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What Causes Persistent Headache And Neck Pain In A Child?
Question: Hello. My 7 year old has been complaining of headaches for about two weeks now, tylenol helps a little but after a while headaches come back. Also, her eyes hurt, sometimes she feels short of breath, very tired and she also gets neck pain. I took her to the ER last night, they did an xray and some blood work, everything came back good but she is still feeling ill. What could it be? Thank you.
Brief Answer:
The possible causes need systematic elimination.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
There can be a number of possible causes of headache in a child of this age.
Sinusitis can cause headache and it is often associated with pain over the back of the eyes. Respiratory symptoms might be present and steam inhalation helps.
Viral infections or certain other infections could also present with similar presentations.
Eye power needs to be checked as fluctuations in the same may lead to headache.
Stress and anxiety are also possible causes.
Due to any reason if the oxygen supply to the brain suffers, it may manifest with tiredness and headache.
Spasm of neck muscles and compression of the spinal (cervical) nerves may also give rise to headache.
Tumors are the last thing to consider but other causes are a lot commoner.
It needs a careful clinical correlation to be able to make out the cause of headache in her case. I would insist you to viist a pediatrician and to get her systemically evaluated. Till then continue to give tylenol. You may try giving steam inhalation.
Let me know if I could help further.
Regards
The possible causes need systematic elimination.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
There can be a number of possible causes of headache in a child of this age.
Sinusitis can cause headache and it is often associated with pain over the back of the eyes. Respiratory symptoms might be present and steam inhalation helps.
Viral infections or certain other infections could also present with similar presentations.
Eye power needs to be checked as fluctuations in the same may lead to headache.
Stress and anxiety are also possible causes.
Due to any reason if the oxygen supply to the brain suffers, it may manifest with tiredness and headache.
Spasm of neck muscles and compression of the spinal (cervical) nerves may also give rise to headache.
Tumors are the last thing to consider but other causes are a lot commoner.
It needs a careful clinical correlation to be able to make out the cause of headache in her case. I would insist you to viist a pediatrician and to get her systemically evaluated. Till then continue to give tylenol. You may try giving steam inhalation.
Let me know if I could help further.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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