When you’re in pain, it can be very distracting and rob you of your focus. After all, thinking about how much your papercut stings or your pulled muscle aches can make it hard to think about anything else.
The same holds true for headaches. Headaches can not only distract us from living our lives, but they also hurt. Whether it’s a tension headache, cluster headache, migraine headache or sinus headache, often the pain and pressure that goes along with headaches can distract us from doing what we need to do.
But while headaches are bad for adults, they can devastate children. This is because school-aged kids need to be able to focus on learning and socializing, skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives. It’s important to understand how headaches affect children and their academic performance as the school year really swings into high gear.
Unfortunately, when your child is distracted by frequent headaches, their schoolwork can suffer, too. A 2022 study found that students who suffer from migraine headaches have a 62.7 percent decreased learning capacity, while students who suffer from other types of headaches have a 24.4 percent reduced ability. While this may not be a big deal occasionally, chronic headaches can take a massive toll on a child’s education. Here are just a few reasons why:
How Headaches Can Harm Children’s Academic Performance
Pain and Discomfort: When a person of any age has a headache, the pain and discomfort of that headache can be a huge distraction. Often, when we get a headache, we will stop what we’re doing and do something that requires less focus, such as lying down and taking a nap or, at the very least, walking away from our phone or computer. That’s because the headache pain distracts us from the task.
Reduced Concentration: Who wants to learn their multiplication tables when they have a throbbing headache? Pain can be a huge distraction, harming children academically if they cannot focus well enough to learn and participate in their education.
Reduced Attention: An attention span is a vital tool for any person of any age, but it is essential in students, especially during school hours. Paying attention to a lesson will help them absorb the material to understand the assignment better and learn to perform the skill independently. Unfortunately, a student who has a reduced attention span often cannot pay attention long enough to understand new material properly.
Absences: If your child suffers from frequent headaches, they may not be well enough to attend school. This means your child misses valuable instructional time and socialization with peers. Over time, these absences can add up, causing your them to fall behind in academics and lose bonds with their friends.
Poor Sleeping Habits: When your or your child’s head hurts, falling asleep can be challenging. You can also wake up from sleeping due to headache pain. Unfortunately, these sleep interruptions can reverberate through your and your child’s daily lives. They may feel groggy and tired, causing them to perform poorly in school. Children can also have diminished cognitive functioning, which can carry over into play and extracurricular activities.
Emotional Problems: It’s hard enough being a child without the added pressure from headaches. Headaches can take a significant toll on your child’s emotional well-being. Prolonged pain and limited social interactions can cause your child to feel anxious or depressed. This can affect their school performance and their relationships with friends and family.
Medication Side Effects: If your child is constantly taking medication to treat their headaches, they can experience potential side effects that can harm their cognitive and physical abilities. From feeling sleepy during waking hours to nausea or other side effects, this can also negatively impact their learning processes.
Treating Headaches In Children
The excellent news about headaches in kids is that there are solutions that treat not just the headache, but also the root cause of the headache. A holistic approach to headache care will make your child feel better and help ensure that they are functioning at peak performance at school and in their daily lives.
If your child suffers from frequent headaches, Dr. Kelley Mingus is here to help. Schedule an appointment at Bend Headache Center today to learn more!
