FYI: Pinworms! | Imamother

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 11 2011, 7:10 pm

Gross, but this is important to know. Pinworms are TWICE as common as lice, and just as easy to spread.

If your child is like most children, they go through a period of life where they constantly seem to want to keep their hands in their pants. In toddlers, this is usually just natural exploration, and you can deal with it according to your family's standards (forbid it, or explain that it's private, or whatever). In older children, it might be because it feels good, or it might be intestinal parasites. Confused

Pinworms can get under a child's fingernails, from contact with eggs in the soil. If they put dirty fingers in their mouth, or if they use dirty hands to wipe after the bathroom, then they can easily get infected. They are HIGHLY contagious! The worms will make the child itch in the bottom and privates, which will make the child scratch. This will temporarily relieve the itch, and it will deposit more eggs on the hands. Then the damage that the child does from scratching too hard will make the itching worse, spreading even more eggs. The itchy area can even get a bacterial infection, or in girls even lead to bladder infections. Girls usually suffer pain from itching much more than boys do, because of tender areas.

You'll know it's pinworms because your child will be fine all day, and start itching like mad at night. The child may be restless, wake up several times a night to use the bathroom, or even crying from misery. There may be loss of appetite and weight loss, too, but not always. The intense nighttime itching is always the dead giveaway.

If you examine your child's feces, you may see tiny, thread like white things, about as thick a sewing pin and about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch long. Fortunately, there's OTC medicine like Pin-X that is about 75% effective, and prescription medicine that is about 95% effective. The doses need to be repeated every two weeks, a couple of times. Even if the medicine is doing it's job, the itching may last for up to a week, like a mosquito bite. The entire family will need to be treated, because adults can carry pinworms without showing any symptoms, and they can be passed back and forth indefinitely.

All clothing, towels and bedding must be washed in HOT water and antibacterial soap, and you must vacuum the floors and mattresses every day for at least 2 to 3 weeks. If you cloth diaper, you may want to consider switching to disposables until you're sure that everything is cleared up.

Anyone can get pinworms at any age, from a kid playing in a sandbox to an adult who's pulling weeds in the yard. Next time you see your child rubbing themselves, don't automatically assume that it's m@sturbation or "hyper-s@xuality", it could be a medical problem.

This public service message is brought to you by a mom who was up until 6am today with a crying daughter. Sad