Acid reflux disease or GERD is a condition where the contents of the gut enter into the esophagus and cause distressing symptoms in the upper chest area.
Newborns customarily spit up but may not actually have acid reflux. Older kids may not spit up at all but may have more sophisticated symptoms of acid reflux. These are termed silent symptoms and include :
1. Weight loss
2. Difficulty sleeping
3. Irritability
4. Arching the back while feeding
5. Trouble swallowing
6. Pain in the stomach or chest.
7. Hoarseness in the voice
8. Frequent sore throat
9. A determined cough
10. A failure to flourish
It seems that acid reflux occurs more frequently in kids born prematurely. There’s no tie to any explicit time of prematurity. Premature children have not had a chance to develop all their systems absolutely and thus have a range of different Problems, including acid reflux.
So the most important thing to realize when deliberating pediatric acid reflux is that not all youngsters who puke or spit up have acid reflux and not all youngsters with acid reflux barf or spit up.
There just is no dead on technique of telling without the recommendation of a trained pediatrician. Since acid reflux in youngsters may be extremely subtle, the folks must arm themselves with what to go looking for and know what to do.
If you’re not sure if your child has acid reflux, try keeping a diary of foods eaten and how often the kid spits up or pukes. Also track symptoms the same way and pass this information along to your GP. He / she will make the right decision on treatment for your kid.
In addition to the silent symptoms above, more significant symptoms are persistent complaints of heartburn, burning in the chest area or trouble sleeping flat on the back.
When you know what to have a look for, you can take your kid to a pediatric gastroenterologist for evaluation. Take your diary with you and discuss everything with your GP.
There are many treatments for acid reflux and your surgeon will know what to prescribe. I would not suggest using over the counter drugs like Nexium, Zantac seventy five or Prilosec in kids since these were originally developed for adults with the condition and will be too robust for children.
When it comes to acid reflux in youngsters, there truly are too many variables to think about, so please see your doctor in all cases.
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