Our Fallston office will be relocating to Bel Air in early Spring 2025.
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Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has many symptoms and not all are that easy to spot at first. It is a complex disorder that is usually diagnosed before teen years and on average by age 7. When a parent asks the question, does my child have ADHD, it’s time to find out.
In addition to getting back into the classroom, some students may be preparing to get back onto the sports field. Before this can happen, most school districts require students to undergo a sports physical before trying out or participating in any athletic team.
The optimal time to have a physical performed is six weeks before the start of the sports season. If any injuries or conditions are found, six weeks will give the student time to be treated and recover. If physicals are completed seven weeks or more prior to the season, conditions may develop between the time of examination and the start date of the sport.
The student will undergo a review of their medical history as well as a physical examination. Their doctor will evaluate the following factors to determine whether the student is cleared to play their specific sport:
If medical issues are present, potential solutions and treatments will be discussed. If the condition is permanent, a judgment will be made to place the student-athlete into one of the following participation categorizations:
Towson Pediatrics is committed to ensuring your child will be healthy and ready for the upcoming school sports season. To schedule your child’s sports physical, please call (410) 769-8801.
Everyone has experienced anxiety in the last several years. That includes kids. It was painful to stay indoors, not be able to go to school or participate in after-school activities, and have limited time with friends. You can’t turn those feelings off with a switch. Now that the pandemic and its restrictions are behind us, there are still anxious feelings underneath. Kids & anxiety: what is normal and when to talk with a doctor.
Continue reading “Kids & Anxiety: What Is Normal and When to Talk With a Doctor”
Over the years many of us as adults had to deal with aggressive and short-tempered employers. You probably remember how that made you feel, and how you reacted to being treated that way. Even as an adult, it was difficult to handle. Can you imagine how that will affect a child? Let’s consider bullying and its impact on children’s mental health.
Continue reading “Bullying and Its Impact on Children’s Mental Health”
Spring is great! Well, maybe not so much if you suffer with seasonal allergies. You know the drill with sneezing, itchy eyes, and needing to blow your nose continuously. It’s bad enough when you are the one suffering, but it’s harder to deal with if it’s your little one. Helping your child navigate through spring allergy season is not an easy task, but we can give you some useful tips.
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether your child has a common cold or is suffering with allergies. There are symptom similarities like congestion, runny nose, itchy eyes, nose and face, but there are some telltale signs of an allergy.
They include the following:
Once you are sure your child is suffering with seasonal allergies, there are ways to combat its effects.
Limit Outside Play Time
Of course you don’t want to prevent children from playing outside now that the weather is so pleasant, but you can choose the right time. Have them remain indoors in the morning when the pollen count is at its highest. Let them be outside in the afternoon or early evening. They need the valuable Vitamin D the sun provides.
Try to watch the daily pollen counts, and avoid too much outdoor time on windy and dry days.
Keep Your Windows Closed
This is a tough one. You crave the warm air of spring after a long winter, but it’s best to close out the pollen. Use your AC.
Talk With Towson Pediatrics About The Right OTC Medications
There are many OTC children’s meds for allergy symptoms. Watch that you use the right dosage. Begin dosing as soon as symptoms begin and don’t stop until the pollen count drops. It takes a while for the medications to work properly, so give your kids a head start.
If they don’t seem to be working, it is best to speak to your pediatrician. It may be that your child needs weekly shots to combat their symptoms.
Expand The COVID Recommendations
This means not only wash hands as soon as you and your family come inside, but change clothes, bathe and wash hair before bedtime. Pollen will stick to everything, and it’s best your little one NOT bring it to bed with them.
Whatever you do to help your child navigate through spring allergy season, do not ignore it. Untreated allergies can lead to more serious problems like asthma flare ups.
Contact Towson Pediatrics if your child is not responding to over the counter medications for allergy symptoms.
If you or one of your children has asthma, you are well aware of the confusing and ever changing guidelines about inhaled medications. Asthma is a chronic disease that needs constant management, and most asthma sufferers carry around at least one type of inhaler. Understanding inhaled medications for asthma and which type to use, and when, is the best way to control symptoms.
During an asthma attack, you experience three things:
Children, adolescents, and adults are all susceptible to asthma and their attacks. There are wide ranges of symptoms and severity as well as various treatment options. The most common being an inhaler.
Since asthma is caused by inflammation and swelling of airways, the inhaled medication works two ways. A bronchodilator relaxes the muscles that tighten airways, and an anti-inflammatory reduces any swelling and mucus.
Recent studies are showing that overuse of bronchodilators can increase the frequency of symptoms and attacks, whereas anti-inflammatories can lead to better symptom relief.
Researchers agree that short-term relief bronchodilators like albuterol should be used immediately for quick relief which can last up to 6 hours. Long-acting controller meds in combination with anti- inflammatory inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) can keep airways open for up to 12 hours. This is usually taken as a maintenance daily-use medication to control or prevent asthma symptoms by reducing inflammation. Therefore, a rescue inhaler will not be needed as frequently.
New guidelines from National Institutes of Health (NIH) state the preferred line of treatment for many asthma patients is a combination single maintenance reliever therapy or SMART. It can also be an option for some people. It consists of one inhaler with two meds: an ICS and formoterol, a long-acting therapy. This can be used for both maintenance and during an attack.
It is best to speak with a specialist like Towson Pediatrics in Towson and Fallston about your options and which therapy is best for you or your children.
Contact Towson Pediatrics for Towson clinic (410) 769-8801 and Fallston clinic (443) 981-3337 for additional information and recommendations for asthma treatment.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (2023-2024 Formula) available in our office. Call to schedule your appointment!
You have spent several months preparing the nursery for your bundle of joy including new furniture, curtains, paint, and a spanking new rocking chair just for you. That feeling of satisfaction shouldn’t lull you into a sense of complacency, though. Sorry, there is still much to do! You have the time before your little one comes home to complete a few more tasks, so we suggest 5 tips to prepare your home for a newborn.
When it comes to fighting COVID-19, we know there are many sources of information. We are grateful you trust us to give you the answers you need and the care your family deserves.
When you come to Towson Pediatrics, we want you to feel comfortable throughout the vaccine process. Here are a few things to get you started:
Towson Pediatrics’ is so excited to announce that we will be opening a second location in Harford County starting June 2022! Stay tuned for more information regarding our new office.