Headaches in children occur not only in case of overwork. Sometimes it is associated with a wide variety of pathologies. That is why it is important for parents to pay attention to the malaise of their child in order to take timely action.
As a rule, a child who is already 5 years old complains of a headache. After all, starting from this age, children can already describe their feelings. There is discomfort in babies in the occipital, frontal and temporal areas of the head. The frequency and localization of pain affects the overall well-being of the child, and also indicates the progression of a particular ailment.
What are the causes of headache in children 5 years old? How to save a baby from an uncomfortable state?
Pathology prevalence
A headache in a child of 5 years old occurs quite often. Such sensations often serve as the reason for an outpatient examination of small patients. In various forms of manifestation, from 40 to 70% of the world's population suffers from headache. Of this amount, five-year-olds account for 19.5%. At the same time, migraines at this age occur in 10% of patients, and 1% suffer from chronic tension headaches.
Doctor's tasks
Quite often, a banal infection becomes the cause of complaints of pain in the head area. However, such a fact should not lead to underestimation of such an unpleasant symptom. The fact is that a headache in a 5-year-old child is sometimes the first sign of a rather serious CNS pathology. In this regard, such uncomfortable sensations are necessarily considered by children's neurology.
When a small patient complains of headaches, the doctor has two tasks:
When solving the first of them, the specialist should determine the method of therapy most suitable for the child, which will save the baby from problems. In addition, the diagnosis allows us to identify diseases that have caused headaches in order to conduct timely treatment.
To solve the therapeutic problem, the doctor must send the child, who has frequent attacks, to a neurologist.
Often, parents bring their baby to the doctor to understand if the problem is not a sign of any intracranial pathology, for example, vascular disease or neoplasm.
In this regard, the specialist’s task is to determine the causes of seizures in the child. They can be determined with the help of an anamnesis and an objective study, which distinguish a common ailment from a serious health disorder.
Clinical manifestations
In children who have reached 5 years of age, the problem, as a rule, makes itself felt after lunch. Quite rarely, the baby feels headaches in the morning.
Uncomfortable feelings usually develop gradually and are bilateral in nature. More often pains are persistent rather than sharp. The onset of an attack can be classified as moderately strong.
Regardless of the cause of the headache in children of 5 years, an uncomfortable state can be determined by the following:
- tearfulness;
- moodiness;
- loss of appetite;
- indifference to communication and games;
- agitation or apathy;
- headache complaints.
With such symptoms, it is important for parents to pay special attention to the behavior of the children, noting under what circumstances there are uncomfortable sensations, what is their duration, and what accompanying signs are accompanied by.
The causes of headaches in children 5 years old are very different. The most common of them are:
- vascular pathology;
- unhealthy diet;
- migraine;
- various head injuries;
- neurological disorders;
- state of psychoemotional stress;
- negative impact of the environment.
Consider each of these factors in more detail.
Vascular disease
Among the pathologies belonging to this group, in children of 5 years of age, hypertension is most often detected. An increase in blood pressure occurs when blood circulation in the brain tissue is impaired. Moreover, hypertension at such an early age is observed quite often. Its occurrence is often associated with physical and emotional stress, as well as with childhood diseases.
In young children who move a lot, the cardiovascular system cannot keep up with muscle tone. It is because of this that there are interruptions in the blood supply of blood vessels. With a sharp increase in pressure, they narrow. Because of this, a child experiences headache and vomiting. The baby is sick, he complains of a darkening in his eyes.
Throughout the entire period of growing up, such symptoms in children are observed quite often. However, if signs of hypertension occur constantly, then parents should take their baby to the doctor as soon as possible, as well as undergo an examination with him.
What are the reasons for the increase in blood pressure in babies, which brings with it an uncomfortable state? The causes of headache in children of 5 years, caused by hypertension, occur in connection with the following:
- hereditary predisposition;
- a sharp change in climatic conditions;
- insomnia;
- the occurrence of stressful conditions, etc.
So, children are very susceptible to climate change. At the age of 5, they are quite difficult to tolerate a change in environment, place of residence, biological time of day. It is not easy for them to survive the period of adaptation in kindergarten, as well as frequent trips to resort areas and other countries. The presence of such factors provokes a change in the psychoemotional state of the baby, because of which deviations in the biorhythm of his not yet strong body are possible.
Hypertension treatment
The best therapy for increasing blood pressure is compliance with recommendations that allow you to lead a healthy lifestyle. In order for hypertension not to manifest itself, it is necessary that the baby constantly adheres to a certain daily routine.
Parents should not rush to give him a pill at the first complaints of a child about pain in the head area. First of all, it is recommended to go for a walk with the baby. After staying in the fresh air, he is likely to feel better. To relieve headaches, the child is recommended to give mint or chamomile tea. Another wonderful remedy for such an uncomfortable state is beetroot juice. During the day, a small patient must be given in the volume of one glass, dividing the entire portion into three doses.
If the cause of headaches in a child of 5 years of age is a mild form of hypertension, then the uncomfortable state will pass quite quickly. With the severe nature of the course of the disease, medications prescribed by a doctor cannot be dispensed with.
Wrong diet
Often the cause of frequent headaches in a child is the failure to comply with the rules regarding a healthy diet. So, the poor health of a small patient is sometimes associated with the fact that nitrites enter his body. These are specific substances contained in products that include processed meat, for example, in sausages, semi-finished products and sausages. If these products are consumed by an adult, then he will not feel any negative effect from nitrite, which is referred to as a vasodilator preservative. Children of 5 years and younger perceive such food in a completely different way. An organism that has not yet formed has an acute reaction to a wide variety of preservatives, including nitrites. This substance also causes the baby to have headaches.
There is a similar uncomfortable state due to tyramine. This substance, which is abundant in nuts, cheese, yeast, and some other foods, also provokes severe headaches in children. Causes of the disease are some nutritional supplements. In their list are:
- aspartame;
- sodium nitrate.
As a rule, products that include these substances can be found on the first line of the shelves of any stores. Why? The thing is their presentation. So, sodium nitrite is added to vegetables and fruits, which allows them to grow faster and look more presentable.
What nutritional factors are also on the list of causes of headaches in children? An uncomfortable state sometimes occurs in babies with an overdose of vitamin A.
Due to malnutrition, the child has headache and vomiting. This condition is often accompanied by a disorder of the stool, which is a standard malfunction in the functioning of the digestive tract.
Nutritional Treatment
If a baby has a malfunction in the functioning of the digestive system against the background of headaches, then parents need to give him as much fluid as possible. In this case, it is useful to take decoctions based on medicinal herbs, such as elderberry, mint and St. John's wort. A child will not refuse such a drug if a spoonful of honey is added to it.
Migraine
This disease is also often observed in 5-year-old children. The disease is provoked, as a rule, by a hereditary factor.
Why does a child often complain of a headache during migraines? The causes of the uncomfortable state lie in the insufficient production of serotonin. The pains that torment a small person are associated with this substance. How do they manifest? Migraine pains are felt in the temples and have a pulsating character. Sometimes they are so strong that children begin to cry or scream loudly. Appears in addition to headache and nausea. The causes of the child's dizziness can also be explained by the attacks of this disease.
Migraine treatment
How to rid a child of these uncomfortable feelings? With severe headaches, the baby can help:
- Juice of berries of viburnum or blackcurrant. If the baby does not like him and he begins to refuse to drink such a drug, honey or sugar should be added to it.
- Decoction of Hypericum perforatum.
- Juice squeezed from fresh potato tubers.
- Massage. Perform it with light circular movements of the index fingers in the temple area. A more effective procedure will be if after that it is similar to massage the back of the head.
In the case when a child has a migraine, the course of treatment therapy should be prescribed only by a doctor observing a small patient. In this case, the doctor, as a rule, prescribes vasodilator and anticonvulsants in the required dosage and at the right frequency.
Injury
If severe pain occurs after a head injury occurs, the child needs urgent hospitalization. Indeed, when injuring the skull, brain damage is likely. You need to send your baby to the hospital even if he has no complaints about feeling unwell. Pain, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting usually occur over time.
The most striking sign of head injury is loss of consciousness. In addition, parents should be wary if their child begins to complain that his eyes are getting dark.
What to do before the doctor arrives when injuring a child? First of all, the patient needs complete rest. The child should be placed on a bed in a room where there is no flickering glare. In this case, the bruised place should immediately begin to rub with your hands. This will prevent the formation of edema and hematomas. Apply to the site of the bruise and anything cold. And even if the child is not hospitalized, for several days after the injury, he should not participate in outdoor games. After all, any activity can again provoke pain. But if the uncomfortable feelings in the head area still remain, then the baby should be taken to the doctor for an accurate diagnosis.
Psychological problems
Common causes of headaches in children are stress and fear. Often, the vulnerable psyche of the baby negatively perceives frightening and aggressive TV shows, as well as family scandals. It happens that children become unwitting witnesses to criminal situations and threats. Because of these reasons, the child complains of a headache in connection with a violation of the psychoemotional state.
Often, such disorders also occur because of fears. They occur when:
- persistent adult threats;
- fear of animals and insects, darkness and disease, death and medical workers, ponds, fire and rain.
There is a headache and vomiting in a child due to these reasons. The kid may fall into a stupor or fight in hysterics. Often these children experience involuntary urination, and sometimes convulsions.
However, parents should know that in order to receive a psycho-emotional shock, children do not have to be affected by negative emotions. Sometimes a child who has actively spent the day has a headache in the evening.
Therapeutic measures
Parents should take timely measures aimed at removing their child from psychological stress. But at the same time it is impossible to give the child various painkillers without prescribing a pediatrician. A good cure for discomfort is a mild sedative. In addition to this, it is important to do the following:
- The baby must be put to bed, while ensuring him complete peace. It is not recommended to disturb or disturb the child until they feel better.
- To expand the vessels of the patient, it is recommended to bathe it by filling the bath with hot water or at least soak the legs in it.
- The discomfort with a cold compress is eliminated. It is applied to the temples and forehead. With this method, pain caused by lack of sleep or overfatigue disappears very quickly.
- Reduce spasms of blood vessels will allow the drug "Glycine." This is a sedative, which is a kind of vitamin for the brain. The dosage for a child of 5 years is 1 tablet. In half an hour, the little patient should feel better.
Other reasons
What causes a five year old child to complain of a headache?
The causes of discomfort in babies are:
- Infectious diseases. Viral infection causes the development of measles and tonsillitis, rubella and diphtheria, mumps (mumps), whooping cough or flu. In addition to fever, photophobia, enlargement of the cervical lymph nodes and parotid glands, skin rashes and hyperemia, these ailments are the causes of constant headaches in a child.
- Trigeminal neuralgia or neuritis. Violation of innervation, inflammation in the neck, face and temples often causes headaches in the child. These uncomfortable sensations are especially felt during movements of the facial muscles, turning or tilting the head, as well as during coughing and sneezing.
- Hypoxia, rickets, anemia. Similar pathologies in five-year-old children arise as a result of violation of the regime of rest and nutrition. In order for the child to develop normally in the physiological plan, he needs vitamins, minerals and proteins. Very important are the walks of children on the street, as well as their sunbathing. All this will prevent calcium deficiency in the body and oxygen starvation. The child must actively move and play, taking breaks for sleep or rest. Failure to comply with the above rules in children may develop rickets or anemia, and this will certainly lead to problems. At the same time, they will concern not only the brain, but the whole organism.
- Poisoning. Kids love to pull everything in their mouths. And sometimes it ends in disrepair. After all, sometimes tablets or various fluids or products harmful to his health come across to the child’s arm. If he pulls them into his mouth, then poisoning, which often has subsequent complications, is simply inevitable. This condition is manifested by vomiting, hyperemia, lowering pressure, loss of consciousness, convulsions, as well as pain in the gastrointestinal tract and in the head. Poisoning the baby’s body sometimes occurs due to the use of a large amount of sweets and foods, if they contain a lot of nutritional supplements. Symptoms of this condition are headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea. First aid for poisoning - cleansing the gastrointestinal tract. Parents need to induce vomiting in the baby, giving him a solution of potassium permanganate. To eliminate the symptoms of poisoning, according to the age of the child, he should be given absorbing agents. The most popular of these is activated carbon.