Teenage Headaches

Headaches can be very troublesome to teenagers.

The stress of school, the bright lights in the classrooms and irregular sleeping patterns can make many headache disorders debilitating. Some high school students can miss many school days and this endangers their grades and sometimes causes them to lose an academic year.

Migraine often begins in the adolescent years as hormones and growing spurts take their toll. Stress and anxiety are more common in this age group and many of these students are not being taken seriously. Many students with severe headaches are accused of school avoidance by parents and teachers. Sleep deprivation is a common trigger in these patients and weekend headaches are not unusual.

Migraine can be very debilitating to high school students and should be evaluated by a healthcare professional. Migraine is not rare in children and adolescents, often starting around puberty. Many teenagers may have concurrent depression.

Additional information about pediatric depression is available at:

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/Depression/hic_Depression_in_Children.aspx