- 1). Keep a symptom journal, tracking each time a child has a migraine. Include changes, exercise, environmental surroundings and activities the child participated in before the migraine onset. This can help determine factors you might change to alleviate pediatric migraine pain.
- 2). Encourage your child to keep hydrated, but avoid giving her large quantities of caffeinated beverages, which might increase the pain. However, small amounts of caffeine sometimes help alleviate the pain in a migraine patient.
- 3). Establish a regular sleeping pattern for your child. If your child has a migraine, encourage him to rest as much as possible. According to Migraine Action, sleep helps ward off migraines since lack of sleep is a migraine trigger.
- 4). Regulate your child's body by offering healthy food on a regular basis. Good nutrition helps reduce pain. According to American Family Physician, skipping meals might cause a nutritional imbalance that could trigger a migraine. Migraine pain can worsen with too much sugar or too many preservatives in a diet.
- 5). Analyze your child's diet during her migraine and take extra precautions to keep it balanced in vitamins and nutrients. Studies, such as "A Role for Food Intolerance in Childhood Migraine," have found soda, chocolate, cheese, processed meats, diet drinks, and MSG trigger and worsen migraines. Websites such as the Child and Youth Health site offer suggestions for offering a balanced diet to children.
- 6). Avoid stressful situations for your child whenever he has a migraine, if possible. Stress is a factor in the onset of pediatric migraines, according to MyOptumHealth.com. Removing a child from stress helps to reduce the pain.
- 7). Use massage techniques to relax the child with a migraine and stimulate blood circulation. Pressure point massage provides headache relief.
- 8). Consult with the pediatrician to determine if the child needs medication. Some might recommend prophylactic medication such as Periactin, Depakote or Tegretol. Doctors might prescribe medication for young patients who experience two or more throbbing headaches a week or three to four a month, which incapacitate the child.
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