The Way to Handle Headaches and Migraines in Children


For children, migraines can be so severe that they affect learning, athletic performance and friendships.

Here, find out if your kid is susceptible to migraines, learn the symptoms (Hint, it’s not a throbbing headache), and the easy fixes that will help him feel better in no time.

Migraines are Common in Children

About 10 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 15 suffer from migraines. Before puberty, it’s seen in about the same number of boys and girls but after it’s higher in girls because of the rise in estrogen. In fact, about 50 percent of girls will experience migraines a few days before or on the first day of their menstrual periods.

Migraines have been reported in babies as young as 18-months-old. Although it’s more difficult to identify, if there’s a family history or a parent is a migraine sufferer, they may be able to recognize the signs early.

There’s also some evidence that if a baby has colic, they’re more likely to have migraines as they get older.

“The abdominal symptoms of colic are actually early manifestations of migraine,” said Dr. Andrew D. Hershey, endowed chair and director of neurology and of the headache center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Plus, two conditions, benign paroxysmal torticollis— which can cause a stiff neck— and benign positional vertigo— which can cause a child to suddenly fall— are also thought to be precursors to migraines, said Dr. Howard Jacobs, a pediatrician, headache specialist and an associate professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Kids who tend to get carsick may be more likely to have migraines, as well.

Although there is a strong genetic link to migraines, environmental factors such as skipping meals or changes in sleep patterns that stress the hypersensitive nervous system into having a migraine can play a role too, Hershey said.   

Symptoms of Migraines

Unlike tension headaches that can progress from mild to moderate, migraines advance from moderate to severe. What’s more, migraines in kids often look very different than when adults get them.  For starters, kids usually don’t have a pounding headache but more of a steady pain and it’s usually on both sides of the head.

Children with migraines tend to complain of sensitivity to light and sound, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and sweating. Approximately 10 to 25 percent will also experience an aura, such as blurry vision, flashing lights and colored spots before the headache.

Plus, some school-age children have symptoms of a migraine without ever having a headache. It’s a syndrome known as cyclic vomiting and it’s marked by episodes of vomiting over a few hours that often require hospitalization, as well as dizziness and sensitivity to light.

Other children may go undiagnosed because they have an “abdominal migraine,” that causes abdominal pain, usually without fever, diarrhea or vomiting without ever experiencing a headache.

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