Articles

Body With Soul Your Total Healthcare Network conducted a seminar for the Australian International School Singapore (AISS) nurses on issues involving the adolescent on the 4th March 2011. Doctors from CHI and practitioners from BwS presented topics and discussed issues that are commonly experienced by growing and developing children. Dr James Read talked about the overall health for adolescence and the changes that occur to them. Dr Kwan Yew Seng tackled about Osgood-Schlatter Disease. Sivan, our art therapist explained how art therapy could help children express themselves non-verbally that may help address their need. Lastly, Prudence Low our affiliate Speech Pathologist showed video and explains things that could hinder a childs speech development. The following will show the topics that were presented on the talk.

During adolescence a child’s body grows and develops faster than at any other time, Adolescere “grow up, come to maturity” the adolescence is a period where our children will experience many profound changes on every level. So what can you expect when your child enters puberty? Emotional and physical changes, sleeping disorders, moods chaos are just part of the package of adolescence. Still, adolescence is a period of time when children are trying to fit it, and find out who they really are. And that can lead, in some cases, to difficulty. That means it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how your child is developing physically, mentally and emotionally, and if you suspect problems, don’t hesitate to consult an expert.

Osgood-Schlatter Disease

Dr Kwan Yew Seng, CHI Medical Doctor

Osgood-Schlatter Disease, or OSD, is a common cause of knee pain in adolescents. It affects active boys and girls around the ages of 9-16, i.e. during the period of their growth spurt. Sports like rugby, basketball, netball, football and tennis are usually involved because they are activities that involve running, jumping and swift changes in direction. Traditionally boys are affected more than girls but this difference is getting less as more girls are taking part in sports.

The usual presentation of OSD is intense knee pain during activities, sometimes precipitated by a fall or a knock on the knee.

OSD is an overuse injury, caused by repeated contractions of the quadriceps muscle that result in multiple subacute avulsion fractures at the tibial tuberosity. This causes painful inflammation. There will also be excessive bone growth at the tibial tuberosity that shows up as a prominence below the knee cap.

Treatment of OSD is with the use of RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) and complete cessation of activities for at least 1 week. There is usually come tightness of the quadriceps and hamstring muscles so physiotherapy for strectching and muscle strengthening will be helpful. The good news is the condition will resolve when growth stops.

Art Therapy

How Art Therapy can deal with emotional sterss among expatriate teens

Sivan Golan Weinstein, Bws Art Therapist

Art Therapy is a form of expresive therapy taht uses art materials to address psychological and emotional needs. It combines traditional psychotherapeutic theroies and techniques with an undrstanding of the psychological aspect of the creative process.

The term adolescent is used to denote the second decade of life and is comprised of three stages ( ages 10-13, 14-17, 18-20). Beyond infancy, no other phase of life holds so many changes that occur with such rapidity, both physically and psychologically. It is viewed as one of the most challenging chapters in the subject’s life from psychological view points and poses unique challenges from a therapeutic view point. the developmental changes that take place during this period are pervasive and have fundamental impact on which he or she would be in their adulthood.

Puberty is affecting physical appearance that is visible to the world and hormonal changes affect their mood. During this time adolescents change the way they think which helps them to explore, examine values, shape their ethics and question authority. They view the world from an egocentric perspective which means: he or she percieves themselves as on stage and always the center of attention. They will become extremely sensitive to every nuance of their audience. Since the world in reality is not focused on the adolescents’ performance, they will often construct a personal story, which will explain why others could not understand them and why they are so special and unique.

Another major task during adolscence will be to construct an identity: to develop the sense of self as being independent and different from others. the search for ” Who I am” will also lead to the changes in relationship with parents and family.

The peer group will become more important and will serve for the adolescent as a secure place for the seperation-individuation process.

On top of all this, getting to know the opposite sex members is another significant challenge.

The Challlenges of relocation

Relocation disconnects, often abruptly, the adolescent from his/her past environment and culture. The impact of relocation combines loss of social status, social connections, constancy, past and identity. He or she may thus experience a cultural and environmental gap until they adjust to the new environment and acquire new social connections. This often has stressful impact on adolescents, which has negative affect on their behavior and social ability.

Art Therapy and relocated adolescents

Art Therapy may assist relocated adolescents to adjust to the new environment and culture, regulate the stress that the change of environment imposes and streamline the psychological process of this age into normalcy.

The parents have an important role in this process and working with them during that time may equip parents to deal better with the challenges.

How does it Work?

Art and mark making is common to all human beings and yo every society. Art Therapy combines both verbal interventions and creativity.

the unconscious and conscious aspect of the person can be expressed through art and mark making. They will become tangible and available for exploration. Using art materials by itself can have therapeutic benefits in encouraging creativity, imagination, risk-taking and adaptability. The client will use the Art Therapy room and the process as a safe space in which issues can be dealt with in a non judgemental environment with support and empathy. The process will allow him/her to explore, create, fantasize and become more self-aware, eventually leading to a more balanced adolescence, self-development and growth.

One does not need to have any art background or experience in order to benefit from Art Therapy.

Speech Therapy

Prudence Low, Total Communication Speech Pathologist

Prudence Low, Speech Language Therapist, provided an overview of what paediatric SLPs do. Prudence was able to show-case a small segment of her typical caseload, which included articulation and motor speech disorders, via video clips. Phonological delays are fairly common in young children and can be addressed easily. More severe motor speech disorders, such as childhood apraxia of speech has to addressed using more specific techniques and approaches.”

Nutrition and the Challenges of Adolescence

Dr James Read, CHI Medical Doctor

Adolescence is a life stage fraught with challenges. It is a time of a desire for increasing independence yet limited opportunity for complete self care or life experience to understand the complex responsibilities of modern adulthood. This challenging life stage also spans a phase of massive hormonal and physical changes. Adolescence is characterised by high levels of testosterone in boys with related increase in libido, aggression and competitiveness to be the alpha male. This often includes a desire to challenge authority including parents and teachers. The growth spurt depletes iron, zinc and Vitamin B6 which are required for making the happy brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine and the calming chemical GABA our natural valium. Low levels of these are associated with irritability, depression, anxiety, impaired learning and abstract thought.

In young women menstrual cycles are initially irregular and frequently occur without ovulation. This causes hormonal imbalance with a dominance of oestrogen over the calming hormone progesterone. This imbalance causes an exacerbation of premenstrual syndrome symptoms and further depletes both zinc and vitamin b6 as occurs in boys. Other factors that coincide include unstable blood sugar levels, an increased requirement for both energy and sleep and a shift in daily body clock. Most of these nutritional and hormonal problems can be managed through lifestyle with diet modification, exercise , adequate exercise sleep and supplementation.With proper assessment and individualised management of adolescents they have the potential to flourish and optimise their potential as successful adults.