Children can have pain from an injury, illness, procedure, or surgery. Although it's not always possible to completely get rid of pain, there are ways to ease your child's discomfort.
Along with giving any prescribed medicines, here are some ways you can help lower your child's pain.
Medicines
- Give your child any medicines as recommended by your healthcare provider. These may include prescription pain medicine, acetaminophen (Tylenol® or a store brand), or ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®, or a store brand). Some prescription pain medicines also include acetaminophen or ibuprofen. To avoid giving too much, give the medicines exactly as your healthcare provider recommends.
- Keep a record on paper, your phone, or another device of:
- What medicines were given
- The dose of the medicines and the time given
- Your child's level of pain before you gave the medicines
- Your child's level of pain about an hour after you gave the medicines
- Take your child off the medicines as your healthcare provider recommended. This may include lowering the dose slowly.
Other Ways to Ease Your Child's Pain
- Comfort and Distraction
- Hold or cuddle your child to provide comfort.
- For babies, try giving them a pacifier.
- Do quiet activities they enjoy to distract them from the pain.
- Create a calm environment by reducing noise and stress.
- Play soft, relaxing music or nature sounds.
- Relaxation Techniques
- Teach your child deep-breathing exercises.
- Ask your child if a gentle massage is soothing.
- Use guided imagery to help them imagine a happy, safe place.
- Practice tightening each muscle, then relaxing it.
- Practice gentle stretches or yoga together.
- Other Methods
- If possible, help your child get some physical activity every day. Talk to your healthcare provider about which activities are OK. Or work with a physical therapist to create a plan for your child.
- Your child may find that a cool or warm pack wrapped in a towel and put on the painful area for 20 minutes a few times a day eases their pain.
What are the benefits of using pain relief methods in addition to medicine? Benefits include:
- Improving pain control
- Using less medicine or stopping medicine sooner, which lowers the risk of side effects
- Avoiding addiction (for example, to opioids)
- Empowering children to be a part of their pain control
What other ways can help ease my child's pain? Acupuncture, hypnosis, and seeing a therapist to manage pain-related fear, anxiety, and stress can all help relieve pain. Work with your healthcare provider to create the best plan for your child.
