SIU pediatric neurologist,
Dr. Hossam AbdelSalam,
evaluates Timothy Grant. 

July 19, 2007

Taking Care of Your Child’s Headache

The pain that accompanies a child’s headaches is as real as it is for adults and not something to be dismissed as a child’s imagination.

Headaches are on the rise in children, according to Dr. Hossam H. AbdelSalam, assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, who specializes in treating headaches in children.

Recent studies say headaches generally affect between 15 to 20 percent of children.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), more than half of teens report having at least one headache per month.

Whether the headache is severe or not is another question.  “If the headache is strong enough to debilitate or affect the daily activities of a child or adolescent, then it is considered severe,” says AbdelSalam, who is one of the pediatric specialists recruited as a part of St. John’s Children’s Hospital, which is a joint endeavor of SIU and St. John’s Hospital.

Headaches, no matter how severe, impact everyday life.  But in children, headaches can affect growth and academic achievement.  The ability to think and reason is also impacted because headaches can cause a child to miss school or interfere with studying and homework. 

Children get the same types of headaches as adults.  The three most common types of headaches in children are migraines, tension-type and chronic-type, explains AbdelSalam.  Migraines can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and sensitivity to light and sound.  Tension-type headaches usually bring on a feeling as if a tight band were wrapped around the head while chronic-type headaches refer to those occurring repeatedly over a period of time.

Certainly headaches often are caused by and occur with viral infections, such as a cold or the flu.  Even playing in the sun or lack of sleep can cause headaches in children.  But, keeping an eye on your child and the frequency of headaches is important because there could be an underlying cause.  If a child complains regularly of a headache without an infection, parents should consider a visit to their physician.

 “If parents notice other symptoms accompanying the headaches, like morning vomiting or other neurological symptoms, such as the child is not walking properly or not running as fast, the child should see a physician as soon as possible,” says AbdelSalam.

One suggestion to parents from the AAP is to keep a headache diary.  Make notes of when headaches occur, how long they last, what the child was doing when the headaches started, what he or she had eaten, how much sleep they have had, and what makes the headache better or worse.  To read more, go online to the AAP Web site at www.aap.org.

For short-term headache treatments, over-the-counter Tylenol and Motrin children’s medicines are best.  Pain medication should not become a crutch, however.  “If parents think they need to give their children pain medication more than once a week, they should see their physician,” AbdelSalam advises. 

Some children suffer from migraines, which are commonly genetic.  In very rare cases, headache is a symptom of a brain tumor, high blood pressure or some other serious problem, cautions AbdelSalam.

Seeing a physician should lead to considering various treatments for headaches.  Bringing the headache diary along may help.  Once the right treatment is discovered, it typically is prescribed for six months to a year.  Eventually, therapy is tapered off in hopes that the problem has been resolved.  “We no longer believe that once a person begins a specific treatment, they must continue it for a lifetime,” AbdelSalam says. 

AbdelSalam joined the SIU faculty in 2006.  He completed a three-year fellowship in child neurology at Cleveland Clinic Foundation (2006).  He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.  To contact him or schedule a consultation, call (217) 545-6950 or (800) 342-5748, weekdays.

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