Question
A 2-year-old healthy child occasionally complains of back pain (not clear if it’s sore or painful), so the parents took the child to the hospital. The doctor didn’t perform any examination and immediately ordered an X-ray of the lumbar spine in anteroposterior and lateral positions, covering a wide range, almost the entire body. The dose was also quite high, possibly up to 150mSv, with no protection. The child had also had an X-ray of the lungs at 1 year and an X-ray of the feet at 1.5 years. Why does a child need to have so many X-rays? In the future (a few years later), it’s easy to get leukemia, cancer, or genetic malignant diseases. How can we prevent this? What dietary precautions should we take?
Answer
Back pain can have many causes, including acute and chronic muscle injuries, fatigue cramps, and spinal fatigue or poor posture that may lead to back pain. It may also be due to reflex pain from organs such as appendicitis, which sometimes causes pain in the stomach and back reflex areas. Cervical spine problems can also cause back pain. Factors causing growth pain are numerous. If a child is diagnosed with growth pain, parents need to cooperate with the doctor for immediate treatment, along with gastrointestinal decompression and developing good hygiene habits. Parents should also be careful not to let their children develop picky eating habits and should have a balanced diet.