Children’s headaches are mostly common and usually not serious. There are however, certain illnesses that present with headaches.
Symptoms
- Head pain
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stomach pain
- Sensitivity to light and sound
Possible Causes
- Migraine – A child with a migraine may hold their head and cry if they are too young to tell you what hurts. Children’s migraines can last an hour or more.
- Tension headache – Children can get tension headaches that are stress related. A tension headache will cause tightness on both sides of the head.
- Chronic daily headache – This is a migraine or tension headache that occurs more than 15 days each month for three months. Chronic daily headaches are likely to occur when a child is taking too much prescription or over the counter pain medication.
- Cluster headache – A cluster headache is not as common in children. Usually consists of sharp, stabbing type pain on one side of the head.