6 Common Misconceptions About Childhood Migraines

Your child has intense headaches that sometimes come with nausea and vomiting. It’s frightening to see your loved one in so much pain. Is it a migraine, and can a migraine cause a child to vomit? 

The answer to your question is yes, migraines can cause nausea. Board-certified pediatric neurologist, Dr. Charles Niesen, and our team at AMS Neurology in Pasadena, California, treat children with migraines. 

Let’s separate fact from fiction regarding childhood migraines. Here we expose common myths about migraines, followed by the facts. 

Myth: A migraine is only a headache

A migraine is more than a headache. It’s a neurological disorder that features intense pain in the head, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and physical sensitivities. Migraines involve changes in brain activity and nerve pathways that create intense head pain and sensory sensitivity.

Your child may be unable to tolerate daylight and may react to certain smells or sounds. Whereas you can usually calm a tension headache by taking acetaminophen or ibuprofen, they won’t really help when your loved one has a migraine. 

Myth: Young children don’t get migraines

Migraines are less common in young children, but they do occur. About 5% of children may experience a migraine by age 10, but almost 30% of teenagers have had a migraine. 

If your young child is in the 5% or your teen suffers from migraines, you’re suffering, too, and seeking relief for your child. 

Myth: Migraines cause pain on one side of your head

Migraines often cause pain on only one side of your head, but children with migraines often feel pain on both sides or in the front of the head. 

Migraines can also cause other symptoms that can be scary for your child, such as nausea and vomiting, extreme sensitivity to light, smells, or sounds, dizziness, extreme fatigue, and vision changes. 

Myth: Boys and girls experience the same types of migraine symptoms

Migraines usually manifest earlier in boys than in girls. However, boys often outgrow migraines when they become adults. Migraines in girls often continue until menopause and even beyond. 

Myth: Migraines aren’t an inherited trait

Scientists don’t have all the answers about migraines yet. However, if both parents have had migraines, their child has a high propensity for developing them as well. 

If one parent has migraines, the child has about a 50% chance of having them. Migraines can be a chronic condition for some people, but many children improve significantly with the right management and support.

Myth: There’s nothing you can do to prevent a migraine

Environmental conditions may trigger some of your child’s migraines, which you can help control. The following are some migraine triggers: 

• Stress 
• Menstruation; hormonal changes
• Dehydration
• Skipping meals
• Certain foods with monosodium glutamate (MSG), histamine, chocolate, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, etc.
• Weather changes or changes in barometric pressure
• Travel or time changes
• Changes in sleep schedule; not getting enough sleep

While you can’t change the weather, you can help ensure that your child hydrates, has healthy snacks if meals are interrupted, and regularly gets enough sleep. 

Reviewing triggers with your teen can help them take care of their needs. After all, they don’t want to be sick and miss out on group activities. 

If you suspect your child has migraine headaches, call AMS Neurology or book an appointment online today.