Welcome

Our website, www.doctorsharp.com, is dedicated to helping infants with colic.

I - David L. Sharp, M.D. - am a family physician currently retired from private clinical practice, but with a deep and abiding passion for helping families who are trying to cope with an infant who is suffering from what we commonly call "colic," but which may in fact be caused by a number of problems.

My clinical experience has been with infants I've delivered or with infants who have been referred to my practice by word of mouth from families I've helped. At this point in time (2008) I no longer have a private practice, but am employed in two wonderful "semi-retirement" positions, neither of which gives me access to infants with colic. Thus, while my passion continues, my role has shifted to one of "coach" to those seeking help, whether they be families of a colicky infant, or professionals attempting to treat such infants.

Our website is dedicated to sharing my clinical experience in the hope that infants with constipative colic (you'll have to read more to understand why I use this term advisedly) will be helped to the point of complete relief of their colicky symptoms. This is "a work in progress," as folks often say. How much more actual practice I do, speaking engagements and professional advice to other medical providers, et cetera, is something that will simply have to evolve in response to reality.

You can try contacting me by clicking on the above "Contact" link. I will do my best to respond to your enquiries, but obviously cannot make any promises or guarantees of help or improvement in your infant with colic.

My foremost suggestion is that you download any of this material that you find helpful and give it to your doctor or practitioner to guide them in helping your infant with colic. Information is power! Many of them will reject it out of hand. I would then advise you to persist (see Holy Bible, Luke 18:1-8) or to seek another, more sympathetic, practitioner! The digital rectal examination is easily performed and is quite definitive in "ruling out" constipative colic. A fussy baby with a normal rectal examination needs further testing to determine the cause of fussiness. On the other hand, a baby with constipative colic has just been cured!

Most importantly, please know that it is NOT YOUR FAULT! Constipative colic as I have come to understand it is a randomly distributed embryological variant. It can happen to any baby in any family! Fortunately, the diagnosis and cure are just a finger away! As time has gone on, I have found it fascinating to observe my own family. We started having grand-children in 2001. We now have 8. Two have had colic (which cleared nicely with DRE). As any statistician will tell you, this is not a statistically significant event, but the 20-25% incidence seems to hold...

Let's see if we can reach the 10,000 babies examined, with all constipative colic prevented. THAT will be statistically significant! Let me know of your experiences.