsy.

Treatment options for epilepsy can be categorized as medication, surgical procedures and dietary changes.

Medication
Medication for epilepsy is prescribed on the basis of the symptoms presented and the type of epilepsy the patient is suffering from. In most cases, seizures can be controlled with a single type of medication, but in others, the doctor may need to prescribe a combination of medicines to control epilepsy. These forms of medication do have side effects and hence any reactions to the medication must be immediately brought to the doctor's notice. The dosage for epilepsy medication may need to be varied with time. An epileptic patient should never discontinue medication on their own.

Surgery
Depending on the type of seizures and the area of the brain affected, a doctor may advise surgery in cases of severe epilepsy. Surgery can help reduce the number of seizures experienced or completely stop them. Surgery to treat epilepsy is of many types. Some of the common procedures are:

1. Surgery to remove tumor of any such conditions that may be triggering the epileptic attacks
2. Surgery to remove a small section of the brain from where a seizure originates. This may also be referred to as a lobectomy.
3. Multiple subpial transaction or a surgery that involves making a series of cuts in the brain to prevent the seizures from spreading to other parts of the brain.
4. Surgery to sever the neural connections between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
5. Surgery to remove half the brain's cortex or outer layer

Dietary changes
A diet rich in fats and low in carbohydrates can help reduce seizures. This is known as a ketogenic diet and aims at making the body break down fats instead of carbohydrates. It can cause a buildup of uric acid in the body and thus should be practiced only under the guidance of a dietician. In cases where epileptic attacks are triggered by malnutrition and birth defects, taking vitamin supplements can help lower the frequency of seizures.

How to Deal with Severe Epilepsy

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