Children are no different than us grown-ups when it comes to getting headaches. By that I mean that some children get them often and it is nothing to worry about. Most of the time when I see a child for headaches in clinic, the parents underlying fear is that their child has a brain tumor so I put that on the table for discussion right away. I have seen children complain of headaches as early as they can verbalize and localize symptoms, but during the teen years, headaches are much more common.
The way I explain headaches in clinic is that it is often a spectrum with tension headaches on one end and a full blown migraine on the other. It is a continuum where sometimes you have more symptoms than others.
Headaches in general can be triggered by a variety of things including:
- Illnesses
- Stress
- Dehydration
- Not enough sleep
- Certain foods like chocolate, hard and aged cheeses, pizza
- Food additives
- Certain drugs (birth control pills, tetracycline, too much Vitamin A)
- Caffeinated beverages
- Eye strain or sun glare
- Pain medication (taking analgesics too often can lead to rebound headaches)
A classic tension headache is a squeezing or band like sensation around the head or pain in the back of the head and neck. They often come on as the day progresses into the afternoon. They are very common in the teen years and no surprise, stress is often a trigger.
Migraines are also common and occur in about 10 percent of teens. Even preteens can get migraines. They often run in families. With migraines, children can have an aura consisting of things like flickering lights or visual distortions. The migraines can also lead to nausea and vomiting. Triggers are often stress or certain foods. Quite often sleep is the solution for a migraine.
Certainly there are times when parents should worry and seek evaluation right away. Some of the warning signs would be severe sudden onset of the worst headache ever, worsening daily headaches with or without vomiting, confusion, clumsiness or weakness to name a few.
When it comes to treatment, typically earlier is better. With a tension headache, encourage your child to sit down and relax. A hot bath or shower can help sometimes, as can a hot or cool compress on the neck or forehead. For migraines, a dark quiet place seems to be best for most people with sleep being the ultimate treatment. Medications have a role as well. Tension headaches respond well to a single dose of an analgesic such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. This is often the case for migraines as well, but occasionally other medications are necessary such as the triptans which work via a different mechanism.
I am a fan of headache logs. Often by writing things down a trend or trigger can be identified and used to prevent the headaches from happening in the first place. Things that can be tracked include the following:
- When it occurred
- How long it lasted and how severe
- What they were doing when it started
- What they ate that day
- How much sleep they had the previous day
In summary, headaches are common and most often nothing to stress over. It might give you a headache.
Hello,
I very much appreciated your article on children and headaches. In the past, my son has had occasional headaches, and I’ve wondered about if there was anything more serious happening with him, especially since he gets bloody noses at lease every few months. I’ve never noticed that the headaches and bloody noses occur simulataneously. My first response to headaches are to think about the hours of activity and diet prior to the headaches, and have found your tip of hydrating to be most helpful. The headaches usually go away after i have my son drink a lot of water and then continue to hydrate the rest of the day. Thanks again for this info – very reassuring and helpful!