1 in 10 school-age children get migraine headaches! And most of those children are undiagnosed. Most parents and teachers do not take children seriously when they complain of a migraine because they think of it as just a bad headache. This saddens me because I have suffered from terrible migraines since the age of three. Some teachers are wonderful and very supportive of students in pain. They understand that kids can’t focus and don't give them a hard time when they need to go to the nurse.
Kids must take their migraine medications before the migraine reaches "full force," or they won't work. Other teachers don’t believe the students and don’t allow them to go to the nurse or take their medications. For some of these teachers, it's eye opening when they learn that a student ended up in the hospital because her migraine couldn't be controlled.
Migraines are an epidemic, and children with them feel alone and misunderstood. They need to know that you as a parent or teacher believe and support them. Please support these students. Treat them as you would any other child with a medical problem (like asthma or diabetes). Don’t make them feel alone when they want to do well in school. And let them go to the nurse or take their medications!
To learn more about migraine and migraine in children, go to www.migraineresearchfoundation.org. The Migraine Research Foundation is a nonprofit that raises money to fund migraine research. They have an initiative called For Our Children, which specifically relates to migraine in children. They also have lists of specialty doctors and clinics who will see kids.
