Barriers to Help for Children with Migraine

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – MOUNT ROYAL, NJ (March 30, 2015) – Migraine in children can have a major impact on their health, school performance, family and social lives, yet kids who experience this debilitating condition often come up against barriers to getting help.  

“Young migraine sufferers endure the same obstacles to getting relief from their pain as older migraine sufferers, including not having their pain taken seriously,” says American Migraine Foundation Chair David W. Dodick, MD, FRCP (C), who is Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (Scottsdale, AZ).  “Many myths and beliefs persist in our culture that make it difficult to get a proper diagnosis and treatment.”

Dr. Dodick points out that even those with migraine themselves tend to downplay the impact of the pain on their lives and families.  And those around them, including family members, may also unwittingly set up barriers to help. 

Physicians may also dismiss a child’s head pain. “Too many children who see a doctor for migraine are not getting medication for their pain,” says Robert A. Nicholson, PhD, FAHS Director of Behavioral Medicine at Mercy Clinic Headache Center/Mercy Health Research (St. Louis, MO), and an American Migraine Foundation board member. “And too few are receiving care consistent with evidence-based guidelines.  For example, many are prescribed opiates as a first-line treatment, an approach that is not recommended by migraine treatment specialists.”

“If you take your child to a physician because you are concerned about migraine, don’t be reluctant to say so or ask about medication or other forms of treatment,” says Dr. Dodick. “And don’t hesitate to ask your pediatrician for a referral to a headache specialist, who are trained to conduct a comprehensive evaluation and design the most appropriate treatment plan.”

Working with Phoenix Children’s Hospital pediatric neurologist/headache specialist Marcy E. Yonker, MD, the American Migraine Foundation has added a range of resources and information on migraine in children to its website (www.americanmigrainefoundation.org).  The site’s current “Spotlight on Migraine in Children,” is a feature packed with information for parents and children themselves on recognizing and better managing migraine.  In addition to the topic discussed above, current Spotlight articles include “Helping Your Child Manage Migraine”; “What Triggers Migraine Attacks in Children”; “What Symptoms Should I Look for in My Kids?”; and “Migraine Hurts Children’s School, Family and Social Lives.”  Also on the site are: “Back to School with Migraine”; “Children Get Headaches Too”; “Headaches in Kids:  What Parents Can Do to Help”; “Kids with Chronic Migraine”; “Migraine Variants in Children”; “Complementary Therapies and Coping Tools for Children with Migraine”; “Never too Young for Chronic Headaches”; “New Research on Connection Between Migraine and Colic”;  “What is This Everyday Headache All About”; and “Pediatric Migraine: A Primer for Teachers and School Nurses.”  

ABOUT MIGRAINE: More than 36 million Americans live with migraine, more than have asthma and diabetes combined.  An estimated three to seven million Americans live with chronic migraine, a highly disabling neurological disorder. Migraine can be extremely disabling and costly, accounting for more than $20 billion in direct (e.g. doctor visits, medications) and indirect (e.g. missed work, lost productivity) expenses each year in the United States. 

ABOUT THE AMERICAN MIGRAINE FOUNDATION: The American Migraine Foundation is a non-profit foundation supported by the American Headache Society and generous donors dedicated to the advancement of migraine research. Its mission is to support innovative research that will lead to improvement in the lives of those who suffer from migraine and other disabling headaches.www.americanmigrainefoundation.org is the companion website to the American Headache Society (www.americanheadachesociety.org), the professional services organization for the world’s foremost clinicians and researchers working in migraine.

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