NORFOLK, Va. — "My head hurts."
Hearing those words from your child can be alarming, especially if your child has many headaches.
In children, migraines have a considerable effect on development, often leading to missed school days, educational delays, and decreased socialization.
Here are some tips from CHKD for parents to help kids with headaches.
Tip 1: Youngsters’ most common head pains are migraine and tension headaches. The pain can be throbbing pain in the forehead area or generalized pressure like pain.
Tiredness, stress, pressure at home or school, or conflict with parents or friends can trigger migraine and tension headaches. They may keep coming until the underlying issue is resolved.
Don’t overuse medicine because it can worsen the headaches sometimes. To ease the pain:
- Apply an ice pack
- Have your child practice slow deep breathing
- Have your child take a nap or rest in a dark room
Tip2: Treat kids' headaches seriously.
While most headaches in children are “just headaches” and not concerning for dangerous underlying causes (e.g. brain tumor), headaches often lead to significant morbidity.
Migraines can cause throbbing pain, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Over-the-counter ibuprofen, naproxen or acetaminophen can ease pain.
Studies have shown that up to 25% of children between 11 and 15 years old have experienced a migraine headache. Children as young as 3 have been reported with headaches that meet the migraine criteria.
The percentage rises with age, with boys having more headaches pre-puberty and girls having a higher incidence during and after puberty.
Tip 3: Head off the ache! What can parents do?
There are treatment options for prevention and acute rescue of disabling headaches including supplements, prescription medications, neuromodulatory devices, and injections.
A headache could mean something as simple as a child’s life is out of balance. For children with frequent attacks, some lifestyle changes may be necessary.
Be a detective and search for triggers such as poor diet (missing breakfast and/or lunch), not sleeping enough, not exercising, stress, and eating certain foods such as cheese, chocolates, nuts, caffeine, MSG, pickles. Also taking over-the-counter meds more than three times a week on a weekly basis can cause medication overuse headaches, also known as rebound headaches.
If your child is experiencing significant headaches, please contact CHKD’s headache center to arrange a clinical appointment where we can help to formulate a treatment plan.
Make sure your child:
- Gets enough sleep by keeping a regular sleep schedule, not staying up late or becoming overtired
- Drinks plenty of fluids so as not to become dehydrated
- Have some downtime from a hectic schedule
- Eats three balanced meals a day
Call your healthcare provider promptly if your child’s headache is accompanied by a fever, stiff neck, vomiting, waking her/him up from sleep or problems with vision, weakness in one arm or leg, balance or coordination.
Be sure to tell your health care provider about suspected migraines. Some kids may need preventive prescription medication