Headaches in Children

[kmm111]

Parents who are reading this - how often do your kids get headaches? My son is 9 and (other than when he's sick with a virus), only complained of a headache once last year. Recently, however, he had one and then 9 days later he complained of another one! With the most recent one he was nauseous as well. I gave him ibuprofen and he was fine in about 20 min. I'm so worried for him that it's something sinister. He has an appointment to get his eyes checked next week but doesn't have any problems with his vision that I know of. If he has another headache, I don't know how I am going to handle it. He got so frustrated with me the other day because I've been constantly asking him how he is feeling and if he is ok. HA is awful :(

[.Poppy.]

I'm not a parent, but I had headaches a lot as a kid. I'm not really sure when they started, but I know the doctors originally thought that my sinuses just weren't developed. But then I was diagnosed with migraines when I was 11 so they wondered if I'd just been having migraines all those years (though frankly, the headaches I started having at 11 were so much worse than the ones I'd had previously). I've had multiple MRIs since I was 11 and everything is normal.

I know they say headaches are rare in children, but I think they're more common than generally believed. Especially now - I'm not sure how much screen time your son gets, but I know screen time can trigger headaches for me so I wonder if kids who get a lot aren't getting headaches from that.

And, it may be that his vision needs correcting, but just isn't bad enough yet that he's brought it up.

Try to relax (easier said than done, I'm sure!) until after the appointment next week. If you're still worried, just call your GP and ask. But headaches, even in kids, don't always mean something sinister.

[Aussie11]

I have a 10 year old son and he has been suffering headaches since he was 3, so have worried about the same thing many times. He had an MRI when he was 3, and nothing found. Headaches continued and we have treated them as migraines, with ibruprofen, sometimes Imigran and anti nausea. He had another MRI last year as I wanted to make sure there was nothing sinister, and again results came back clear. He still occasionally complains of headaches and we get straight onto it with 1 ibruprofen and 1 paracetemol and off in a dark room to sleep it off. I think some kids are just very unlucky in suffering from a young age. The eye check is a good start, and if you're still worried talk to your doctor for some reassurance and/or tests - but definitely can be normal for young kids.