Pediatricians San Diego

Headaches are one of the top five health problems in childhood, with over half of children and adolescents developing headaches at some point. Here are some things that every parent should know in order to help their child, and to help determine when it’s time to see your doctor. 1. What’s causing my child’s headache? Headaches can be caused by a wide variety of factors. The most common triggers include stress or anxiety, lack of sleep, heat, and screen time, specifically video games. Other triggers include bright lights or glare, vision trouble or eye strain, high altitude, menstruation, medication, fasting, dehydration, certain foods (like chocolate, sugar or smoked meats), caffeine and lack of exercise. With all of these possible causes, it is easy to see how headaches can be a regular occurrence for kids, especially in the time of distance learning. 2. What type of headache does my child have? The first thing to do is to try to determine what type of headache the child has and

With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases dropping in the state, many requirements and rules will soon be eliminated. At CPCMG, we are not letting our guard down. Many safety guidelines implemented last year will remain in place – this includes daily health screenings of all providers and staff before starting their workday and deep cleaning of our offices. Regardless of vaccination status, we will also continue to require CPCMG families to wear masks during their office visit. All CPCMG providers and staff will also continue to wear masks. This is an important step to help everyone maintain their best health! CPCMG appreciates your participation as we work together to protect our patients, families, providers and staff. If you have any questions, please reach out to your CPCMG provider. * This article was originally published here

How often do we hear teens brag about how they stayed up late playing online video games with groups of friends or pulling a Netflix all-nighter? If they could, most teens would choose to stay up past midnight and sleep past noon. What’s up with teen sleep patterns? Sleeping patterns during puberty can partly be explained by the natural change in a teen’s circadian rhythms called “sleep phase delay.” The need to sleep is delayed for about two hours, so teens are awake later and sleep in longer. This lag increases when teens are exposed to the “blue light” of electronic screens late at night – this sends a message to the brain that it’s not nighttime yet. The signal to the brain decreases the production of melatonin and keeps teens from feeling tired. Teens need an average of nine hours of sleep a night. Sleep supports growth and development, and helps prevent health issues like anxiety, depression, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. A lack of sleep can lead to poor concentration