What to do if your child does not have a fever, but has a headache?

Main causes of headaches

There are at least 50 reasons for headaches in children. They are conventionally divided into 3 types:

Primary cephalgia is the most common type of symptom in children. These include migraine, tension headache, and cluster pain. Those. These are not dangerous causes of pain and are most often caused by overwork, dehydration, oxygen deprivation, malnutrition or hunger, etc.

Secondary cephalgia. They are divided into 8 groups:

• traumatic nature;
• diseases of non-vascular structures in the cranial cavity;
• infectious;
• caused by various substances, medications, as well as cessation of their use;
• arising due to a violation of the normal composition of the blood;
• caused by diseases of the facial and cranial structures;
• associated with mental disorders.

Neuralgia of the cranial nerves, facial pain, other cephalgic syndromes.

In order not to overload you with information, we will carry out this classification. Let's divide the reasons why a child has a headache into diseases:

• benign, which rarely lead to life-threatening conditions.
• those in need of urgent care, which can lead to serious complications if diagnosis is not started within 24-48 hours.
• requiring emergency (in the next few minutes) measures - directly threatening life.

Danger signs for a child

The one-time appearance of a headache in the temples in a child can be attributed to stress or fatigue. However, when the headache is regular, and the pain is constantly increasing, it is necessary to urgently take the child to the doctor. Especially if he makes the following complaints:

• blurred vision, photophobia;
• the appearance of auditory and visual hallucinations;
• inability to concentrate, absent-mindedness;
• lack of appetite;
• dizziness.

If, starting from about five years old, a child is able to describe to his parents how he is feeling, then kids cannot do this. Therefore, you should be wary if the baby:

• often cries hysterically;
• scratches the skin until it bleeds;
• burps unexpectedly;
• constantly sleeps or, conversely, cannot fall asleep;
• pulls hands to face and head.

Timely seeking medical help will help keep your child healthy.

Causes of “non-dangerous” headaches

These diseases most often cause cephalalgia in a child. This includes:

• migraine;
• tension headache;
• cluster headache;
• cephalalgia during intoxication;
• taking certain heart medications;
• headache associated with inflammation of the trigeminal nerve;
• pain caused by short-term intoxication (for example, when inhaling the smell of certain flowers, fumes from wood chips, plastic, carpet products). As a rule, in this case the headache occurs in the forehead area.

If your child frequently complains of a headache that is not accompanied by a fever, evaluate the conditions when it occurs:

Migraine is when the headache:

• goes away after sleep;
• develops after the student does not have time to eat in the morning or at school;
• appears after lack of sleep or physical activity;
• may develop after eating chocolate, nuts, cheese, citrus fruits;
• arises “for the weather”;
• felt in half of the head - in the forehead and temple, around the eye, can begin in the occipital region, then move to the temple and forehead;
• appears after an attack of weakness, bad mood, increased sensitivity to sounds and smells, weakness in the limbs, “flies”, goosebumps, distortion of the shape of objects;
• coincides with menstruation.

In younger children, migraine develops more often in the afternoon; during the first attacks, the head hurts on both sides. After puberty, attacks develop in the morning and affect one half of the head.

A tension headache is a pressing or squeezing pain felt on both sides of the head. Having felt such pain, the child will say that “it was as if they had put a tight hat or helmet on his head.” This symptom appears:

• after excessive workload at school;
• after a long stay in a stuffy room;
• after emotional stress, for example, after a test;
• after sitting for a long time at a table or desk in an uncomfortable position;
• after a long “communication” with gadgets.

Tension headaches are not aggravated by physical activity - only by mental stress. That’s why there is even a separate term “September 8 pain”: when a child who was on vacation returns to school, by the eighth day of increased stress he begins to have a headache.

Cluster headache is another diagnosis. Its characteristics are as follows:

• she is strong;
• felt on one side of the head - always;
• repeats in the form of attacks lasting 15-180 minutes - no more;
• attacks occur one after another with a certain frequency (from several weeks to several months);
• after a series of attacks there comes a period of calm;
• accompanied by anxiety, aggression;
• in this case, half of the nose is always stuffy or, conversely, a lot of snot is released from one nostril;
• during an attack, sweat is released on one side of the forehead and face;
• the eye on the side of the headache turns red.

Children who suffer from this type of cephalalgia usually have an athletic build. Doctors note that they also have a common character trait: indecisiveness when making decisions.

Preventive actions

To reduce the intensity of pain and protect as much as possible from relapses, follow simple rules that are very easy to follow:

1. The child must have a clear daily routine.
2. Meals are timely and rich in microelements.
3. Regular walks in the fresh air.
4. Protecting the child from stress and overwork.
5. Ventilation of the children's room.
6. The family environment should be as comfortable as possible for children.
7. Communication and participation in the life of a small family member.
8. Active lifestyle.
9. Limitation on computer games and hours of sitting in front of the TV.

If your child suffers from frequent cephalgia, you should be regularly monitored by a neurologist. This is especially true for children aged seven. Primary school completely changes the daily routine, mental and emotional state of the student. Excessive mental stress should be corrected by the attending physician and distributed in a rational manner.

Causes of headaches that require urgent diagnosis

Here we include conditions such as:

• sinusitis;
• glaucoma;
• cervical scoliosis;
• Arnold-Chiari syndrome;
• leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through the nose or ear, when the cause of cephalgia is too low intracranial pressure;
• idiopathic (due to unknown reasons) increase in intracranial pressure.

• See Headache in a teenager - not obvious causes of pain.
• Causes of headaches in the temples.
• Headache in the back of the head
• Medicines for headaches

When you shouldn’t waste time on diagnostics at home

1. Stroke. Everyone has heard that he is now “younger.” It's true: doctors diagnose hemorrhages in the subarachnoid space and blood soaking of the brain matter even in infants. Sometimes this happens as a result of a head injury, sometimes spontaneously, if there are vessels inside the skull that are not connected correctly to each other, and the child is also nervous.
2. Meningitis. No less terrible diagnoses accompanied by cephalgia are meningitis and encephalitis. And they are often not accompanied by any kind of skin rash.
3. Brain tumors. Quite rare in childhood, but a brain tumor can develop. It can grow and compress adjacent structures, causing a gradual increase in intracranial pressure. The tumor can disintegrate - then symptoms arise that are not particularly different from a stroke.
4. Occlusive hydrocephalus is a condition when cerebrospinal fluid cannot normally exit the cranial cavity and overflows the ventricles of the brain.
5. Dissection of the wall of the vertebral or carotid artery.
6. Vascular diseases: thrombosis of one of the venous sinuses, moyamoya disease, vascular anomalies, vasculitis.
7. Arterial hypertension, including malignant (when the pressure hardly decreases under the influence of drugs).
8. Hypoxia is a condition when there is not enough oxygen in the blood. Acute hypoxia develops against the background of acute pneumonia, poisoning by tissue poisons (including cyanides), and heart disease. Chronic – for chronic heart and respiratory diseases, heart defects, bronchial asthma.
9. Hypercapnia is an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. This is possible with carbon monoxide poisoning, bronchostatus (severe attack of bronchial asthma), or panic attack.
10. Traumatic brain injury.

All these diseases need to be noticed as early as possible. And call a doctor immediately.

Look out for these symptoms:

• a sharp headache (as if hit with a dagger) or one that gains maximum intensity in less than a minute;
• delirium, inadequacy;
• when you have a headache and nausea, most often with an increase in temperature, usually after a cold;
• “flies” before the eyes;
• convulsions due to headaches, which can occur with or without elevated temperature;
• drowsiness due to headache;
• slurred speech;
• severe headache: the child lies in a forced position, does not show enthusiasm from offers to play or watch cartoons;
• facial asymmetry;
• severe hearing or vision impairment;
• weakness in the limbs on one side up to their paralysis;
• the appearance of any rash on the body in combination with a headache;
• cephalgia due to symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, wheezing when breathing, irregular heart rhythm, chest pain, sensation that the heart is “turning over”;
• headache after head injury or stress;
• if the head constantly hurts, while the child has lost weight for no reason;
• cephalalgia intensifies in a certain position, as well as when coughing, straining, sneezing.

Determining the cause of pain by the leading symptom

Let's highlight the main symptom that will let you understand what disease you are most likely faced with:

Cephalgia in young children

A peculiarity of the course of cephalgia in infants and children under 3-4 years of age is that often the child cannot express his complaints.

Most often, the cause of pain syndrome is hydrocephalus, intoxication, congenital pathologies of blood vessels and brain tissue, and other diseases. An attack of pain may be accompanied by such phenomena as:

• restlessness and irritability of the child;
• refusal of food;
• intense crying, intensifying with changes in the position of the body and head, noise and light stimulation;
• spontaneous cries and shudders;
• frequent regurgitation and vomiting;
• bulging and pulsation of the fontanel;
• stiffness of the body and limbs;
• head tilt, etc.

Such symptoms should not go unnoticed by parents and are a reason to immediately consult a doctor.

First aid for children with headaches

• ventilate the room more often;
• putting a sandwich, cookies and apple in his school;
• make sure he doesn't use gadgets;
• immediately after waking up, do gymnastics, jogging;
• make sure that he sleeps at least 9 hours a day;
• Be sure to feed him fresh vegetables and fruits daily.

If an attack occurs, use a simple recipe: make the child a quiet and darkened room, place a damp cloth soaked in cold water on the forehead. The child will sleep and feel better. Just make sure first that there are no dangerous symptoms.

What can children do for headaches? The only pills for children for headaches are Ibuprofen and Paracetamol. You should not take anything else without a doctor’s prescription. Even if you are sure that he has a migraine, it is very dangerous to give drugs with ergot alkaloids without a doctor's permission!

Author:

Krivega Maria Salavatovna resuscitator

What to do if you have a headache on the right side

Rest and a moistened towel on your forehead are some of the simplest yet effective ways to get rid of headaches on the right side. A gentle massage of the temples and the area at the back of the head may also help.

Over-the-counter painkillers that are most recommended by doctors can help relieve tension headaches:

• Acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin);
• Ibuprofen (Nurofen, Ibalgin, Brufen);
• Paracetamol (Paralen, Panadol).

But in case of a migraine attack, these medications will only help temporarily or not at all. Proper treatment for migraines is to use medications at the first sign of an aura or pain attack. Antimigraine drugs are designed to suppress the attack itself and all accompanying symptoms (vomiting, nausea, etc.) as quickly as possible. At the same time, they should have minimal side effects and work well in case of long-term use.

Significant progress was achieved by the discovery of a new type of medicine, triptans. Today they are the most effective therapeutic group and form the basis of migraine treatment. Triptans are available as tablets, subcutaneous injections, and nasal sprays.