Some health care products marketed to parents may not be as healthy as they claim to be — and in some cases, a pediatrician has warned, they may be doing more harm than good.
Beachgem10 is a pediatric emergency medicine doctor with four children, and she has parents hanging on her every word in a viral TikTok video with 3.5 million views.
The doctor admits there are five products she “hates”, saying they are well marketed but “may have side effects for children”.
Medicines under six years old
With cold and flu season upon us, Beachgem10 says it’s against any cough and cold medicine that says it’s for children under six.
“These are not recommended,” she warned. “They are expensive. They generally do nothing. And they have a lot of side effects associated with them.”
They can also end up leading to more problems.
“In pediatrics, we don’t really recommend cold medicine. Certainly not for children under six anyway, because they are younger and more susceptible to side effects,” Dr. Brittany Chan, a pediatrician at Texas Children’s in Spring, Texas, told the American Medical Association.
These side effects may include irritability, fatigue, and behavioral changes.
Instead, TikTok’s document says that during sick season, it’s best to simply give children ibuprofen and Tylenol moisturizers, Pedialyte and Gatorade, saline and cold mist.
Neosporin
Neosporin, an antibiotic ointment made with neomycin, polymyxin B and bacitracin, is also on her no-no list — and she’s not the only one warning against it.
Some dermatologists have spoken — and gone viral on social media — with words of caution.
A potential downside: A 2021 study found that when Neosporin was used, wounds healed more slowly than when it wasn’t.
Additionally, dermatologists worry that it can lead to allergic reactions and rashes – and that sensitivity can develop even later in life, after years of trouble-free use.
“It’s a common source of allergic contact dermatitis,” dermatologist Ranella Hirsch, MD, told Allure.
Instead, she and many other dermas recommend simply washing cuts and scrapes and dabbing them with petroleum jelly (like Vaseline).
“Petrolatum keeps the wound from drying out and, as it happens, is the main ingredient in most antibiotic ointments – the one that does most of the heavy lifting,” she added.