Dr. Suresh Bali

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.

Hearing is one of the five senses that you or anyone else relies on for communication and a whole host of other things. Among the five senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight, it is often hearing, which is the most easily affected. You don't have to be a senior citizen to experience hearing loss as it is quite common among younger people as well. This problem is also getting widespread with each passing day.

Before coping with hearing loss, the first job is to detect it
If you have a hunch that you or any of your loved ones is suffering from hearing loss, it is important that you get it diagnosed. Some of the common symptoms of hearing loss will be:

1. Hearing difficulties while talking to someone over the phone
2. Straining to hear conversations with family members or friends in household situations 
3. People usually need to repeat what they talk to you with a louder voice
4. You often hear complaints that you keep the TV too loud.
5. In crowded situations, such as family gatherings or a restaurant, you have problems listening to people.

Although this condition tends to affect senior citizens, an increasing trend shows younger people i.e. people mostly in their 40 and 50s and even younger than that suffer from this condition.

How to deal with hearing loss?
Some of the options to deal with hearing loss are mentioned below.

1. Once diagnosed with hearing problems, change your ways of communication: If you or your loved ones have been diagnosed with hearing problems, it is important that both adjust your ways to deal with the problem. Rather than getting angry at the other for not being able to communicate effectively, develop and strategize ways to make communication less problematic and erratic.
2. Cochlear implants: This is a newer technology, which has gained popularity in the past decade or so. These are directly implanted into the inner ear and are designed to bypass the damaged areas of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. These have become very popular, although, are not a replacement of natural hearing. It is only prescribed for people who have severe hearing loss or are deaf.
3. Hearing aids: Although selecting a hearing aid is difficult as the patient needs to be comfortable, once selected it is one of the best solutions for the hearing impaired. The functionality of these devices can be extended with the hearing assistive technology or HAT devices that can focus the audio waves depending on the situations and give a more tailored approach for every individual's needs.

The primary or milk teeth begins to erupt at about 6 months of life with the complete set in place by 2.5 years of age, and the entire set is replaced by the age of 14. The benefits of some of the preventive dental measures are outlined below.

• Maternal care during pregnancy: The teeth begin to form during the second trimester of pregnancy. It is very important that the maternal diet includes sufficient amounts of calcium, potassium, and fluoride for optimal tooth mineralization. Good tooth structure has greater resistance to decay than hypomineralized teeth.
• Routine oral hygiene: For the first 6 months, though there are no teeth, after each nursing, end it with a spoonful or two of water to wash down the milk. Gradually, the gums can be just wiped with a gauze pad or soft cotton to remove any residual bacteria. The baby also gets used to this habit, and once the teeth are in, there are lesser bacteria for the decay process to begin. Once the teeth begin to erupt, the nursing habits also need to be modified to ensure the baby is not allowed to go to sleep with a bottle. This is a common practice to put the baby to sleep and should be avoided to reduce the occurrence of nursing bottle caries.
• Fluoride application: Fluoride has been shown to have significant benefits in preventing caries. Once routine dental visits begin, then the dentist will be able to tell if fluoride needs to be applied. This can happen either in the form of a gel or varnish that is applied in the dental office or as a paste that is used at home. This helps in building resistance to decay.
• Pit and fissure sealants: The tooth has a number of pits and fissures which are 8 times more vulnerable to decay than other surfaces. Deep pits are shown to harbor more bacteria and thereby greater incidence of caries. There are sealants which are thin resins that can be applied on the tooth, which can reduce bacteria accumulation and further decay.
• Space maintainers: In the event that a child has lost a tooth, either due to trauma or decay and subsequent infection, then a space maintainer should be placed within the next 3 months. This helps in maintaining the space and establishing a good bite during the transition phase and later, once the permanent teeth are in place.
• Orthodontic treatment: If there is malocclusion, then early intervention helps by reducing treatment time and getting better results as the teeth and periodontium are still very elastic and are more malleable to movement.

By doing these preventive measures early in life, the result is a child who has healthier teeth, less decay, less pain, and a happy smile all the time! If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a dentist and ask a free question.

Bed Wetting is a phenomenon in which a child urinates, involuntarily, on bed when fast asleep at night.

A. The Secret Problem

A child gains bladder control at night, but it varies with age. After attaining the age of five, 15% of the children continue bed wetting and after the age of 10, only 5% are found to be still bed wetting. The incidences of bed wetting in boys are twice as compared to girls. Bed wetting can often lead to extreme embarrassment and social awkwardness for the parents. For parents to deal with such inevitable child problems, they must know the causes that lead to bed wetting.

B. The Bedwetting Gene

Your own DNA may be the chief contributor to your child’s bed wetting; research states that in 75 percent of the cases, this problem is found to be hereditary. However, parents should deal with this problem with sensibility and sensitivity, so as not to alienate their children in any way.

C. Causes

1. Delayed Bladder Maturation: In such cases, the communication between the bladder and the brain is delayed.
2. Lower Anti-Diuretic Hormone (ADH): Inadequate secretion of such hormones causes the kidneys to produce lesser urine during the day, thus increasing chances of bed wetting at night.
3. Deep Sleeping: With deep sleeping, the brain fails to get the signal that the bladder may be full.
4. Constipation: With constipation, the problem is that there may be uncontrolled contraction of bladder due to the bowels being full all the time.

When is it a concern?

There is nothing wrong with bedwetting during childhood, especially when the child is less than 2 years of age. However, it might be a concern if the child happens to gain bladder control at night but the condition relapses. Also, if psychological stress happens to be at the root of the child’s bedwetting, it could be considered to be a cause for concern.

Homeopathic treatment for bedwetting in children

Homeopathy is a very effective natural treatment for enuresis. The homeopathic remedies for bedwetting are perfectly safe. These natural homeopathic remedies do not have any side effects at all. Safety of the medicines is a major issue when you are to give any medicine to your child. Therefore it is of utmost importance that the medicines should be completely safe. Homeopathic remedies are known to be perfectly safe and have been tried by millions of patients all over the world over the last 2 centuries.

5 Best Homeopathic medicines for bedwetting in children

Homeopathy has been found to be very successful in treating bedwetting. The aim of Homeopathy is to strengthen the nervous system of the body. This allows the child to gain control over the urinary bladder. The same child who had been urinating in the bed for years is able to keep the bed dry within a matter of a couple of weeks. Homeopathy offers the best way of treating bedwetting. The embarrassment of the child as well as the parents vanishes quickly like magic. Here are the 5 best homeopathic medicines for bedwetting that help in working this magic-

1. Causticum
2. Kreosote
3. Cina
4. Acid Phos
5. Equisetum

It is important to mention here that the above mentioned 5 best homeopathic medicines for bedwetting are by no means the only medicines for bedwetting. There are many other medicines that are also used to cure enuresis. The exact selection of the right medicine depends upon the detailed symptoms of each individual patient. So, it always recommended to consult a specialized homeopath before going for any medication.

Quick tips

1. Ensure that your child urinates right before hitting the bed.
2. Limit your child’s fluid intake after having a thorough discussion with the doctor.
3. Set an alarm for the child to wake up and go to the toilet in the middle of the night.
4. Bladder stretching exercises increase the bladder’s capacity and thus the quantum of urine that can be held by the child’s bladder.
5. Medications, as would be prescribed by a pediatrician.
6. Use a plastic sheet over the bed.
7. And finally, don’t panic. Usually, the problem resolves on its own.