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Avoiding friends and activities can be a sign your child is in pain.
Health Centre, in Halifax, Canada. McGrath has even heard doctors say, “It’s not on the X-ray. It’s not real.” But, just as with adults, even if pain can’t be seen
Roughly 20 percent of children suffer from some type of chronic pain that goes untreated, according to a 2009 report.
or measured with a test, it definitely doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Georgia Huston, 18, of Sherman Oaks, California, visited dozens of doctors with her dad starting in eighth grade, but made little progress in finding a diagnosis or treatment for back and leg pain that was sometimes so bad she’d pass out. “It was so frustrating. My doctors would run all these tests. When that didn’t work, they’d pass me along to another doctor,” recalls Huston. “I think some thought I was faking it, but why would I do that? I lost everything I love—I couldn’t go out with friends, I had to leave school.” Just as with adults, both mind and
body play a role in causing kids’ hurt, says Lonnie Zeltzer, M.D., director and founder of the Pediatric Pain Program at Mattel Children’s Hospital at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and co-author of Conquering Your Child’s Chronic Pain (HarperCollins, 2005). “If [a doctor] can’t come up with a cause, the automatic assumption [may be]
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that the pain is psychological or emotional, which children interpret as the doctor doesn’t believe them,” she explains. So as a parent, Zeltzer says, the key is to find a doctor who acknowledges that the pain is real and doesn’t dismiss your son’s or daughter’s discomfort. Taking physical and emotional causes into account can help you find what’s truly to blame, and in turn get more effective treatment. Moms and dads of younger kids can be especially crucial in communicating to a child’s care providers, since children have the added challenge of being less able to express what they’re feeling. If your child is being evaluated at a pain clinic
you might notice that the interviewer won’t just look at the history of your son’s or daughter’s pain or their physical symptoms; they’ll also evaluate how your child perceives her pain (for example, an interview- er might ask her whether your child talks about her pain, or keeps it inside); how she sees her place in your family; and how she functions socially and academically. She’ll be asked questions about the stress in her life and what happens when she says she’s in pain. (Does your mom or dad rush to help you? Do your friends tell you to get over it?) Other questions might cover how your child copes with