Knowledge: Common Types of Headaches

Common Types of Headaches

When kids get more than the occasional headache, two of the more common kinds they get are tension headaches and migraines.

Tension Headaches

Fairly common in kids, tension headaches can be brought on by a variety of emotional and physical stressors. The pain is often described as:

• constant pressure around the front and sides of the head, which can feel like someone stretched a rubber band around it
• constricting
• dull
• aching

A major distinction between tension headaches and migraines is that tension headaches typically are not accompanied by nausea or vomiting, and they're usually not made worse by physical activity — symptoms that do often occur with migraines.

Migraines

About 5% of school-age kids and at least 10% of teens get migraine headaches, recurrent headaches with additional symptoms. Often triggered by things like stress, sleep deprivation, and menstruation, migraine headaches can cause the following symptoms:

• pounding, throbbing pain or dull, steady pain on one or both sides of the head
• dizziness
• stomachaches
• nausea and/or vomiting
• seeing spots or halos
• sensitivity to light, noise, and/or smells

Most migraines last anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. Some can last as long as a couple of days. Some people with migraines:

• just don't feel right. Light, smell, or sound may bother them or make them feel worse. Sometimes, if they try to continue with their usual routine after the migraine starts, they may become nauseated and vomit. Often the pain begins only on one side of the head. Trying to perform physical activities can make the pain worse.
• get auras, a kind of warning that a migraine is on the way (usually about 10 to 30 minutes before the start of a migraine). The auras may only be seen in one eye. Common auras include blurred vision, seeing spots, jagged lines, or flashing lights, or smelling a certain odor.
• experience a migraine premonition hours to days prior to the actual headache. This is slightly different from auras and may cause cravings for different foods, thirst, irritability, or feelings of intense energy.
• have muscle weakness, lose their sense of coordination, or stumble.

Unfortunately, parents of an infant or toddler who are unable to say what hurts may not be able to tell if their little one is having migraines. Young kids with headaches may be cranky, less active, may vomit, or look pale or flushed.

Migraine variants that are thought to happen only to kids and are precursors to the more common migraines of adulthood include paroxysmal vertigo and cyclic vomiting.

Paroxysmal vertigo is described as a sensation of spinning or whirling that comes on suddenly and disappears in a matter of minutes. Kids who experience this may momentarily appear frightened and unsteady, or unable to walk. The vertigo typically goes away by the time a child is 5 years old.

Cyclic vomiting also occurs in young kids and involves repeated episodes of vomiting. The episodes can last for hours or days and are not usually associated with headache. Cyclic vomiting usually goes away by the time kids grow into teens.