What are my Options?
10 Sep 2008
It can be more than distressing for a parent who suddenly discovers their sweet clean little angel may have little wiggly parasites living in their guts such as worms! The most common are the thread worms (enterobius vermicularis) or pin worms and are in fact more common than you probably imagine. It’s not really a popular topic of conversation at mothers groups but there will always be those who can reluctantly or happily share their experiences.
Children seem to be more susceptible as they do lack experience of hygiene and like to put their sticky fingers in their mouths with out thinking of the germs and lurgies they may catch.
The symptom of worms may be tummy pains and general abdominal discomfort, interrupted sleep, and itching of the anus especially at night time. You may even be able to visibly see the worms in the faeces (poo) as they can be 1-1.5 cm long and look like pale threads of cotton.
Diagnosis : Apparently, one way of seeing the worms is to shine a torch at night onto the anus area. Yes it sounds weird but the ‘mother’ worm is attracted to the light and may pop out to say hello. Another suggestion is to stick some clear sticky tape to the anus, first thing in the morning to see if there are any tiny eggs on it! If you can get your 10 year old son to stick tape to his bum as he gets up, then good on you. A younger child may not mind you acting so strangely but an older child may resist and be tempted to tell the men in white coats!
It is actually this cheeky mother worm who causes the itching as she wiggles out to the opening of the anus to lay her eggs. She’s pretty smart as she knows that most children will then scratch their bum and not wash their hands so will spread those eggs to surfaces e.g toys that other children will touch. The next child puts their fingers into their months and bingo…..a new home for the eggs to grow and hatch into more worms.
So what to do? Well firstly don’t panic as they can be treated in a number of different ways. As both a Mother and a Naturopath I am very open minded and believe there is a place for all treatments, Natural and some pharmaceutical depending on the circumstances, e.g. age of child and their constitution will determine the treatment given.
If you believe your child may have worms e.g. itching, can't sleep, tummy pains etc, then the orthodox method will clear the worms more effectively and efficiently so will give more instant relief to the child. If the worms are treated correctly (no more than twice a year) then the child will be a lot happier and you can work on lots of other healthy ways to keep their digestion strong. If a child with a weaker constitution gets worms it may be a long lengthy uncomfortable time unless you 'constantly' keep up natural methods, and depends on how bad the infestation is too. I have known of children who were constantly suffering night after night with worms when a simple treatment could have saved them months of misery.
Pharmaceuical treatments such as Piperazide tend to 'stun' the worm (using a form of capsicum or red pepper in a pharmaceutical) and then expel the worm with a herb called Senna. This is the gentler pharmaceutical medicine and can be given to babies from 3 months. The other medication is Mebendazole which actually kills the worms, usually in one dose but must not be given to children under two years old or mums breastfeeding or pregnant. There maybe slight side effects of the pharmaceutical medication such as nausea but rarely.
It is recommended that you follow up with a second treatment two weeks after the first treatment of the Piperazide to reduce the chances a re-infection as this is how long eggs can be away from the body and still infest if taken internally or inhaled.
If you choose to only treat your children with Natural therapies then you must be diligent to continue treatments for 2 weeks and then repeat the herbal treatments two weeks later.
Herbal Medicine can be very effective such as Wormwood (Artemisia annua),Black Walnut (Juglans cinera), Golden Seal (Hydrastis canadensis), Horse tail (Equisetum arvense), Sage (Salvia officinalis), Cloves (Eugenia caryphyllata) or Barberry Berberis vulgaris). These must be prescribed by a professional Naturopath or Herbalist.
However getting a child to take those very bitter herbs regularly (3 x day) for a few weeks in a row may prove quite the challenge.
If a child will take it, then great however if you opt for a treatment for the children,I recommend a Grape seed extract. Grape seed extract is anti-bacterial and anti parasitical. Use as directed by your naturopath. Its bitter taste can be disguised in a sweet juice such as apple juice or a warm tea.
Pumpkin seeds stun the worms, and may be followed with a natural laxative such as a tablespoon of flaxseed oil mixed with some yogurt. Dose for intestinal worms : A small handful of cooked seeds per day for 3 weeks.
After treatment : As a Naturopath I do then recommend that your child has some probiotics such as Acidophilus Bifidus which you can mix in with yogurt. This will help put all the good bacteria back into the gut and strengthen their digestive system.
I also recommend Slippery Elm which will help if there is any inflammation and even a colostrum supplement.
A child with a stronger Digestion will be able to reduce the frequency of worms and their effect.
Keep a healthy diet with lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fish, beans and legumes.
Reduce foods that will compromise a childs digestion e.g., cold foods, sugar, white processed bread, artificial sugar juices, and foods with artificial preservatives, colours and flavours etc.
Foods that are beneficial for a healthy digestive system are garlic which is anti bacterial and anti parasitic, ginger, paw paw (papaya) and pineapple to help the digestive enzymes, carrots, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric and oregano. These foods will all strengthen the gut and those worms don't like that!
Hygiene : It is imperative with any treatment method to be as scrupulous with hand washing, nail scrubbing and to keep nails short especially before preparing food, and after going to the bathroom. One should also wash all the linen and clothes in the house and even some toys that are the favorites. Clean and dust surfaces and floors where eggs may be waiting to move into their new home. Any re-introduction of eggs will lead to another infestation of worms. Diligent cleaning itself can in fact treat the worms but with children this can be near impossible. Eggs have a limited life span of two weeks out of the body and the worms themselves have a lifespan of two weeks, SO if no eggs are reintroduced to the body then they cannot reproduce. But this requires great diligence and is very difficult with children; hence we recommend using one of these treatment methods to help combat the infestation.
Please let me know if you have any questions on 'worms' and children as I could talk about it until the cows come home, love Amina xx
(c) Amina Eastham-Hillier
Amina is currently unavailable for Private Consultations in Australia due to a research trip in China Available for consultations in Kunming, China Mobile in China : +86 1963 1937
Amina Eastham-Hillier (B H Sc)
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