Reasons to Visit a Pediatric Neurosurgeon

A pediatric neurosurgeon provides treatment for children who have issues with their nervous system. A pediatric neurosurgeon can not only perform surgery when it is needed, but they also help diagnose, treat through non-surgical methods and manage problems with the nervous system in children.

Reasons to visit a pediatric neurosurgeon

While many issues with the nervous system do not require treatment from a pediatric neurosurgeon, there are certain times when a trip to the neurosurgeon is simply required. The following are four of the most common reasons to consider having your child visit a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Severe headaches

Over half of all children experience headaches, so a headache does not suggest there is a deeper issue. A mild to moderate headache can more often than not be treated through rest and over-the-counter medication. If a single episode of a headache becomes slightly more severe, a trip to the pediatrician may be all that is needed.

However, if headaches become increasingly constant, occur several times each week or become incredibly severe to the point where they are debilitating to the child, a pediatric neurosurgeon may be needed to effectively diagnose and treat the underlying issue.

Head and spine deformities

Head and spine deformities can be an incredibly concerning problem for parents, although such deformities in children are actually more common than most believe. In many instances, head and spine deformities do not cause much of a threat to health, and the problem is simply cosmetic.

However, in some cases, head and spine deformities can cause other, more concerning issues and lead to a nervous system problem. While minor cases of head and spine deformities may be able to be dealt with by a pediatrician, more concerning deformities require treatment from a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Development regression

Development regression refers to the loss of previously gained skills during a child’s development. For example, if a child learns to talk and use complete sentences and then reverts back to only using fragments or single words, development regression may have taken place.

A lack of development might be able to be handled without treatment from a neurosurgeon, but anytime development regression takes place, a trip to the pediatric neurosurgeon is likely needed to ensure there is not a more concerning health issue causing the regression in development.

Body weakness

Body weakness is a fairly broad term that refers to any weakness or inability to perform a certain task due to strength. A few examples include hand weakness, inability to perform motor tasks and failure to be able to climb stairs. A neurologic disease can often cause body weakness, and it can be incredibly difficult for a non-specialist to diagnose the exact cause of body weakness, especially if the underlying issue is a neurologic disease. Since body weakness in children can be such a difficult symptom to diagnose, it often requires a pediatric neurosurgeon to diagnose the cause and ensure the child does not have a long-term issue with body weakness.

Request an appointment here: https://www.drloudonpediatricneurosurgery.com or call Dr. William G. Loudon, Pediatric Neurosurgery at (714) 677-9463 for an appointment in our Orange office.