Month: September 2007

Diet, Resources

Children & Headaches

Kerrie Smyres

Nearly every child has a headache at some point. Like in adults, an occasional headache is normal. Although headaches are typically benign, they could signal something serious. If kids have headaches frequently or the headache seems different than usual, it’s time to see a doctor.

Contact a doctor if your child’s headaches:

  • Occur at least once a month
  • Keep him or her out of school
  • Follow an injury, such as a blow to the head
  • Awaken him or her from sleep
  • Feature persistent vomiting or visual changes
  • Are accompanied by fever, along with neck pain or stiffness

Causes of headaches in children include a genetic predisposition (especially to migraine), head trauma, illness and infection, environmental factors, emotional factors, and certain foods and beverages. See the Mayo Clinic article in the above link for details about these causes.

Information comes from the Mayo Clinic. See Headaches in Children: Common, But Sometimes Serious to learn about causes, types of headaches, diagnosis and treatment. The National Headache Foundation also has a guide to children’s headaches, which even has a section for kids to explore.

Your child having headaches isn’t a reason to panic, but it isn’t something to ignore.

News & Research, Resources, Treatment

Must-Read Time Article on Headache

Kerrie Smyres

A 2002 Time cover article on headache describes current migraine research — and the heretofore lack of said research — and what it means for people with headache. As the article says, “What [the research] all adds up is a revolutionary view of extreme headaches that treats them as serious, biologically based disorders on a par with epilepsy or Alzheimer’s disease.”

It’s a hopeful piece that shares the fascinating biology of headache as well as what headache sufferers actually go through. Although the article is three years old, it’s a step toward educating others that Tylenol doesn’t trounce migraines, chronic daily headaches and cluster headaches.

Now articles need to use this quote from the book Migraine and Other Headaches:

“In general, headache sufferers are worse off than people who have arthritis, roughly similar to those who have congestive heart failure severe enough to interfere with walking up and down stairs and only slightly better than people with AIDS.” (from All in My Head, by Paula Kamen, page 282)

The Time article is a must-read for people with headache and their loved ones. And it includes an awesome graphic of the path of a headache (you’ll find it under the graphics section of the sidebar).

Triggers

Do My Smells Make Me a Headache Trigger?

Kerrie Smyres

A man recently told me that I smelled good and asked me what scent I was wearing. I hadn’t showered, so I was stymied. Until he said I smelled like sage. He was talking about my deodorant.

I hadn’t before thought of myself as having a scent. Even though smells are big migraine triggers for me, the scents that I wear aren’t a problem for me — but they could be for other people.

I’m astonished by how many scented products I use: shampoo, soap (body and face), lotion (body and face), hair products, deodorant, laundry detergent, fabric softener. Now that I’m trying to buy products that have as few additives as possible, this is even more difficult.

  • For shampoo and hair products, I use what makes my hair look good and doesn’t make me sick. I’ve searched to no avail for unscented products that work well. I settled on one with a light peppermint smell. It’s tempting to shave my head again.
  • My lotion has to be rich and I’ve never found a thick, highly moisturizing lotion without a scent. According to my mom, my favorite lotion smells like powdered doughnuts. Probably too overpowering. Oils are too greasy, so they’re not a good solution. Even grapeseed oil, which is one of the lighter oils is greasy enough to leave spots on my clothes.
  • Body soap isn’t a problem, I use unscented Dr. Bronner’s. Although its many uses are touted right on the bottle, using it as shampoo makes my hair greasy and my face breaks out when I use it as a face soap.
  • Deodorant is non-negotiable. I found one that works and I’m not switching. At least the smell could be mistaken for food.
  • I use lightly scented laundry detergent and lavender fabric softener. Sometimes I add some lavender extra lavender essential oil to the mix. None of the unscented stuff I’ve tried does the trick.
  • And I can’t forget the cellphone, which will be perfumed and thus perfuming me for the rest of its life.

Now you know exactly how I smell, which I doubt you truly care about. It was a good exercise for me. Maybe the scents I use are headache triggers for me and I just don’t realize it.

Writing this, I began to smell a flowery cinnamon odor — not something I expect to encounter in my house. I’ve changed my clothes and the scent remains. I think I’m paranoid.

Meds & Supplements, Resources, Treatment

Learn About Meds at DrugBank, a Massive Drug Database

Kerrie Smyres

Whatever you want to know about your medications, DrugBank can tell you. Seriously. Each of the nearly 4,100 drugs on the site has 80 data fields covering names and chemical structures to how and why the drug works to patient information and helpful websites.

The information on Topamax, ibuprofen and Imitrex, which are some common headache drugs, is impressive. DrugBank also links to popular drug sites, including Drugs.com and RX List, when readers want more information.

via ChronicBabe

Coping, Triggers

Could Being a Scatterbrain Trigger Your Headaches or Migraines?

Kerrie Smyres

When his migraines increased as his workload increased, Joe realized that a major trigger was being scatterbrained. At first I thought he meant the stress of being scatterbrained, but that’s not how his theory goes. Joe has become less scatterbrained and reduced his migraine frequency with a simple tool: Carefully managed to do lists.

Check out what he has to say in Headache Cause: Scatterbrain? Fix: To Do Lists? Even if you don’t agree with the theory he puts forth, his ways of managing his to do list are excellent.