What causes children's
headaches?
Children
of all ages experience headaches and may even have them on a recurrent basis. A
number of factors, singly or in combination, can cause your child’s headache.
These include:
—
Genetic predisposition: Headaches, especially
migraines, tend to run in families.
—
Illness and infection: Headache is a frequent
symptom of common childhood illnesses, including ear infections, strep throat,
sinus infections, and colds.
—
Head trauma: Most head bumps are minor,
but seek medical attention quickly if your child has dizziness, nausea,
vomiting, blurred or double vision, ringing in the ears, any memory loss, poor
coordination or emotional instability (anger, crying, anxiety) or has a
steadily worsening headache after a bang on the head.
—
Environmental factors: Weather changes, odors, loud
noises, bright light, and secondhand smoke can all cause headaches.
—
Emotional factors: Depression, stress, or
anxiety, which may be affected by peer pressure, school problems and family
concerns, can lead to headaches.
—
Certain foods, food
additives, and beverages: MSG (in foods like bacon, bologna, hot dogs) and caffeine (in
soda, chocolate, coffee and tea) are known to trigger headaches.
—
Sleep deprivation: Overtiredness or a change in
routine or sleep pattern may cause headaches in children.
—
Inadequate hydration or
skipping meals: Lack of fluids or food can cause headaches.
—
Eyestrain: If your child complains of
headache and/or dizziness when reading and writing schedule an eye exam.
What kind of headache does
your child have?
Headaches
are typically hard to describe, especially for children. Some are related to
stress, while others are the result of an illness or injury. Headaches are classified into two main
categories — primary and secondary. Primary
headaches develop by themselves rather than as a result of illness or
injury. This category includes:
—
Tension-type headache. Often stress related, the
most common of children's headaches; the child may complain of a tightening or
pressure in the head, neck and skull muscles.
—
Migraine. Approximately 5 percent of
school-age children experience migraines. Before children reach puberty,
migraines affect about the same number of boys as girls, but in the teen years,
girls tend to have migraines more often. A migraine may be disabling, causing
not just pain but nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.
Children may also have all of the signs of a migraine with no head pain, known
as an abdominal migraine. Unlike tension-type headaches, migraines often occur
during nonstressful or recreational times.
—
Cluster headache. This is the least common
type of headache in children. It's usually disabling and involves a sharp,
stabbing pain on one side of the head.
Secondary headaches result from some underlying
condition, such as fever, cold virus, strep throat, head trauma, sinus or ear
infection, medication side effects, meningitis, temporomandibular joint
disorders (TMJ) or other jaw-related problems.
Preventing children's
headaches -
Measures
that promote general good health will prevent all but the occasional headache
in a child:
—
Adequate rest. Children need plenty of
sleep on a regular schedule, at least 9 hours.
—
A healthy diet and fluids. Your child needs to eat
breakfast, lunch, dinner and nutritious snacks throughout the day. Be sure your
child drinks enough water, particularly in hot weather and after strenuous
activity.
—
Take steps at the first sign
of a headache.
When your child develops a headache, encourage him or her to take a nap — if
possible, in a dark, quiet room.
—
Keep a headache diary. Note times and places that
headaches occur. Describe any thoughts,
behaviors or events that occur with headaches. Information from the diary will
help to identify possible headache triggers. Wait for the child to volunteer
that he or she has a headache rather than asking.
—
Avoid stressors. Be alert for things that may
be causing stress in your child's life, such as difficulty doing schoolwork or
strained relationships with peers.
—
Exercise. Regular aerobic exercise,
such as walking, swimming or biking, can help reduce the frequency and
intensity of headaches. Exercise
relieves stress, relaxes your muscles and increases the levels of the body's
natural stress relievers.
When to Call the MD?
Seek your
pediatrician’s advice if your child has recurrent headaches or any episode of
head pain severe enough to keep him/her out of school or other activities.
