Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about headaches in children.

And if you want to follow along with written notes on this topic, you can follow along at zero definals.com or in the neurology section of the Zero to Finals Pediatrics book.

So let's get straight into it.

Headaches in children are quite common.

The majority are simple tension type headaches that resolve within a short period

or with simple measures such as water and paracetamol.

There are a number of other causes of headaches, some of which are potentially

dangerous. Being able to properly assess headaches in children is an important skill. There are a number

of causes of headaches in children and these include tension headaches, migraines, ear nose and throat

infections, analgesic headache, problems with vision, raised

intracranial pressure, brain tumours, meningitis, encephalitis and carbon monoxide poisoning.

And we're going to talk in more detail about some of the key causes of headaches.

Firstly, let's start with tension headaches.

Tension headaches are very common.

Classically, they produce a mild ache across the forehead

and pain or pressure in a band-like pattern around the head.

Tension headaches come on and resolve gradually

and don't produce visual changes or pulsating sensations.

They are typically symmetrical.

Symptoms may be very nonspecific in younger children.

They may become quiet, stop playing, turn pale or become tired. They tend to resolve

more quickly in children compared with adults, often within 30 minutes. There are certain triggers

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