Posted by: drmolly in well visit, teenager, check up on
Sep 01, 2010
Most parents are good about scheduling well child checkups while their kids are young. Once children are in grade school, though, many parents fall off the wagon and by the time kids are in middle and high school (unless the child play a sport, which mandates a checkup) many children aren't seen regularly for health maintenance visits. Some parents figure that if their child is doing well enough in school, is growing and seems healthy the need
Posted by: drmolly in teenager, medication, driving, ADHD, ADD on
Sep 01, 2010
Summertime means teenagers all over the area are taking drivers ed and with school out many are on the road at all times of day and night. We know teens aren't the best drivers (hence the huge premium increase when they are added to a parent's insurance) but teens with ADHD or ADD are at much greater risk of accidents.
Recently I read an article about teen driving and learned that teens with attention issues who are not taking their medication on
Posted by: drmolly in teenager, sexuality, sex on
Sep 01, 2010
Talking to teens about sex is challenging for parents and doctors alike. Starting to talk about it early and often is important, though. Teens are not always known for thinking through their decisions, but the more you talk about sex with them, the more likely they will be to delay having sex for the first time.
Here are some statistics about teens and sexuality:
- Teenage girls still get pregnant a lot despite readily available contraception
Posted by: drmolly in teenager, breast, alcohol on
Sep 01, 2010
Many kids experiment with alcohol during their teenage years and some will go on to have alcohol be a more regular part of their life even during their teenage years. So it's important to know that a study in the May issue of Pediatrics finds that girls who drink alcohol weekly (say at a party on Saturday night) much more likely to have lumpy, bumpy breasts that require investigation in their 20s.
No woman wants to discover a lump in her breast,
Around the time girls are starting to get their earliest breast tissue I start talking to those patients about puberty and all it brings. For some girls this could be as young as 8 or 9 years old; for others it isn't until they are 12 or 13. Talking about puberty is important and here's what I say:
What an exciting time this is for you! Your body is starting to change from a girl's body to a woman's body. This process of your body changing is
A colleague recently shared a story with me. She was in the exam room with a mother and her 13-year-old daughter. She was an only child and the mother and daughter seemed to have a close relationship. My colleague asked if the girl had started her period and simultaneously the mom said "no" and the daughter said "yes." Yikes. That the girl hadn't shared the important information with her mom despite a good relationship gave me pause.
I have a
Posted by: drmolly in teenager, sex, periods, pelvic exam, pap smear, menstrual, hpv, gardasil, cervical cancer, birth control on
Jan 17, 2010
I don't love going to the gynecologist for my annual exam even though I have a fantastic doctor with whom I feel totally comfortable. When I was a young woman, it was the norm to go to the gynecologist for your first pelvic exam around 16 years old. How times have changed!
Recently the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) revised its recommendations for the age at which a girl should have her first pap smear to 21 years old
This past weekend was homecoming at my daughter's high school and because I see a lot of teenagers in my practice, it was a busy week. Some came to the office to try to rid themselves of an illness in time for the dance while others arrived with the hope that I would be able to cure their acne quickly. If only the acne-laden kids had come in a few weeks earlier there would have been some hope for smoother skin by the weekend.
Almost everyone
It is mid-summer and by now I have given the puberty talk to my patients about 100 times. I have it down pat and have gotten enough positive feedback that I thought I would share it with you.
I give this talk to boys entering 5th or 6th grade because even if they aren't in puberty yet, some of their peers will be and this opens the lines of communication between the boy and his parents. I always give this talk with the parent(s) in the room but
A reader asks: Our son is getting some pressure from his soccer coaches to add weight. He's been doing some supervised work in the weight room, but his body is naturally tall and thin. He's up to 6' 1" now, but I think he's lucky if he tops out at 140 lbs. His soccer coach has suggested that he go on a regiment of protein drinks. We are wary about giving him supplements but at that same time we recognize there are more pressures on the kids
