Survive Cold and Flu Season: Your Ultimate Rescue Kit
Ready to survive this cold and flu season and keep your family healthy and feeling their best? This 2025-2026 cold and flu season is currently assessed as more severe than years prior (moderate severity assessment). Below are some key statistics about this season as of the end of December. Be sure to monitor weekly flu […]
How to Limit Sugar on Halloween
I always recommend to limit sugar on Halloween as an integrative pediatrician. Despite this, Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. My elementary school in Avon Lake, Ohio, circa 1980, had a big Halloween costume contest each year. One year, I decided early on that I was going to win. The preparation for my witch costume started […]
Household Triggers of Eczema: How to Reduce Irritants
Is your home making your child’s eczema worse? Let’s explore the hidden household triggers of eczema. I’ve talked a lot about how both the skin and the gut microbiome affect eczema. While these do have a profound impact on eczema, I want to shine a light on something that we often see fly under the radar: the environment inside your […]
No Sick Days: How to Keep Kids Healthy at School
The new school year is right around the corner (or has already begun!) and that means books, homework, and sometimes a sick child. Around this time of year, I get a lot of quesitons from parents who want to know what I recommend to help keep kids healthy at school. I can’t help with books or homework (sorry […]
Summer Constipation: How to Find Relief
If you read my blogs often, you know I talk a lot about diarrhea and bowel movements. Today, we’re talking about the other end of the spectrum… summer constipation. Constipation might not seem like a “summer thing,” but you’d be surprised how often it shows up when children (and adults) are out of their usual routine. This can be […]
How to Avoid Post-Pool Day Meltdowns
Have you ever Googled: “Why is my child losing it after swimming?” Your child is sobbing over a soggy Goldfish cracker. You’re gripping the steering wheel like it’s a stress ball. Sound familiar? Let’s talk about why pool days often end in total emotional chaos, and, more importantly, how to stop the meltdowns before they start. Here are three surprising […]
How to Treat Mosquito Bites: Our Body’s Histamine Response
Camping season is here… which means s’mores, swims, and… swarms of mosquitos (and their bites, unfortunately). So if you’re wondering how to treat mosquito bites, then you’ll want to keep reading. What is a mosquito bite, anyway? When a mosquito bites, it injects a tiny bit of saliva into the skin. This saliva contains proteins […]
Molluscum Contagiosum in Kids: What Parents Need to Know
Summer brings plenty of opportunities for kids to swim, play outside, attend camp, and spend time with friends. It is also a time when molluscum contagiosum in kids may become more noticeable, as close contact and shared surfaces can make this common viral skin infection easier to spread. Molluscum contagiosum in kids is a common […]
Summer Colds: How to Prevent and Combat Them
We were taught in medical school about the immune system, digestive system, and nervous system, but we learned about them as separate entities. However, that’s not really how the body works. Everything is connected. We don’t have fences in the body so inflammation in one area is inflammation everywhere. Dysfunction in one system, eventually leads […]
Eczema, Asthma, and Allergies in Kids: How to Prepare for Pollen
Eczema, asthma, and allergies in kids often go hand in hand. In fact, 50–80% of children with eczema and asthma also have environmental allergies. For example, a child with eczema may also have wheezing. A child with allergies may suddenly develop skin rashes or chronic congestion. It’s easy to assume these are separate issues, but […]
