16 August 1999
Dear Readers: Sincerely,
Dr. Warren hopes to help all who ask his advice and to enlighten all who read Ask Dr. Warren. For your own well being please keep in mind that
advice you read here may not apply exactly to your own situation, and that if you are sick, no information on the web can take the place of a hands on examination by your physician who knows you and cares about you.
Dr. Warren
-SS
Dear SS: Surprisingly, the only article I came across in medical journals regarding Hot Tubs was about pseudomonas folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicles caused by the pseudomonas type of bacteria. The only information I could locate that addressed your concerns was from the Consumer Products Safety Commission. An excellent article summarizing their findings is available at Child Secure. The major risks are drowning and entrapment of hair or limbs. These are not risks specifically related to children although it is easy to see how these risks could be greater for children. Obviously, no child should be left unsupervised in a hot tub. It is recommended that hot tubs be no hotter than 104 degrees F.
It is true that sperm production occurs best at temperatures below body temperature which is why the testicles hang outside the body in the scrotum. When your son has a fever, you may notice that his scrotum becomes flaccid in order to allow the testicles to move further away from the overheated body. I don't know of any study which has established that sterility can occur from exposure to hot tubs at any specific temperature or for any specific length of time. Prudence would suggest that the closer the hot tub temperature is to body temperature the less potential risk there is.
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
- His Father
Vince
Dear Vince: Twelve weeks of severe coughing is certainly not normal. Under the circumstances, asthma is a very real possibility. Asthma can develop any time in a person's life although late teens is not the most common time to start. Asthma can develop in someone who was previously healthy and a good athlete. Although asthma is a chronic condition, asthmatics can be treated and continue to be successful athletes.
Your son should be evaluated by an asthma specialist if the diagnosis is in question. A pulmonologist or allergist usually manages asthma. These specialists would also help evaluating for other causes of chronic cough. Your son should have a chest x-ray and pulmonary function testing. He may need an allergy evaluation as well. For more information, read my article What is Asthma?
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
Sincerely,
-Looking for Advice
Dear Looking for Advice: If your child's sleep disturbance is new, the first thing you want to do is determine what is disturbing her sleep. Is your daughter sick or upset about something? If so, there should be evidence of this during the day which can help you track down the source of the problem. Did you bring her into your bed during a recent illness or upset, establishing the idea that this is a possibility? If so, she may have very quickly learned this as a new sleep habit. If there are no external causes contributing to your daughter's sleep disturbance, then, if you want her to sleep in her room and not yours, you have to teach her how to get herself back to sleep in her own bed. Since I have discussed this issue extensively in the past, I'll ask you to read my article, Helping Your Child to Sleep Through the Night
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
-FC
Dear FC: The frequency of masturbation should not lead to any medical problems. Frequent urination or discomfort on urination could occur from urethral trauma, which could result accidentally from masturbation, especially if the masturbation is very hard and vigorous. There are no long term or serious ill effects of masturbation. The amount of masturbation that one person considers frequent may not be considered frequent by another. If you think that you are masturbating frequently, that could suggest a preoccupation with masturbation which is interfering with other aspects of your life. That would be the most important negative side effect to consider.
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
-A
Dear A: Crawling is an important step in neuromuscular development, but some babies find other ways to move around and eventually walk without crawling. Most babies start crawling between 8 and 10 months. An 8 month old who isn't interested in crawling is perfectly normal.
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
-Chuck
P.S. I didn't know who else to ask on the net! Think of me as kind of a big kid.Dear Chuck: It's fine that you wrote to me. When I have the answers I'm happy to take care of the "big kids" too.
Dizziness can be seen as a symptom of many virus infections, especially if there is nausea. As long as the dizziness has passed there is no cause for concern. Dizziness which occurs without any infectious cause or dizziness which persists would require evaluation to find out what's going on. It doesn't have to be caused by something serious since it could be something as simple as a middle ear infection.
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
-Y & P
Dear Y & P: Both a vaporizer and a humidifier put moisture into the air which helps children with stuffy noses. The vaporizer makes steam by boiling water. The humidifier was invented to make a mist from cool water since the boiling water in a vaporizer can burn a child who knocks the vaporizer over. Neither the vaporizer nor the cool mist humidifier should be confused with a room humidifier which is not meant for the bedside. This is especially important if the room humidifier is an ultrasonic humidifier since the water droplets from an ultrasonic humidifier are small enough to get into the lungs, and that is undesirable.
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
-Chris
Dear Chris: Cough medicines provide symptomatic relief. There are no medicines which cure coughs. The cough goes away when the cause of the cough goes away. Since most coughs are caused by colds and there are no medicines which cure colds, the cold has to run its course. Coughs can also be caused by bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, sinusitis, and smoking. Treating the medical conditions which contribute to coughing can help to eliminate the cough. For additional information read my article, Upper Respiratory Infections (URIs).
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren
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