Curious about migraine symptoms in kids? KidsStreet Urgent Care is here to tell you all you need to know about children’s migraines, including causes, treatment methods, and prevention.
What Are Migraines in Children?
Although uncommon, Migraines in Kids can cause some serious pain and discomfort for your little one. Migraines are not your typical headache, as they are more severe and intense.
They often affect one particular side or portion of the head and can be triggered by outside factors. Most migraine headaches in children last anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours.
Additionally, migraines are hereditary. This means that if the parent of a child struggles with adult migraines, your child is more likely to struggle as well.
Symptoms of Migraines in Kids
Typically, migraine symptoms in kids consist of:
- Throbbing on one portion or side of the head
- Compromised vision like seeing spots, blind spots, blurred vision, etc.
- Sensitivity to sound, smells, and light
- Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain
- Dizziness
- Loss of appetite
- Difficulty focusing
- A stiff neck
A less common symptom of migraines is an aura, which only affects a small number of children. Auras are a warning sign that a migraine is about to begin. They are generally visual, and begin with distorted vision such as seeing spots or lights.
What Are Migraine Triggers?
There are a multitude of triggers and they can vary for different people. There are many migraine triggers including:
- Foods that have additives such as unnatural dyes or MSG.
- Stress
- Changes in routine
- Irregular sleeping patterns
- Caffeine
- Changes in the weather
- Motion sickness
- Rigorous physical activities
- Medications such as those for ADHD or asthma medications
- Overexposure to flashing lights
- Skipping meals
What Are The Treatment Options?
While there is no cure for migraines, there are several treatment options that you can seek out to give your child some relief. A few pediatric migraine treatment methods include:
- Take pain relief medications
- Keep them in a dark or dimly light room if they are sensitive to light
- Use cool rags on their head to help with pain
Additionally, KidsStreet Urgent Care offers migraine diagnosis and treatment in our urgent care services for kids. We can help your child heal and feel better, fast!
Preventing Migraines in Kids
Although migraines are not fully preventable, there are several things you can do to reduce the frequency and prevent migraines for your child. Some of the best ways to prevent migraines include:
- Administer preventative medications prescribed by a provider
- Ensure your child gets at least 8-10 hours of sleep every night
- Feed your child a limited amount of foods with additives
- Keep your child on a routine
- Ensure your child has reduced stress levels
Headache Diaries
Another excellent way to understand your child’s migraines and try to prevent them is to keep a headache diary. This will act as a log for you to record:
- The time the headache started
- Physical activities your child participated in before it began
- Foods they ate during the day
- Severity of the pain
- Location of the pain on the head
- An estimate of how long the child slept the night before
- Medications the child took to treat the migraine, and if they worked
- How long the migraine lasted
Make sure you do this for every migraine your child faces to understand the patterns behind their condition, and share this information with their provider.
Turn To KidsStreet Urgent Care
Is your child struggling with migraine symptoms? KidsStreet Urgent Care can help!
To visit one of our kid-friendly clinics, register online. You and your child will be able to wait from anywhere until we are ready to see you.
We love walk-ins! Walk-in patients are accepted daily, but may experience longer in-clinic wait times than those who registered ahead of time. Walk-ins are added to the same queue as those who register online.