Are you worried that your child will get appendicitis?Try the Jump Test: Shot

My 5-year-old child was complaining of abdominal pain, and I was concerned and asked some questions. I asked her how bad her pain was, where it hurt, and if it was getting worse. Since she was a kindergartener, she couldn’t answer my anxious questions very clearly.

I was worried about appendicitis.Maybe I was conditioned by my fascination with children’s books as a child. madeline and a sudden and urgent crisis in the middle of the night. Isn’t it appendicitis that all parents worry about when their child complains of stomach pain?

I called the pediatrician’s office and they called me back after hours. The doctor quickly figured out what was making me anxious.

“If you want to check for appendicitis, you can do a jump test,” she said.

“what?”

“Let her jump and see if the pain doubles,” she said. “If not, there’s no need to worry too much. She probably ate something or was just constipated.”

I hung up and told my 5-year-old to jump. She wasn’t happy about it, but she obviously wasn’t causing her much pain. My stress level has plummeted. I took a deep breath, served myself some apple juice and salt, and went back to riding it out.

jump test is real Jennifer ShuA pediatrician in Atlanta assures me. “There is studying for jump test“If you have a positive jump sign, they look at the possibility that you also have appendicitis. The probability is about 70%, so it’s high, but it’s not a perfect test,” she explains. Masu.

The appendix is ​​a small dead-end tube that branches from the large intestine in the lower right side of the abdomen. When it becomes inflamed, it causes severe pain, so it must be surgically removed at the hospital quickly before it ruptures.

The advantage of the jump test is that it’s very simple and doesn’t require any special training, Shu says.If there is inflammation or infection anywhere in the abdomen, it is called the abdominal lining. peritoneum, she explains, can cause inflammation. “This is called peritonitis, and some of the symptoms of peritonitis are an inability to walk or jump.”

In the jump test, “the main premise is whether or not shaking the inflamed peritoneum causes pain,” she says. “One of the ways she knows that is if your child is jumping up and down and has pain, that could be a sign that the peritoneum is inflamed.”

Shu says there are several other at-home tests you can try along with the jump test. “Does she have pain in her right lower abdomen when you lie down and press on her left lower abdomen?” she says. If present, it is another sign of peritonitis and possibly appendicitis.

Another test: “When you press down on your appendix in the lower right abdomen, does the pain get worse when you relax? This is called rebound.” Rebound pain is also a sign of possible trouble.

Shu also has tips for doing these tests with your child. First, try playing a video or something similar to distract your child. Next, “start pushing where you know it won’t hurt (your arms, chest, legs, etc.), then gradually move toward the area of ​​your stomach where your appendix is,” she says. I will explain. “If they flinch, you walk away from the problem and come back to it. And if it’s reproducible and consistent, you think, ‘Oh, I’m a little worried.’ Masu.”

She says the pain usually starts in the middle of her abdomen and moves to the lower right side.

Shu also advises observing the child as a whole. Do they have a fever? Are they vomiting and have no appetite? Are they lethargic? Are they wincing in pain?

If the reasons for worrying increase instead of decreasing, then take the child to the pediatrician as soon as possible or just go to the hospital.

Hospital staff may use blood tests and imaging tests, such as an ultrasound or CT scan, to diagnose appendicitis. And if your child does get this disease, know that medicine has come a long way since ancient times. madelineher classmates loved seeing her scars.

“Many of my patients have laparoscopic surgery, which only goes through the belly button and doesn’t leave a huge scar,” Shu added.

If, like me, you tend to imagine the worst-case scenario when your child gets sick, it helps to know some basic statistics. Appendicitis is less common among preschoolers, Xu explains.

“I see about 5,000 patients a year, and this year I had one child with appendicitis,” she says. “That’s pretty typical.”

It tracks like this Country estimates Acute appendicitis affects 1 to 2 per 10,000 infants each year, but the incidence increases to 25 per 10,000 in children aged 10 to 17 years.

“The most common causes of abdominal pain include constipation, stomach viruses, anxiety, and eating strange foods,” Shu points out.

Maybe that’s one of them. If you’re worried, see what happens when you jump.