Headache is much more commonly diagnosed in older children and teenagers. Children will typically complain of pain, either single- or dual-sided, around the front or back of the head. Beyond the basic description, though, there are several key factors in helping your child's pediatrician to diagnose their headache.

For children of all ages, it is extremely important to look at how they are acting, in addition to whatever they can tell you about the pain they are experiencing. When young children become irritable (crying or fussy), a headache can be a culprit. Other symptoms include children deliberately avoiding bright lights or playing outside, and wanting to stay in bed under the covers (where it is dark and warm). Nausea and vomiting can also indicate migraine. All of these symptoms can also be a sign of several other significant illnesses, including pediatric brain tumors. Any headache that persists, is progressive, and is associated with changes in behavior or other physical symptoms should be evaluated by your child's pediatrician.

Especially among older children, migraine is one of the most common types of chronic headaches. Migraines affect around 10 percent of children, with the percentage rising for older children and teenagers. Migraine frequency is approximately equal between boys and girls up to the age of seven. The rate for girls begins to increase as puberty approaches, and in adolescence, females are more significantly likely to have migraines than males. When diagnosing the type of headache your child is experiencing, look for the same signals and symptoms of an adult migraineur — one-sided head pain, nausea/vomiting, and visual perception changes are the best indicators. If either parent is a migraine sufferer, it is likely that migraine may be an issue for a child who starts to complain of headache.

Occasional headaches may not signal a chronic issue. Sometimes, headache can result from fever. If your child has a cold or another illness that may come with a fever, headaches are a common side effect. If the child's pediatrician approves of the use of a fever-reducing medication such as acetaminophen, using it may also reduce this type of headache.

Does your child frequently tell you that the blackboard at the front of the school classroom looks blurry, or does she frequently rub her eyes? When children have difficulty focusing or display other signs of a possible eyesight problem, headache can often be a result. If your child complains of transient, or short-term, visual disturbances involving blind spots and/or floating patterns, this could be a sign of a migraine aura. Talk to your pediatrician or ophthalmologist about your child's vision issues. He should be able to distinguish between a child who needs glasses and one who is experiencing the visual auras common in migraines.

Stress headaches are common in adults, but can also appear in children. Talk to your child to see if there might be a problem at school; examples of stressors in school-age children include a new school, new work that is particularly confusing, or bullying by other children. Examine your home life for anything that might be stressful — a death in the family, a new stepparent, or other change in the family structure can be very stressful to young children who don't fully understand the reason for the changes. Working to eliminate or mitigate the underlying cause of the stress can be an effective means of reducing the frequency and intensity of a child's stress headache.