Winter Health Tips
Source : Pubdate : 2011/10/31 17:23:00 Author :
During the winter months, parents and pediatricians often focus on colds and the flu when offering health tips to keep kids healthy, such as:
· Getting a yearly flu shot
· Teaching good hand washing techniques
· Avoiding infections by not taking your newborn or younger infant out and around a lot of other people until he is older
· Encouraging kids to avoid people who are obviously sick with a cold or the flu.
· Teaching your kids 'cough etiquette,' which the American Academy of Pediatrics describes as teaching children to turn their heads and cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue or the inside of their elbow if they don't have a tissue, instead of simply coughing or sneezing onto their hands, which will then spread their germs onto everything they touch
· Taking a reusable water bottle to school, like a Sigg or CamelBak, instead of using the school water fountain, which may become contaminated with germs, especially during cold and flu season
Unfortunately, washing your hands and getting a flu shot won't help you avoid other health problems that can be triggered by winter weather, such as:
· Chronic coughing - although many kids have a cough during cold and flu season when they get sick, if your child typically develops a chronic cough that lasts most of the winter, then ask your pediatrician if he might have asthma.
· Dry skin - a lack of humidity from cold, dry air outside and then warm, dry air inside often leads kids to have itchy, dry skin during the winter. This can especially be a problem on a child's hands, which is made worse by frequent hand washing, and around his mouth (perioral dermatitis). Using a mild soap or soap substitute when your child bathes and then quickly applying a moisturizer within a few minutes can help to avoid and treat dry skin. You may have to reapply the moisturizer several times during the day though.
· Asthma - change
s in the weather and cold weather often trigger asthma attacks, which makes it important to have refills of your asthma relief medicines (Albuterol, Proventil, Ventolin, Xopenex, etc.) ready during the winter and an asthma management plan in case your child starts coughing or having other symptoms of an asthma attack. If your child's asthma always gets worse during the winter, it might be a good time to start an asthma preventative medicine (Flovent, Qvar, Symbicort, Advair, etc.) too.
· Eczema - kids with eczema often have red, itchy skin year round, but it can be worse in the winter. Talk to your pediatrician if your usual eczema regimen isn't working during the winter for advice on treating hard to control eczema, especially if using a topical steroid and moisturizers isn't working to control your child's symptoms.
· Nosebleeds - when caused by dry air, Recommend :