Headaches in children: Parents should not take them lightly.
Headaches in children are currently on the rise, especially among teenagers. These headaches can be transient or recurring, and while they may be simple, many cases can be symptoms of a serious underlying condition.
This could be a warning sign of many dangerous diseases such as brain tumors, increased intracranial pressure, vascular malformations, neurological disorders, etc.
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Causes of headaches in children
- Headaches can occur with fever, due to nerve inflammation, meningitis, encephalitis, sinusitis, eye inflammation, or dental problems.
- Headaches of vascular origin (migraines), due to high blood pressure, arteriovenous malformations.
- Headaches caused by intracranial space-occupying lesions, brain tumors, intracranial hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, and benign intracranial hypertension.
- Headaches due to psychological factors: anxiety, stress, overstudying, prolonged nervous tension. Nowadays, the pressure of studying and exams can severely affect children's mental health, as in addition to academic studies, they also have to learn foreign languages, computer skills, etc. Some children experience headaches because of the death of a family member; some children suffer headaches because they feel their father treats their mother unfairly, leading to sadness and subsequent headaches.
Things parents need to keep in mind.
Parents should pay special attention to headaches with unusual symptoms such as: severe, persistent headaches; headaches accompanied by nausea, high fever; headaches accompanied by muscle pain in the neck area; headaches accompanied by decreased or lost vision or hearing.
When children complain of headaches, parents need to pay close attention and consider any accompanying symptoms. They should take the child's temperature to check for fever, and ask the child if they have any pain: sore throat, toothache, earache, etc. In addition, they should check for nosebleeds, bleeding gums, or changes in skin color (hemorrhage, congestion, rash, etc.).
In addition, parents should also ask if their child has ever felt nauseous or vomited. They should also ask if the child experiences eye strain or headaches when looking at letters and numbers on the blackboard during class, and if the images are clear. Once they have gathered information that may be related to the child's headache, the child should be taken to see a doctor as soon as possible.
When experiencing unusual headaches, it's advisable to go to the hospital for a proper examination, rather than hastily attributing the headache to "weather changes" or "vestibular syndrome."
Types of headaches in children: there are 2 types.
- Acute headaches: Acute headaches often stem from acute illnesses such as infections caused by microorganisms, including acute pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis, acute otitis, acute sinusitis, or certain diseases such as dengue fever, encephalitis, and meningitis.
The most common symptoms are fever and headache. Depending on the nature and characteristics of each infection, there may be many accompanying symptoms. For example, in brain tumors or meningitis, in addition to headache, there may be nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia, blurred vision, or paralysis...
- Recurrent headaches: These can occur repeatedly, most typically in the case of migraines. Migraine in children often involves multiple episodes of headaches (spasms) within 1-2 days (usually 5 or more episodes). Other types of headaches can be dull and persistent throughout the day and night (headaches due to hypertension, headaches due to vestibular disorders), or occur in episodes, and some headaches even occur in the middle of the night or early morning.
According to VnMedia.vn - PC