Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Headache

Athena scared me last night, she was almost done with her Berries homework when she told me "mummy I giddy". I hardly hear this from a child so the next sensible thing that I should do is to send her to bed. It was 9+, by the time she had her milk she fell asleep close to 10. I was worried about her giddiness. When she promptly dozed off, I took it that she might be too tired.

This morning, she woke up and told me "mummy my head pain". It sounds so foreign to me coz'in her 5+ years she has never complained her head pain, I didn't know that headache is = sick coz' to me all these while I've been hearing "flu, cough". Then I thought to myself 'what's the cause of headache"

What is a headache?
Headache is defined as pain in the head that is located above the eyes or the ears, behind the head (occipital), or in the back of the upper neck. Headache, like chest pain or dizziness, has many causes.

What are the causes of headaches?
There are two types of headaches: primary headaches and secondary headaches. Primary headaches are not associated with (caused by) other diseases. Examples of primary headaches are migraine headaches, tension headaches, and cluster headaches. Secondary headaches are caused by associated disease. The associated disease may be minor or serious and life threatening.

How common are primary and secondary headaches?
Tension headaches are the most common type of primary headache; as many as 90% of adults have had or will have tension headaches. Tension headaches are more common among women than men. Migraine headaches are the second most common type of primary headache. An estimated 28 million people in the United States (about 12% of the population) will experience migraine headaches. Migraine headaches affect children as well as adults. Before puberty, boys and girls are affected equally by migraine headaches, but after puberty, more women than men are affected. An estimated 6% of men and up to 18% of women will experience a migraine headache. In the United States, migraine headaches often go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed as tension or sinus headaches. As a result, many migraine sufferers do not receive effective treatment. Cluster headaches are a rare type primary headache, affecting 0.1% of the population. An estimated 85% of cluster headache sufferers are men. The average age of cluster headache sufferers is 28-30 years, although headaches may begin in childhood. Secondary headaches have diverse causes, ranging from serious and life threatening conditions such as brain tumors, strokes, meningitis, and subarachnoid hemorrhages to less serious but common conditions such as withdrawal from caffeine and discontinuation of analgesics. Many people suffer from "mixed" headache disorders in which tension headaches or secondary headaches trigger migraine headaches.

She didn't go to school, gave her paractemol and sent her to bed. Before I left the house for Ari's class, I asked her again. This time still hesitated and told me it's still painful until I assured that I won't bring her to school even if she's okay, and she shouldn't lie to me coz' it'll only make me worry more. She's okay and that's a great relief.
Prior to that mom called to ask what happened, if she had fell or run and bump into her classmates the day before. I should check just incase it's internal injury blah blah - which I did earlier before she called. But I can understand her anxiety for being so naggy. Infact, I feel like telling her "it's not her who ran into her friends. But me who deliberately banged my head against the wall with 2 taunting kids - by now I would have concussed and be a vegetable."

2 comments:

Boh Tong aka Luke Tan said...

Hello Honey...Wah lau ur article abt headache is fantastic. U did alot of reading abt it rite?
How u manage huh with kids,husband and still manage to blog like crazy...love ya

Lily Ann said...

Hubby not in Sin for 2 weeks, I run the house amok now. Normally I blog when I have the time, most of the times you notice my entries come in late and all at once. Coz' type halfway then busy busy. Continue until I finish lor. No choice, ah soh must have interest, otherwise go crazy and senile.