Common Types of Migraine Headaches and Symptoms: What Kind Does Your Child Have?

Headache ClinicTreatment – and beyond

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Common Types of Migraine Headaches

and Symptoms: What Kind Does Your

Child Have?


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Abdominal Migraine

Abdominal Migraine

Abdominal migraine affects mainly children between 5 and 9 years of age. Many of these children go

on to develop migraine headaches (with or without aura) later in life.


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What Are the Symptoms of Abdominal Migraine?

Abdominal Migraine

Symptoms may include:

• Midline abdominal pain of moderate to severe intensity that lasts 1 – 72 hours

• Chronic or recurring pain severe enough to interfere with normal activities

• Mild or no headache

• Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite

• Pallor with dark shadows under the eyes or flushing

• The absence of another illness, including a gastrointestinal disorder


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How Is Abdominal Migraine Diagnosed?

Abdominal Migraine

No specific diagnostic test is available to confirm abdominal migraine. A diagnosis is made through

a thorough evaluation of the patient’s medical history, incidence of migraine headache in the family,

symptoms, and a physical exam and tests to rule out other conditions.


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What Are the Treatment Options for Abdominal Migraine?

Abdominal Migraine

For children and teens, abdominal migraine treatment includes rest, plenty of fluids, over-the-

counter pain relievers and relaxation/behavioral therapy techniques. For older children and adults

with infrequent abdominal migraine attacks, physicians may prescribe medications used for other

forms of migraine, such as NSAIDs, anti-nausea medication and triptans. Frequent abdominal

migraines are treated with the same preventive therapies used for other migraines.


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Migraine Headache

Migraine Headache

The average age of onset for migraine is 7 years old for boys and 10 years old for girls, although

symptoms may appear in much younger children. Up to age 12, equal numbers of boys and girls

suffer from migraine; by the ages 21 – 24, up to 80% of migraineurs are women. Children with

migraine often have a family history of migraine. Migraine affects up to 5% of school-aged children.

From 50% to 75% of children with migraine will cease having attacks between adolescence and

early adulthood, but some will redevelop migraine later.


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What Are the Symptoms of Migraine Headache?

Migraine Headache

Common symptoms of migraine in youngsters include:

• Pain on one or both sides of the head, or a child

may report pain “all over”

• Pounding or throbbing pain, although children

may not be able to articulate this

• Abdominal upset, nausea and/or vomiting

• Sensitivity to light and/or sound

• Sweating

• Becoming pale or quiet

• Experiencing an aura, or a sense of flashing

lights, funny smells and changes in vision


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Tension-Type Headache


This common headache type is triggered by stress or emotional/mental conflict.


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What Are the Symptoms of Tension-Type Headache?


Generally, symptoms include:

• Headache that develops slowly

• Pain usually present on both sides, and may involve the back of the head

• Dull pain or pain that feels like a band around the head

• Mild to moderate, not severe, pain

• Change in sleep habits


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Cluster Headache

Cluster Headache

More common in adolescent males, cluster headache usually begins in children over 10 years of age.

This headache type occurs in a series, or “cluster,” that can last for weeks or months. This series of

headaches may recur annually or every other year.


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What Are the Symptoms of Cluster Headache?

Cluster Headache

Common symptoms in children and adolescents include:

• Unilateral (one-sided) pain, often behind an eye

• The affected eye may look droopy and have a small pupil, or the eyelid may be red and swollen.

• Congestion or runny nose

• Swollen forehead


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Headache Associated With a Serious Issue

Headache Associated With a Serious Issue

If your child shows these symptoms, consult a headache specialist to determine if there is a possible serious

underlying cause:

• Headache in a very young child

• Headache pain that awakens a child

• Headaches that begin very early in the day

• Pain worsened by strain like a cough or sneeze

• Recurrent vomiting episodes or other signs

of a stomach virus

• Child complaining about “the worst headache ever”

• Increasing severity of headache, or one that

continues

• Personality changes

• Weakness in limbs or problems with balance

• Seizures or epilepsy


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How Is Pediatric/Adolescent Headache Diagnosed?

Diagnoses and Treatment

An accurate diagnosis is the first step to effective treatment in children and adolescents with

headache. A pediatric headache specialist should evaluate your child thoroughly, including a

physical exam, inquiries into medical and family history, and diagnostic tests. The child may be asked

to describe the pain, its location, the duration of the headache and more. The specialist may ask

parents about changes in behavior, personality, sleeping patterns, emotional stress and if physical

trauma preceded the headache. If symptoms indicate migraine or tension headache, specialists may

not recommend further testing. But sometimes, additional diagnostic tests may be necessary; these

may include blood tests, an MRI or CT scan, or a polysomnogram to check for a sleep disorder.


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What Is the Recommended Pediatric/Adolescent Headache Treatment?

Diagnoses and Treatment

Each child receives an individualized treatment regimen that may include these components:

Medication. Specific therapeutic agents are prescribed, and patient response is closely monitored

to evaluate efficacy and minimize side effects.

Lifestyle Modification. Patients are instructed in the areas of diet, recreation, sleep patterns and

other habits linked to headaches.


Diamond Diagnoses and Treatment

Biofeedback Training. This is a non-drug therapy that enables patients to actively participate in their

treatment while alleviating headache symptoms. About 70% of all patients, and especially children,

benefit from this training. Biofeedback augments other therapies and is particularly useful for

patients for whom stress is a major contributing factor to headaches, or for those patients who are

unable to use standard headache agents.

What Is the Recommended Pediatric/Adolescent Headache Treatment? (continued)

Health & Medicine

Common Types of Migraine Headaches and Symptoms: What Kind Does Your Child Have?