Please note, our archived questions are abbreviated and don't include this information. To see a sample answer click here.

Children's Health Questions

white lump under skin of penis of 4 year old My 4 year old boy has a hard white lump about half a cm in size under the skin on the left side of his penis. The lump appears to be moveable under the skin. It does not cause him any pain or a problem in urinating. I took him to his GP who had not seen anything like it before and thought that it might be a build up of "stuff" under his foreskin as his foreskin was a bit stuck on the left side. We've been given 1% hydrocortisone cream to apply on the area twice a day for up to 5 weeks and then were told to have another check up. The GP said that the "stuff" would hopefully work its own way out. After a week of the cream's application and gently easing the foreskin back to clean under it daily the foreskin does seem to be moving better however the lump is still very much visible and I can't see how it will come out from under the foreskin as it seems to be under the internal skin when the foreskin is pulled back. I am concerned about the long term application of the hydrocortisone cream as the general advice out there is to only apply it for a few days as it can cause unwanted side effects such as skin thinning or adrenal disruption. Please could you advise what you think it could be and any likely treatments for it and whether we should seek further advice from a consultant? Thank you

Proof of son's sleeping problems can my doctor write a letter confirming my son's sleep problems? I haven't been to the doctors about the problem before as i've managed his problem at home, although I don't get much sleep, my son is ok. The problem is that my son now has contact with his father and his father refuses to believe he has sleep problems and is making him share a room with his little sister, they are 5 and 3. Court says I need proof of his problems in order to order separate rooms for when the children do stay overnight. If the doc can do this, how do I ask? My doctors aren't very helpful. My son recieves DLA and his sleep issues are addressed in this.

Platelet count My 16 year old son has been feeling unwell repeatedly over the past 6 months or so. The doctor has now carried out a number of blood tests to try and identify the problem. Everything appears fine except the platelet count which on a scale of 1-7 has been recorded as 2. I would like to ask 1. How low is 2 and is this count very worrying? 2. What are the likely causes? 3. What should I do next? Regards ***** *******

Cough in chicken pox. my 7year old granddaughter has a severe cough and my daughter has been told by a chemist that this is a symptom of chickenpox. Her 2 year old sister is covered in blisters. I have never heard of this before, is it correct

Baby was fussy after a head hit Wednesday evening (7pm), my baby (8 months old) was lying in bed playing a toy (a hard one but not heavy). But the toy dropped on his forehead, and he got a small lump (pea size, and has gone) just above his left eyebrow. He cried immediately, and calmed down within seconds. Then he had some food and went to sleep after about 30 minutes (his usual sleeping time). But during the first 5 hours sleeping, he woke up 6 times, crying for cuddles and breastmilk. I thought he might be hungry, but he refused formula milk. Finally, I had to sleep with him, and he settled down and has been fine since then. Other than that he is fine, eating, playing well, no vomitting. But I am worrying about that fussiness, is it a sign a concussion? Is it likely he get concussion from this hit? Moreover, the hit is close to the supraorbital foramen. Is a hit close to this position more dangerous? Thank you.

Is it safe to gently spin a baby around Hi doctor, my baby is over 8 months old. Is it safe to gently spin him around? Well, yesterday morning, I sat him on my lap (facing out), and we spinned together in my swivel office chair. I didn't spin very fast, about 3 seconds per round, and only took 2-3 rounds. But a few things made me uncertain about this, 1) I felt slightly dizzy after that. 2) Baby fell asleep about 15 minutes after that, and slept for 20 minutes. Woke up by himself. 3) Moreover, when I searched online, most webpages say 'don't spin a baby' because of the shaken baby things. 4) One of my friend with medical background said 3 seconds per round is still fast. She said I should go as slow as 15 seconds per round :(. So, all these made me worry now. Could I have done any harm to my baby (He is all fine except that sleeping)? And is it really bad to spin a baby a little bit (I mean gently, not vigorously, but still faster than 15 seconds per round). I am still in doubt about this. So, need you advice. Thank you.

Asthmatic and continually coughing Hi, my son is just under 5yrs old. He has asthmatic conditions and as a result we give him the brown pump in the morning and evening, as well as the blue pump when required. He suffered from Croop a couple of years ago and has had similar symptoms of late. He is continually coughing and has gone through a few courses of anti biotics. Having seen no real improverment I have started to see a chinese ' herbal ' doctor who is registered with the NHS but unfotunately not in my town( ******, West Yorkshire). Again a slight improvement but nothing of note. My concern is i can see my son getting real tired of continually coughing ( upto 15-20secs at a time sometimes). He currently has these sypmtoms. We have also noticed that for the last two days he has got RED cheeks. We have given him a herbal cough syrup, pumps as well as calpol. Please can you advise as your input will be greatly appreciated. Mr *****

my son is 11 and is experiencing numbness in his legs and especially his feet along with pain my son is 11 and walks on the side of his feet , he doesnt put his feet flat down as its too sore , he has numbness in his feet and legs and extremely painful on walking after a while , he has regular nose bleeds which we went to hosp for and was told it was ok , he has had nose bleeds for 8 yrs or so , he has headaches alot too , nose is blocked all the time and when he talks its as thou he fully blocked up , he also has heart murmer and has recently been gaining weight , when he sits down he is really stiff getting up plus his back is very sore please advise me im goin to my gp but i no whats comin it is growing pains but im not convinced he often feels tired and sick feeling too,tghis has been going on for gd few months now and seems worse now, he has not had an injury either plz plz help im so worried ,oh he also has a metallic taste in his mouth / lips

Moving to Australia with a newborn We have been offered the opportunity to move to Australia with my current employer. The problem we have is that it will be in January, when our (soon-to-be..) newborn will be approx. 10 weeks old, we cannot seem to find an answer to what to do about his immunisations schedule i.e. can we start the schedule here and get them completed in Australia, or do we have to have them all done here before we go?

Paranoid about leukaemia My 2 year old son has been having nose bleeds overnight. He's had had about 10 in the last 3 months and 3 in the last two weeks. He is otherwise well and always has been. I work full time and would rather not go to the GP just to be told that he's healthy and it's normal. And that they wouldn't stab a two year old for blood to ease the mind of his neurotic paranoid mother. However, if I was a stay at home mum I would have a much lower threshold for asking for help. So please could you tell me what other things I should be looking out for that would make a GP visit necessary. I'm terrified it could be leukaemia and that the delay in seeking help could be a horrendous mistake.

Verruca treatment whilst breastfeeding I am exclusively breastfeeding my 12 week old baby and have had a stubborn verruca for about 8 years now which spread during my pregnancy (It got bigger and I now have 3 more smaller ones too). I have tried everything (self-application products) to get rid of them. I even had the original verruca "frozen" by my GP years ago which didn't work and its driving me mad now. My fiance has now got one and I'm really worried that my baby will also get one, and I really want to go swimming too. Plus I am getting married soon too and want my feet to be verruca-free. I have just come across a "herbal" remedy, which is expensive, but looks great. I am just a bit worried about whether its safe to use whilst breastfeeding? Its called Mole & Wart EZ clear and the main ingredients are: pearl powder and de-ionized water and white rice and talc and chelidonuim majus and citrus limon and ficus carica and anacardium occidentale I don't really want to have to go to my GP just to ask this, as it is a nightmare trying to get an appointment and its all a bit of a faff really. The website address is: www.moleandwartezclear.co.uk I don't want to spend all that money unless my mind is put to rest really! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank-you

my 6 years old son he is always fidgeting,tearful,gets down,shaky,can get violent,then goes the other way quiet,tired,things seem to revolve around food.tested blood sugar levels we have had one 15.5 and one 2.6 it can go from 7.0 to 3.5 in 10 minutes dr said its nothing.he gets ,bubbles in hands and feet,like electric shock pains in legsheadaches pain in face and eyes.wets bed drinks alot started getting up more for toilet in night.dystonia in me{mother} ,cousin has b12 def. uncle has crohns diseasehe is waiting to be circumcised,has bad reflux and bacterial overgrowth that antibiotics doesnt really help,asthma and ecsema.also his tongue feels funny.no problems with anything loves school desperate to go great footballer,being looked at by a manager.not psychological.started about 2 months ago teachers and speech therapist worried.has bout of diarrhoea and hard stools and stomach ache.is it all connected or could he have more than one thing going wrong.please help

My grandson has been diagnosed with Asperger's in the outer spectrum My family desperately need advice on how to find help for our grandson who is 13 years of age and has been diagnosed with Asbergers in the outer spectrum. My son and his wife have struggled over the years trying various avenues to give help to our grandson but it now becoming increasingly difficult for them as he grows older and he is now showing evidence of violent behaviour in what wewould in the past have called tantrums. He Is a great musician - in sports he excels - rugby, football, golf, swimming but it is all coloured by the symptoms he has of not being able to communicate well with other children and opting out of activities when he becomes anxious. His life is totally coloured by this terrible anxiety which he suffers and now he is refusing to go to school for fear of not being able to cope. I , as a Grandmother, am now fearing for my own son's sanity because he has reached a stage of deep depression and even anger at his inability to find help. If this child is now becoming violent and is possibly a danger to the rest of the family - who can they see for advice? Can you recommend a Child Psychologist or Psychiatrist that we could consult before something terrible happens in that household. You can tell by this letter that we are distraught as a family because we feel so helpless, and have tried so many ways to find help in other associations, eg. the National autistic society. No-one understands, so this is a cry from the heart. We are all professional adults but have reached an impasse which is heartbreaking. We should be very grateful if you could just recommend someone who we could contact in this area of Glasgow. My thanks.