Neighborhood Doctor: Injuries: The Unintentional and The Aversion
Our Kids are going to scrape there knees, and get bumps and cut, that is just a part of growing up. Pain and discomfort are helpful teachers and help childern learn what they are capable of and how to navigate through the world. Now this doesn't mean that I don't take injury prevention seriously, it is important to talk with your dediatrician during your well visits about what are the steps need to ensure a safe home.
We talk about this and much more on this episode of Neighborhood Doctor.
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Our Host
Dr. Ryan Hassan
Transcript:
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (00:02)
I am Ryan, pediatrician and dad here to answer my patient's most common questions. Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death among children. At the same time, injury aversion is a leading cause of boredom among children. Today I want to talk about both.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (00:20)
My first piece of advice is that we shouldn't strive to avoid all injury or pain. Pain and discomfort are helpful teachers and help children learn what they are capable of and how to navigate through the world. How can our children learn how far they can jump or how high they can climb or how fast they can run unless we let them push past their and our comfort zones? Risk is an also an inherent part of most things worth doing. A child who stays at home all day in front of a screen will be much safer than a child who spends the day climbing trees, swinging from monkey bars, riding bikes, or swimming. I enjoy many dangerous activities like mountain biking, camping, rock climbing, running, kayaking, and I want my child to love doing those same dangerous activities. And that's why we already do many of those things together carefully.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (01:07)
Now, this doesn't mean that I don't take injury prevention seriously. I'm always mindful about the risks of a given activity and whether I can take any reasonable steps to mitigate them. So here are some of the basic ideas that I think are helpful to keep in mind for any parents of young children who want to take reasonable precautions to keep their children safe first around the home. There's a lot of important safety things and really it, I think it is important to talk with your pediatrician during your well visits about, you know, what are the steps I need to take? Is my home really safe? But basic things, making sure that you have safe outlet plugs or outlet covers. You're safely storing all drugs or medicines of any kind. Safe storage of any cleaning supplies, especially detergent pods, which can be very dangerous for children.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (01:51)
Ideally, there should be no guns in a home. It is a very extensively documented fact that guns in a home significantly increase the risk for unintentional injury as well as suicide, especially among children. Uh, but if there are guns, then they should be locked and unloaded if they need to be in the home. Any furniture that could tip over should be anchored. Kids love to climb on things including furniture. So make sure you anchor down anything that could tip onto them. Any cords they could pull onto that could pull other things on them that should be out of reach. Any cords that could be strangulation, hazards like cords for blinds, those should be out of reach. Be mindful of oven and stove safety. Make sure children can't reach for hot surfaces while they're in use. These sound like obvious things, but unless you're actively thinking about them, then it can be very easy to overlook this.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (02:38)
And in the middle of a busy, busy day, children can easily get hurt to any of these writ hazards. The other thing to be mindful of is a lot of parents might say, well, I'll just teach my kid not to do these things. I guarantee you that is not enough. Children are curious and that's a good thing. They will naturally want to explore everything around them and we should encourage them to do that. It's our job to make sure their environment is safe. So it is not your child's fault if they reach for a gun left on a shelf or a medicine left on a counter. That is what they're supposed to be doing. It is our job as caregivers to make sure that the environment is safe. So that is not an option for them in the first place. In terms of things to do outside the home, water safety is important.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (03:19)
Drowning is one of the highest causes of injury related deaths in children, and it's important to remember that it's silent. Children are not gonna make noise when they're drowning. So anytime your child is near water, you should have eyes on them at all times. Seat belts also incredibly important. Motor vehicle collisions are one of the leading causes of injury related deaths, right under gun injuries. So make sure your child is in the seatbelt in a proper car seat while driving and make sure that you or whoever is driving is never driving distracted and is always driving sober helmets. I cannot tell you how many patients I see who still feel like it's okay to let their children ride bikes or ski or snowboard or skate without helmets. And it is a a horrible, horrible mistake. It is a good thing to be on the move on a bike or a skateboard or snowboard, and if you are having fun and doing it right, then you should be taking lots of falls.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (04:13)
After all, if you're not falling, then you're not pushing your limits, you're not learning, you're not having enough fun, and if you fall, you might get hurt and those injuries generally are gonna heal. But if you hit your head without a helmet, that is an injury that may not heal and you may not recover from. So helmets are non-negotiable. In my family, no one gets on any bike or board of any kind without a helmet. Wilderness safety, if like me, you like being outside in the great outdoors and getting out into nature and doing hikes and long camping trips, it's important to be mindful of this. And there's whole books and lectures that could be, that have been given on this topic. I'll just say it's important to make sure you know what the 10 essentials are and you carry them with you at all times, and you always let someone know where you're going. I think the last thing to keep in mind is the way I think about injury prevention is that, you know, life isn't a beauty pageant. It's a joy ride. So I don't worry about getting a few bruises along the way as long as I make it to the end in one piece.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (05:12)
That's my show. If you have any medical questions you'd like me to answer, reach out to Boost Oregon online and come back next week for a new episode of boosting our Voices with my friend Ari.