Anyone who has tried to reason with a toddler understands that children are much more than just short statured adults. While this is important in understanding how to survive the childhood years, it should also be a determining factor when choosing a doctor for children. Doctors and clinics that focus on the care of children and adolescents will offer specialized care to meet their needs. Pediatricians can care for children from birth through adolescence, with some following children into their twenties.
While family practice doctors can provide quality care for your family, a pediatrician can provide your child with a higher level of care that focuses on the different stages of their growth and development.
Childhood is broken down into stages:
Each stage has its own focuses and concerns:
Physical Development
Children grow at an alarming rate. Just ask any mother who is constantly replacing shoes and outgrown clothes. Pediatricians have received training in understanding this growth rate and patterns and can determine what is of concern.
Understanding the growth spurts that occur as a child grows can help reveal any issues that need to be addressed or that can give early warning of potential diseases or conditions.
Social / Emotional Growth
Children often respond to trauma and stress differently than adults do. A doctor that understands the complexities of children's social/emotional development will quickly be able to determine if there is a true concern or if a child is just a different personality type than mom and dad expected.
They will also be up-to-date on the signs of developmental delays and other behavioral disorders.
Childhood Illnesses
While many childhood illnesses have been wiped or out at least severely limited due to strict vaccination schedules, some things occur more commonly during childhood. In addition, children may present differently when afflicted with conditions that also affect adults. Something as minor as a common cold or flu in an adult can turn out to be life threatening RSV or Reyes syndrome in a young child.
In addition, there are many conditions that children present with that those without specialized training may miss. Metabolic disorders, diabetes, asthma, and other conditions can present with symptoms that mask their true existence.
Prescriptions
One of the most important factors of childhood health care is determining the right medicine and the correct dosage. Since children have a more rapid metabolism, rapidly dividing cells , thinner skin, and immature blood-brain barrier, it is important to have a doctor that understands how a specific medication will affect a child.
Choosing the right doctor or clinic for your child is an important factor to their overall well-being, choosing one that specializes in children's health can help put them on the path to a happy, healthy, life.
To learn more, contact a children's clinic like Kitsap Children's Clinic LLP.
Share15 July 2015
After watching my mother navigate treatment for breast cancer in my early teens, I knew pretty much what to expect from my dad's diagnosis with prostate cancer. What I didn't know was how different chemotherapy and radiation can affect different people. My mother became very ill while my dad seemed to weather the treatments with few ill effects. I spent a long time researching the differences in treatments, types of chemotherapy, and how each one can react differently with the body. I created this blog to help others understand the same things, because I knew I couldn't be the only one unfamiliar with it. I hope it helps you if someone you love is facing treatment for any type of cancer.
