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All About Children’s Headaches

Does your child frequently complain about having a headache? Headaches may be common, but they’re not normal. The problem with headaches in children, however, is that they may be more difficult to diagnose in terms of cause and effect. This is especially true with younger children, because they frequently lack the verbal skills or experience to effectively communicate what is wrong or what they are feeling.

Tension headaches are the most common type of headache found in children (just like in adults) and usually involve about 75% of all childhood headaches. Episodic tension headaches occur several times a month, while chronic tension headaches are much more frequent – more than 15 occurrences in a month. Recent studies seem to point to a genetic link to these types of headaches, where previously, none was thought to exist. Triggers may be lack of sleep, tension in the home or school environment, second-hand cigarette smoke, skipped meals, poor nutrition, eye strain and bright lights.

Migraine-type headaches, though more infrequent, also affect children and if a parent suffers from migraines, their child is 50% more likely to experience them as well. Put a different way, in 70%-90% of all children with migraines, there is a family history of migraines as well. Migraine triggers include foods, such as chocolate and caffeine, lack of sleep, missed meals and, particularly in females, hormonal changes.

Children’s headaches can also be caused by chronic ear and sinus infections, onset of menstruation, strep throat or fever. While most parents reach for over-the-counter pain relievers to deal with their child’s pain, this approach may produce certain undesirable side effects and even trigger rebound headaches.

There are many drug-free alternative ways to deal with children’s headaches. Naturally, we think a thorough chiropractic examination is the best place to start. We’ll conduct a full screening to pinpoint triggers and identify and correct any nerve interference from the upper spine that might be involved. Locating and correcting vertebral subluxation in pediatric patients has been quite successful in relieving the pain, frequency and duration of their headaches in a relatively short span of time.

A simple solution that is easily within your reach – just talk to our office if your child is experiencing frequent headaches.