Horrific Headaches

How to Cope with
Childhood Migraines

By Megan Kopp

According to the National Headache Foundation, 10.3 million children ages 5 to 17 suffer from chronic headaches. Of these, 5 percent are afflicted by migraines.

Judith Turner's son, Scott, has endured severe headaches since he was 4 years old. "He doesn't want to move and is very disturbed by light or noise," says Turner, a mom from Sandy, Utah. "They last perhaps a few hours, but he often falls asleep as they subside. He usually vomits one time, feels better and goes to sleep. He wakes up feeling perfectly fine and usually hungry. The headaches occur about three or four times a year."

This pattern is typical of many children suffering from migraine headaches. "A migraine is typically a one-sided (although in children it may involve both sides of the head) throbbing pain which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and movement," says Suzanne Simons, executive director of The National Headache Foundation in Chicago, Ill. "It can last from several hours to several days."

Migraines can also produce visual disturbances as well, according to Dr. Leon Zacharowicz, a pediatric neurologist from the Nassau University Medical Center in New York. "A classic migraine is often associated with disturbances such as flickering lights and objects ... [H]owever, more than 70 percent of migraines are the common type, without the aura."

As a parent, your immediate concern when a migraine hits is helping your child feel better. Children's headache medicines, such as ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Junior Tylenol), are usually the first treatment of choice, combined with dark rooms, rest and quiet.

"I think the best thing I did was ask [my son] what would make him feel better and then tried my best to do it," says Kim Hoelzli of Thamesford, Ontario, Canada. "I tried cool cloths on his forehead and rocking him, but none of it seemed to work as well as his system of lying flat, vomiting and then sleeping. I think they are over quicker when we do it his way."

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