As an active young boy growing up in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Devan Riley experienced pains in his legs. He also endured recurring numbness on his left arm, which became more bothersome over the years. “As things progressed, we didn’t want to believe anything was wrong,” said Amy Wilson Harwood, Devan’s mom. “His previous doctors associated…
Kids can experience migraine just like adults do, and if you experience migraine, you know how helpless you can feel until it passes. It is thought that even babies can get migraine headaches. Many parents want to know what causes migraine headaches in children and whether there are ways to provide relief or potentially avoid…
Migraine in teenagers is relatively common. It can be a disabling neurological condition that can interfere with school attendance, academic performance and other important obligations, like work and sports. Nearly 10% of children and teens deal with migraine, and more teenage girls will experience migraine, compared with teenage boys. Overall, increasing amounts of stress on…
As Liam Atherton crossed the finish line at the Bluegrass BMX championship last fall, the 11-year-old couldn’t help but smile. Not only had Liam won the race in the sport he loves, but just hours earlier, he finished chemotherapy to conquer a spine tumor that threatened his mobility. Liam has participated in BMX since he…
Providers are seeing more patients complain of headaches during the pandemic, and headaches are a common symptom of “long COVID-19,” an illness marked by COVID-19 symptoms that linger for months after an infection. Many children who become infected with the COVID-19 virus typically recover within a week, and most cases are not severe. However, some…
Migraine symptoms in kids are very similar to adult symptoms, and since a tendency toward migraine may be passed from parent to child, parents already may know some of the signs. Migraine attacks recur and can cause throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head. More than with a routine headache, migraine symptoms…
When children have headaches or migraine, it is usually not necessary to make an appointment with a neurologist right away. A pediatrician often can begin treatment for a child’s headache or migraine attack, which may speed up relief of their symptoms. Elizabeth S. Doll, M.D., pediatric neurologists at Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the…
A seizure that lasts more than five minutes, or at least two seizures without full recovery in between, can cause brain damage or worse in children and newborns. Call 911 and get emergency treatment immediately. Prolonged seizures, known as status epilepticus, are very serious and life-threatening, according to Jeetendra P. Sah, M.D., child neurologist at…
If your child has experienced a concussion, whether it happened during a sporting event or another type of accident, seeing a neurologist is not always necessary. Most primary care providers are able to offer guidance for managing symptoms (such as headaches, trouble thinking or fatigue), provide a concussion treatment plan, monitor progress during follow-up visits,…
Is too much screen time causing your child’s headaches? It’s very possible. Excessive screen time is a common issue among children today, and it can cause digital eyestrain. Spending too much time staring at a screen, such as a phone, tablet or computer, can cause digital eyestrain, a key trigger in headaches. Although it may…
Ian S. Mutchnick, M.D. is a pediatric neurosurgeon with Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine. Babies’ brains grow very quickly. Therefore, the bones of a baby’s skull are not connected to each other, which allows the skull to expand easily to keep up with the growth. In two “soft spots”…
In October 2009, Clayton Fackler was “a pretty typical 3-year-old,” according to his mother, Susan Fackler. The family was outside playing when Clayton suddenly collapsed, going into cardiac arrest. From there, Clayton would begin a health journey that would include a brain injury that has caused a number of issues, including spasticity. Sudden collapse leads…