Q: My 11 years old son is suffering from kidney stones from the past 3 years. He is still having multiple stones i.e. 2 stones in the kidney and one stone in his stomach. Last year, he was operated for one stone as that stone got stuck in his gall bladder. We are giving him ayurvedic medicines for the last 7 to 8 months but nothing has improved. He drinks a lot of water. He is studying in the sixth standard. He often complains of stomachache when he sits down to study and otherwise while playing he doesn't. We are often confused whether or not he really has stomach pain or is saying so to avoid studying?

A:Your son definitely has a medical problem, for which you must follow guidelines specified by the medical specialist. Regarding your doubt that he is only pretending to have pain, he obviously would be having pain at different times, but it is quite possible that he is using it to avoid studies. Maybe he does not pay attention to it while playing. Children and even adults often learn to use their physical symptoms to avoid unpleasant situations or tasks. We also enjoy the attention we get when we are ill. This makes most of us use our illness to get attention and also to avoid chores. All of us tend to ignore pain or discomfort when we are doing things we enjoy. Rather than scolding him or ridiculing him, acknowledge the problem, and then try to divert his attention and explain to him that he must complete the studies for his own benefit. Praise him when he continues studying despite the complaint of pain. He will soon get the message that despite the pain, studies have to be done.