Headache at children

Headache at children – a symptom, quite frequent, but rather difficult for assessment. Distinguish functional and symptomatic headaches. At symptomatic headaches it is possible to establish the reason of their emergence. At functional headaches most often it is not possible to reveal structural disturbances which caused this state.

Quite often the headache is followed by an acrimony or crying of the child. Headache peaks at children are shown usually in six-seven years (during adaptation to school) and in thirteen-fifteen years (during puberty). At school age the complaint of the child to a headache can be considered reliable.

The reasons of headaches at children

For clarification of an actual reason of a headache huge value has observation of adults of features of behavior of the child. If the child complains of a headache, then at first it is necessary to specify localization of pain (in parietal, temporal, occipital, frontal departments, in eyes, a nose, ears). Children of preschool age at a headache pull themselves hair, squeeze the head hands. Also the characteristic of pain is not less important: gradually accruing or sudden, stupid or acute, passing in itself or only after reception calming or anesthetics. Parents have to notice whether the headache at the child is followed by reddening or blanching of the person, excitement or slackness, weakness, vomiting, nausea, dizziness. Emergence of severe headaches in the child can be connected with an exercise stress, a stressful situation, reception of any medicines, a trip in transport, overfatigue.

The huge number of diseases which can be followed by a headache can be combined in three main groups – the general diseases of the child, a disease of a brain and a disease of other departments of the head.

At children infectious and inflammatory diseases in the acute period (quinsy, pyelonephritis, flu, pneumonia, an erysipelatous inflammation) can be followed by a severe headache. The headache in this case arises against the background of the general intoxication of an organism at the increased body temperature. Usually it disappears after reception of febrifugal drugs with the anesthetizing action (Paracetamol, Efferalgan, Kalpol).

Stresses, mental and exercise stresses, the conflicts in a family and school, overstrain, spazmichesky clips of muscles of a shoulder girdle and neck can be the cause of headaches at children. Pain of the squeezing, pressing character usually extends to an occipital and frontal part, gradually covering all head. At the same time it amplifies at an exercise stress. Similar pain most often passes independently after walk, a dream, warm-up. If the headache of this look is shown more often than hundred days in a year, then it is necessary to conduct examination of an organism of the child.

Severe headaches at children can arise at stretching of walls, disturbance of cerebral circulation and tone of vessels of a brain. Such pain can have the holding apart, pulsing, pressing character. Inspection will help to establish the prime cause of similar headaches.

At sensitive mentality can be the reasons of headaches at children unwillingness to attend school, the doctor, to eat up porridge. From pain of this look the psychotherapist or the psychiatrist can help. Parents have to help to organize to the child the correct day regimen, to provide a stable emotional background, to lower emotional and exercise stresses.

If the child complains of a headache, and at the same time it is followed by a diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, reddening or blanching of skin, then migraine can be the cause of such state. At migraine the photophobia is quite often shown. Before eyes multi-colored circles or the visual picture completely appear drops out. The attack of migraine can last of half an hour till five o'clock.

The sudden severe headache at the child localized in frontal, temporal areas or covering all head can testify to an inflammatory disease of covers of a brain (meningitis) or a brain in general (encephalitis). Along with pain repeated vomiting, a fever usually begins, body temperature considerably increases.

If the severe headache at the child developed after a head injury, and after pain there was nausea and dizziness, then it is possible to suspect a bruise or a concussion of the brain.

The constant severe headache at the child can testify to the increased intracranial pressure. Long headaches can be a symptom of tumors, cysts, abscesses and parasites. At volume new growths pain does not decrease even at reception of the anesthetizing medicines. It can be followed by frustration of a photosensitivity, apathy, disorder of functioning of some bodies.

Quite often the inflammation of Highmore's or frontal okolonosovy bosoms of a skull is the reason of headaches at children. At the same time pain most often develops in the mornings, at increase in pressure in bosoms (when filling with their pus). Children of younger school age sometimes complain of head pain at acute otitis (an inflammation of a middle ear). The headache can also arise at herpetic rashes, at an erysipelatous inflammation of pilar area of the head, at a vision disorder, and also at neuralgia of an upper branch of a trifacial.

Treatment of a headache at children

For simplification of a headache at children in house conditions it is necessary to remove any exercise or mental stress, to slightly massage whisky, to deliver to the child on a forehead a warm compress, to give to the child an opportunity to have a sleep in the fresh air.

Before an initiation of treatment it is necessary to find out an exact origin of a headache. At first the doctor has to study attentively complaints, history of a course of a disease, to attentively examine the child. Additional researches will not be necessary if the data obtained at survey confirm a headache of tension or migraine. Laboratory and tool researches are simply necessary at identification during inspection of signs of organic lesion of the central nervous system.

At children usually apply paracetamol to treatment of a headache. At prolonged treatment dihydroergotamine and beta-blockers are applied. Digidroergotamin is appointed with gradual increase in a dose within six-eight weeks. At the increased tendency to attacks reasonablly limited span to accept anticonvulsant drugs (Phenytoinum, carbamazepine). If the child is inclined to vomiting at drug intake, then it is the best of all to administer the drugs in the form of suppositories.