Headaches in kids
74% of girls and 52% of boys have headaches at age 17, according to a Finnish study of 6,262 twins. At age 11, 60% of girls and 59% of boys had headaches at least once a month. The prevalence of weekly headaches increase d in girls from 16% to 25% between ages 11 and 14. Headaches in kids is a major problem, but unfortunately it does not receive proper attention. Sometimes parents do not believe that their child has a headache or if they do, they are reluctant to take the child to a doctor because they don’t want to resort to prescription medications. Fortunately, many non-drug approaches are very effective in kids. Regular sleep schedule (very hard to enforce in teenagers), regular meals, frequent aerobic exercise, biofeedback or meditation, and supplements can be very effective. Several studies have shown that kids with headaches are often deficient in magnesium, riboflavin (vitamin B2), and Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10). If a child still has headaches, a medications may also be appropriate.
March 12th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Please help, I do not know whom to ask.
Child (boy) 4.5 years old had a headache for more than 4 month. He has it approx. 4 times a day. Pain as he told us, he felt in front part of head. We had consultations with neurologist and ENT. Antiviral treatment with the use of antibiotics was made for 2 times. Also we made complete inspection of organism and brain. Computerized Axial Tomography, encephalogram were made, ultrasonic scanning of all organs of child, a lot of blood tests for bacterial and parasites. But doctors could not tell us the reason of such headaches. While we made Antiviral treatment headaches became more rear and not so strong, but when we finished such treatment it became almost like at the beginning.
March 12th, 2010 at 9:15 am
Your son probably needs needs to be seen by another neurologist who possibly will order more tests, such as a spinal tap, magnesium level, and if available, an MRI scan.