Gauging your childs pain

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Kids can’t express themselves the way adults can so it’s often hard to guage how severe their pain is, especially in younger children.

“For children it’s a little bit harder to identify if they’re having pain because some of them may not understand what pain is and what the pain experience is or be able to quantify or tell us how much pain they’re actually in.” Emergency Pediatrician Dr. Anthony Crocco suggests parents use a “scale” to measure how severe the pain is.

Mom Jodi Martindale uses a scale when measuring pain in her son Connor – and she says it’s a trick that works for them. “If zero is no pain and 10 is – like the worst pain you’ve ever had – where are you at? So it kind of gives me some kind of guage.”

It’s also important to know your child’s tolerance for pain, and their history. Changes could be an indication that there’s something more serious behind it. “If the pain starts to become more frequent if the pain starts to become more severe…if the nature of the pain changes” says Dr. Crocco. Assessing these factors can help you decide if you should give them medication. Tylenol and Advil work well and your pharmacist can help you determine the right dose.

Dr. Crocco says talking to a doctor- or even going to the emergency room- is the right thing to do if you’re worried about what’s causing your child’s severe pain. Doctors may prescribe Morphine to treat your child’s pain and Dr. Crocco says that’s okay to take. However, some doctors still prescribe codeine and he says that isn’t safe. For some children, it can be deadly.