Brain and spine

There are several things you can do before the appointment to help us accurately diagnose and manage your child's headaches.

• Keep a headache diary—note the time of the headaches, how long the headaches last, what is happening around the time of the headaches, dates of menstrual cycle (if applicable), and any treatments attempted.
• Pay attention to foods or situations that may trigger headaches.
• Bring a record of medication you have already tried.
• Ask family members if any of them have frequent headaches.
• Ensure that over the counter medications, such as ibuprofen, Tylenol, and naproxen, are not being overused.
• If you are waiting to see a specialist, work with your primary care physician to manage headaches, and start to use as many of the SMART lifestyle changes as possible.

The first step in headache and migraine treatment is to make some healthy lifestyle changes. We use the SMART method:

• Sleep: Prioritize a routine wake and sleep schedule to get a good amount of sleep.
• Meals and hydration: Your child should eat 5-6 times per day, made up of three meals with healthy snacks in between and lots of water.
• Activity: By exercising, your child will build new “highways” (blood vessels) in their body that can help oxygen and other important nutrients more efficiently get to nerve cells in their brain. This can help combat headaches and migraines.
• Relaxation and stress reduction: Reduce stress with a wind down routine before bed, like reading, listening to a podcast, taking a shower, or meditating.
• Trigger avoidance: We want to avoid activating your child's possible triggers. Everything listed above can be a trigger if your child is not getting enough water, sleep, activity, relaxation, etc.