What Causes Constant And Severe Headache In A Teenager?

Posted on Tue, 16 Feb 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 Answered on

Tue, 3 May 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : what would cause a 13yr old, girl to have severe headaches for 8 days straight, she had a MRI today and nothing showed thank god, but what could have started and won't let up with the pain, her SCM muscles were very taut which had triggers points but they would not let the headaches ease and usually I can relieve a client muscle spasm and triggers points she said it went from a 7 to only a 6 level of pain. The mother said she will try massages again in about a week or 2 weeks, so I am just asking what is your opinion or any thing of suggestions for this young girl. She plays tennis and basketball, but she has not fallen or hit her head.

Answered by Dr. Arun (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Usually tension headache or migraine without aura

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for writing to us.
Usually at this age atleast 50 percent of teens report headache once a month.
This is partly hormonal related to puberty and partly related to environmental stressor like watching TV computer for prolonged periods, poor sleep, less water intake, etc.
Most of these headaches would be tension or migraine ones.
With MRI normal and taut SCM muscles it looks like tension headache to me
Continue massages and gentle neck exercises.
Ensure her posture is correct at school and at home and in bed.
Ensure there are no stressors like I mentioned.
I do hope she gets well soon.
Regards
Dr Arun

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina