Headache Relief for Children

When a child suffers from headaches, the costs can include missed or late school days and skipped after-school activities. With an increasing number of children being diagnosed with headaches, parents are searching for the best ways to stop the suffering. Headache expert Dr. Seymour Diamond offered some advice on how to alleviate pain and increase prevention in his new book, Headache And Your Child: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Treating Migraines and Other Headaches in Children and Adolescents.

According to Dr. Diamond, his book is the first to address this growing health issue in a practical and accessible way. In Headache and Your Child, he includes chapters dedicated to such topics as:

• Identifying what type of headache your child experiences so you can quickly find the most effective, appropriate treatments.
• Step-by-step exercises for controlling pain.
• A diet that helps identify migraine triggers.
• Alternatives to adult medications.
• Information about biofeedback, relaxation methods, and other nondrug treatments.

One of Dr. Diamond's main points in the book is that too little is known about children and headaches. While plenty of resources are currently available to an adult who suffers from headache, many pediatricians and parents assume this information is not relevant to kids. As a result, many children are not properly diagnosed or treated for their headache disorders.

Dr. Diamond is the founder and director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, which is the oldest private clinic in the United States devoted solely to headaches. Each year, its staff treats more than 20,000 headache patients.

In addition to Headache and Your Child, he is the author of Conquering Your Migraine (Fireside, April 2001), The Hormone Headache, and co-editor of The Practicing Physician's Approach to Headache (editions 1 through 5). He has contributed to 30 other books and has published more than 400 articles on the subject of headache.

Co-author Amy Diamond has worked as an editor and publisher for the last 20 years and serves as editorial consultant for Headache Quarterly: Current Treatment and Research.
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