Headaches of a 10 Year Old

How do you explain a headache to a 10 year old? 

First you ask her if she feels hot or cold, then you check for a fever. Her head feels warm but that may be because your hands are like ice and your daughter is cringing from the iciness. The cringing doesn’t help the head agony. After rubbing your hands together and re-checking the skin of her forehead, you notice she’s not sizzling. So a fever is checked off the list. Second, you ask where exactly on the head does hurt. She points all across her forehead which covers a broad area of intertwining possibilities…that will make it easy to narrow down the headache connection (sarcasm). Third, you ask her if she aches more by the eyebrows, in the middle, or by the hairline. If the pain is near the eyebrows, then her sinus cavities are becoming irritable. They might be dried from the dry weather and dry house. The dry furnace seems to be conquering the humidifier of soothing moisture for us to breathe comfortable. If the streak of agony is across the middle, then it’s a possible precursor to a cold unless the pain stretches toward the temples, then it would be a tension. Then those set of questions are asked after all the physical deductions have been made. If the pain is along the hairline, then she might consider no more pony tails for awhile or get a hair cut. With either scenario, the headache seems to disappear when she plays Lego Harry Potter on the Wii unless her sister is not playing the game her way. And the headache seems to intensify at bedtime which denotes self-infliction for not being allowed to stay up like her friends.

So then we try to deduct situations that may cause the headache. First, you ask how much water she has drunk during the day. Sips at the water fountain really don’t count as “a lot of water”. So you have her drink a big glass of water. If the headache is still lingering after the water gurgles through the stomach, then you ask if the headache happened after recess. Maybe the lack of water and running non-stop could possibly contribute to the pain. After the declaration that nothing happened during recess and she drank “a lot” of water, you move onto recent school assignments. You ask if she has a test coming that she is unsure she will do well. If that is not the issue, then you ask if her powerpoint project is becoming stressful. If that is not a problem, then you ask if she is stuck with someone in groups that she does not cooperate with well. If that is not the problem, then you ask if she is having friend conflicts such as her best friend pressuring for her to ruthlessly “crush” a boy’s heart. (5^th graders crushing hearts, what is up with this!)

 If none of the above are issues in her social and academic circle, then you return to the first set of deductions and give her a heating pad or cold pack for her head, some kid pain medicine, and a glass of water until she wants to play Harry Potter or stay up to watch iCarly.