In the very young the symptom of this problem is often gas colic. Head pain typically appears around age 7-8 and can be severe and debilitating
Even the youngest can suffer from headaches and the most common form is migraine, which affects about one in ten children. At the base there is generally a strong genetic predisposition: almost always a parent suffers from it, even if he may not be aware of it because he has very occasional headaches.
How does migraine manifest in children?
There being a hereditary basis, migraine present from birth, although the manifestations may be different depending on the age and the severity may vary over the course of life – he premises Massimiliano Valeriani, head of the Headache Center of the Bambino Ges hospital in Rome -. For instance in infants of a few months, migraine does not manifest itself with the classic headache: the most typical symptom is gas colic. In the older child there may be other symptoms always attributable to the migraine syndrome such as car sickness, frequent stomach aches or pains in the limbs which pediatricians often define as growing pains. Migraine-related headaches typically appear around the age of seven to eight.
What to do?
When a child has a headache it must first and foremost understand if it is a primary headache, itself a disease like migraine, or a symptomatic headache of another disease. Certainly migraines are the most frequent cause of headaches in children, but other factors are often involved, starting with from respiratory diseases of the upper airways (from colds to flu) or more serious conditions that must be evaluated by the pediatrician or a specialist in the field, emphasizes Massimiliano Valeriani. Then there is a myth to dispel about sinusitis: the frontal sinuses are formed around the age of seven, eight, therefore It is impossible that the headache in a 4-5 year old child is due to this condition, adds the head of the Headache Center.
What are the characteristics of the migraine attack?
a very strong and debilitating headache, even if in the child it may last a short time, only a few minutes. Often accompanied by other symptoms such as discomfort with light or noise, dizziness as well as nausea and vomiting. The presence of vomiting at the same time as the headache can be very frightening to parents, but we must remember that it could be an integral part of a migraine attack and therefore benign.
What are the triggers?
They are different and among them there are some that are difficult to control, such as environmental ones, from excessive temperatures to too much humidity. Other factors are, however, modifiable such as irregularities in the sleep-wake cycle. As for the factors food type you have to be very careful because sometimes some doctors provide lists with foods to avoid, but there are absolutely no foods to eliminate. Only those foods for which the patient himself (or the parents in the case of the little ones) realizes the existence of a link with migraine should be limited. Among the triggers of the migraine attack, and in any case aggravating the severity of the migraine, the emotional ones linked to anxiety and stress play a prominent role, especially in relation to the school. Many children show some sort of seasonality of migraine syndrome: they are worse off during the school period and improve, often surprisingly, in the summer when less stress. The trend of migraine varies over the course of life. Among the factors that can influence it are hormonal ones. Before puberty the prevalence of migraine is the same in both sexes, while later greater in females (4 to 1 in the adult). The adult woman usually has relief in pregnancy and especially after menopause which can also determine the disappearance of the attacks.
How can it be cured?
There are two main strategies: migraine attack therapy and prophylactic therapy to reduce the frequency of attacks when these exceed four or five per month, thus significantly interfering with everyday life. Some are used to treat the attack non-steroidal pain relievers and anti-inflammatories, while i triptani (best therapy in adults) can be done use only after 12 years in reduced dosages. Medicines borrowed from adult migraines are used for prophylaxis. Beside the drugs, there are different supplements, from magnesium to feverfew, which are widely used in children as they have no side effects. There are no studies that demonstrate its effectiveness unequivocally, however several subjects seem to benefit from it, also thanks to the placebo effect, which in the child can reach peaks of 60 percent.
November 4, 2021 (change November 4, 2021 | 16:01)
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