Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsRed FlagsAre Headaches Normal for Kids?CausesCommon Types and SymptomsDiagnosisTreatmentPreventionFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Red Flags
Are Headaches Normal for Kids?
Causes
Common Types and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Frequently Asked Questions
Learning about pediatric headache “red flags” can help you figure out if your child’s head pain is from a minor cause—like common childhood illnesses, a mild bump on the head, lack of sleep, not getting enough to eat or drink, or stress.
Knowing how to spot headache “red flags” in kids can also help you determine if your child’s pain could be from something more serious, or even alert you that it’s time to go to the ER.
This article will go over the red flags of pediatric headaches, as well as the more common causes of headaches in kids, how they’re diagnosed, and how you can treat and prevent them.
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Why Do We Get Headaches?
Pediatric Headache Red Flags
While headaches are not always a serious problem for kids, there are some cases where a child’s headache could be a sign of something more serious.
You should call your child’s pediatrician if you notice any pediatric headache red flag signs or symptoms, such as:
Should I Take My Child to the ER for a Headache?In some cases, your child’s provider may not want you to wait to make an appointment. You may be told to take your child to the emergency room for a headache, especially if they have other “red flags” like a high fever or severe pain.
Should I Take My Child to the ER for a Headache?
In some cases, your child’s provider may not want you to wait to make an appointment. You may be told to take your child to the emergency room for a headache, especially if they have other “red flags” like a high fever or severe pain.
How High Is Too High for a Kid’s Fever?
Is It Normal for Kids to Get Headaches?
Many children get headaches from time to time and some may have headache disorders. Headaches in kids and adults can be grouped into two types: primary or secondary.
Could Your Child’s Headaches Actually Be Migraines?
What Causes Pediatric Headaches?
We’re not really sure what causes headaches, exactly. There are some physical health factors that we know contribute to headaches, such as:
What Does It Mean If My Child Has Nosebleeds and Headaches?
Common Types of Pediatric Headaches
The signs or “red flags” of a pediatric headache as well as the symptoms will depend on which type of headache your child is having.
Migraines in Kids
If your child is having a migraine, they may become quiet or pale. Some kids have a warning sign that a migraine is coming on, such as seeing flashing lights, experiencing a change in vision, or detecting funny smells. This is called amigraine with aura.
Common symptoms of a migraineinclude:
How Common Are Migraines in Kids?About 3% of preschool children, 4% to 11% of elementary school-aged children, and 8% to 15% of high school-aged children get migraines.
How Common Are Migraines in Kids?
About 3% of preschool children, 4% to 11% of elementary school-aged children, and 8% to 15% of high school-aged children get migraines.
How Sleep Problems Are Related to Migraines
Tension Headaches in Kids
Unlike migraines, tension headaches in children typically do not come with nausea, vomiting, or light sensitivity. Symptoms of a tension headache your child might experience include:
Can Tension Headaches Be Chronic?
Cluster Headaches in Kids
Kids can also get cluster headaches. Common symptoms of a cluster headache include:
How Pediatric Headaches Are Diagnosed
To diagnose pediatric headaches, your child’s provider will take a medical history, do a physical exam, and possibly run some diagnostic tests.
They will ask you about your child’s health and the health of your family. They will also ask you about your child’s headaches—for example, where the pain is, what it feels like, how long it lasts, and how often your child gets headaches.
Your answers to these questions may match up with the typical signs and symptoms of a migraine or tension-type headaches. If your provider does a neurological exam on your child and it is normal, they may not do any more tests.
If they do want to run more tests, try not to panic. You may think the worst—for example, that they are looking for a serious problem like abrain tumor—but that’s not necessarily the case. They are just trying to get as much information as possible to make sure they find out what is causing your child’s headaches.
Other tests that can be used to diagnose pediatric headaches include:
What Happens During a Neurological Exam?
How Pediatric Headaches Are Treated
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers like Tylenol (acetaminophen), Advil (ibuprofen)/Children’s Advil; and Aleve (naproxen) can ease your child’s headache symptoms.If your child has nausea with headaches, their provider might give them medication to help with that symptom as well.
Your child’s provider might recommend specific prescription medications, depending on which type of headaches your child gets.
For example, triptans are a prescription medication for migraines. They act as a brain chemical to reduce pain signaling in the brain. They are usually only used when OTC medications have not helped your child’s pain and other headache symptoms.
Examples of some other prescription medications that can be used to treat pediatric migraines include:
If your child is getting headaches from an underlying health condition, treating that condition will often help relieve their headache pain.
How Often Can I Give My Child Pain Medication for Headaches?Medications to treat primary headaches, both OTC and prescription ones, should be used as little as needed. Overusing the medications can causerebound headaches.OTC drugs such as Advil should be given no more than three days a week. Triptans should be used at most nine times per month.
How Often Can I Give My Child Pain Medication for Headaches?
Medications to treat primary headaches, both OTC and prescription ones, should be used as little as needed. Overusing the medications can causerebound headaches.OTC drugs such as Advil should be given no more than three days a week. Triptans should be used at most nine times per month.
Medications to treat primary headaches, both OTC and prescription ones, should be used as little as needed. Overusing the medications can causerebound headaches.
OTC drugs such as Advil should be given no more than three days a week. Triptans should be used at most nine times per month.
Can Medications Prevent Migraines?
How to Prevent Pediatric Headaches
You can’t always prevent pediatric headaches. There are some lifestyle changes and proactive steps you can take to help make it less likely that your child will get a headache and make it easier for them to cope when they do.
Top 10 Ways to Avoid or Reduce Headache and Migraine Pain
Summary
Headaches are common in children, and most cases are mild and not something you need to worry about.
A Word From Verywell
If your child is getting headaches often, talk to their pediatrician. Even if the cause turns out to be something that’s not serious and easy to treat, your child’s provider is the best resource for figuring out how to ease your child’s pain and even prevent headaches in the future.
Frequently Asked QuestionsThe symptoms of a migraine are specific, which makes it easy to tell when a child’s headache becomes a migraine. For example, one sign is that the headache gets worse with physical activity.Some children have a hard time describing their symptoms, especially if they are young. If your child’s pain is getting worse and they are clearly distressed (for example, crying) it could be a clue that they’re having a migraine rather than a run-of-the-mill headache.Pediatric headache red flags include symptoms such as vomiting without nausea, balance issues or weakness in the legs and arms; and a fever with a stiff neck that goes along with a child’s headache.These symptoms, along with personality changes, early morning headaches, and fainting or seizures are all possible signs that a child’s headache could have a more serious cause.Research has shown that overuse of electronics and spending too much time staring at a screen can trigger a headache in children or make headaches worse.It may help to limit your child’s electronic use to less than two hours per day if they get headaches.
The symptoms of a migraine are specific, which makes it easy to tell when a child’s headache becomes a migraine. For example, one sign is that the headache gets worse with physical activity.Some children have a hard time describing their symptoms, especially if they are young. If your child’s pain is getting worse and they are clearly distressed (for example, crying) it could be a clue that they’re having a migraine rather than a run-of-the-mill headache.
The symptoms of a migraine are specific, which makes it easy to tell when a child’s headache becomes a migraine. For example, one sign is that the headache gets worse with physical activity.
Some children have a hard time describing their symptoms, especially if they are young. If your child’s pain is getting worse and they are clearly distressed (for example, crying) it could be a clue that they’re having a migraine rather than a run-of-the-mill headache.
Pediatric headache red flags include symptoms such as vomiting without nausea, balance issues or weakness in the legs and arms; and a fever with a stiff neck that goes along with a child’s headache.These symptoms, along with personality changes, early morning headaches, and fainting or seizures are all possible signs that a child’s headache could have a more serious cause.
Pediatric headache red flags include symptoms such as vomiting without nausea, balance issues or weakness in the legs and arms; and a fever with a stiff neck that goes along with a child’s headache.
These symptoms, along with personality changes, early morning headaches, and fainting or seizures are all possible signs that a child’s headache could have a more serious cause.
Research has shown that overuse of electronics and spending too much time staring at a screen can trigger a headache in children or make headaches worse.It may help to limit your child’s electronic use to less than two hours per day if they get headaches.
Research has shown that overuse of electronics and spending too much time staring at a screen can trigger a headache in children or make headaches worse.
It may help to limit your child’s electronic use to less than two hours per day if they get headaches.
7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Harvard Health Publishing.8 things to watch for when your child has a headache.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Headaches in children.Cleveland Clinic.Migraines in children and adolescents.Kacperski J, Kabbouche MA, O’Brien HL, Weberding JL.The optimal management of headaches in children and adolescents.Ther Adv Neurol Disord.2016 Jan;9(1):53-68. doi:10.1177/1756285615616586Oskoui M, Pringsheim T, Billinghurst L, Potrebic S, Gersz EM, Gloss D, Holler-Managan Y, Leininger E, Licking N, Mack K, Powers SW, Sowell M, Victorio MC, Yonker M, Zanitsch H, Hershey AD.Practice guideline update summary: Pharmacologic treatment for pediatric migraine prevention: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society.Neurology.2019 Sep 10;93(11):500-509. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008105How CH, Chan WS.Headaches in children.Singapore Med J.2014 Mar;55(3):128-130. doi:10.11622/smedj.2014029Çaksen H.Electronic Screen Exposure and Headache in Children.Ann Indian Acad Neurol.2021 Jan-Feb;24(1):8-10. doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_972_20
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Harvard Health Publishing.8 things to watch for when your child has a headache.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Headaches in children.Cleveland Clinic.Migraines in children and adolescents.Kacperski J, Kabbouche MA, O’Brien HL, Weberding JL.The optimal management of headaches in children and adolescents.Ther Adv Neurol Disord.2016 Jan;9(1):53-68. doi:10.1177/1756285615616586Oskoui M, Pringsheim T, Billinghurst L, Potrebic S, Gersz EM, Gloss D, Holler-Managan Y, Leininger E, Licking N, Mack K, Powers SW, Sowell M, Victorio MC, Yonker M, Zanitsch H, Hershey AD.Practice guideline update summary: Pharmacologic treatment for pediatric migraine prevention: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society.Neurology.2019 Sep 10;93(11):500-509. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008105How CH, Chan WS.Headaches in children.Singapore Med J.2014 Mar;55(3):128-130. doi:10.11622/smedj.2014029Çaksen H.Electronic Screen Exposure and Headache in Children.Ann Indian Acad Neurol.2021 Jan-Feb;24(1):8-10. doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_972_20
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Harvard Health Publishing.8 things to watch for when your child has a headache.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Headaches in children.Cleveland Clinic.Migraines in children and adolescents.Kacperski J, Kabbouche MA, O’Brien HL, Weberding JL.The optimal management of headaches in children and adolescents.Ther Adv Neurol Disord.2016 Jan;9(1):53-68. doi:10.1177/1756285615616586Oskoui M, Pringsheim T, Billinghurst L, Potrebic S, Gersz EM, Gloss D, Holler-Managan Y, Leininger E, Licking N, Mack K, Powers SW, Sowell M, Victorio MC, Yonker M, Zanitsch H, Hershey AD.Practice guideline update summary: Pharmacologic treatment for pediatric migraine prevention: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society.Neurology.2019 Sep 10;93(11):500-509. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008105How CH, Chan WS.Headaches in children.Singapore Med J.2014 Mar;55(3):128-130. doi:10.11622/smedj.2014029Çaksen H.Electronic Screen Exposure and Headache in Children.Ann Indian Acad Neurol.2021 Jan-Feb;24(1):8-10. doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_972_20
Harvard Health Publishing.8 things to watch for when your child has a headache.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Headaches in children.
Cleveland Clinic.Migraines in children and adolescents.
Kacperski J, Kabbouche MA, O’Brien HL, Weberding JL.The optimal management of headaches in children and adolescents.Ther Adv Neurol Disord.2016 Jan;9(1):53-68. doi:10.1177/1756285615616586
Oskoui M, Pringsheim T, Billinghurst L, Potrebic S, Gersz EM, Gloss D, Holler-Managan Y, Leininger E, Licking N, Mack K, Powers SW, Sowell M, Victorio MC, Yonker M, Zanitsch H, Hershey AD.Practice guideline update summary: Pharmacologic treatment for pediatric migraine prevention: Report of the Guideline Development, Dissemination, and Implementation Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society.Neurology.2019 Sep 10;93(11):500-509. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000008105
How CH, Chan WS.Headaches in children.Singapore Med J.2014 Mar;55(3):128-130. doi:10.11622/smedj.2014029
Çaksen H.Electronic Screen Exposure and Headache in Children.Ann Indian Acad Neurol.2021 Jan-Feb;24(1):8-10. doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_972_20
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