Headaches

[3timesthefun]

I have a question about headaches. My son Jared has been complaining about having a lot of headaches, to the point where he says they hurt so bad that he can't sleep. He has a lot of sinus issues, so I've always assumed they were sinus related. After seeing the ENT he said they weren't from his sinuses, because the headaches are in the forehead area, and small children don't have frontal sinuses yet. Has anyone else had headache issues, and how do you get rid of them? I have tried tylenol and advil, but they don't always help. He is generally not a complainer, so it bothers me when he gets these headaches. I have tried to figure out a pattern, but have been unable to connect them to any one thing. Thanks

 

[NoExcuses]

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[damiensmom]

I would like to know how to rid carpet of mites and where do you get allergen pillow caseings?

 

[anonymous]

I am sure your ENT is wrong about the frontal sinuses. Most people with CF do not ever develop frontal sinuses....but, there are some people who have them. The only way to tell for sure is to have a cat scan of the sinuses.

I don't mean to cause doubt in your physician, but I was very young when my frontal sinuses began giving me problems...I think 5th grade. I always had frontal sinuses and several cf docs and ENTs were surprised to see a person/kid with cf with frontal sinuses. I ended up having a frontal sinus abbliteration two years ago....now I don't have them and I nEVER have headaches.

where do you live? I can ask my ENT (one of the best in the country voted on by docs) if he knows someone else for a second opinion.

mandy

 

[Jane]

Our ENT also said that the frontal sinuses don't open until later.

Here's what I found on-line....

There are four sets of sinuses that develop around the nose (paranasal sinuses). They are fully developed by early teenage years. At birth, the maxillary sinuses (cheek area) are small but present, and the ethmoid sinuses (behind the nose, between the eyes) are present as well. In later childhood, the frontal (forehead) and sphenoid (most posterior, behind the ethmoids) sinuses develop. Sinus problems in children most often involve the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses.

Jane

 

[Jane]

here's another one....

Sinus Development in Children

At birth, only the ethmoid (the sinuses between the eyes) and maxillary (cheek) sinuses are present, and at that time they're the size of a pea. The sphenoid sinus (behind the eyes) begins to grow at age two and is not even apparent on x-rays until age five. The frontal (forehead) sinus is the last to develop, at about age four. Most of these paranasal sinuses reach adult size by adolescence, with the frontals growing until age twenty.

For this reason, the sinuses most commonly involved in infections are the maxillary and ethmoid, with the frontal and sphenoid becoming involved in late childhood and adolescence.

 

[lovemygirl]

My daughter is 5 and started headaches in the Fall. We got a call from the school one day so I took her to the pediatrician who thought it may be migraines. We were told to give her vitamin B2. I started keeping track and noticed it was weekends or the end of the day. The B2 reduced the numbers of headaches, and we were told to stop once she was headache free for 30 days. We also started her on Nasonex in case it was caused by a sinus issue. She is on a list to see a neurologist.
Once I realized that it was only weekdays I started to question her more and asked why she thought she didn't get them on the weekends or when she was home for extended periods of time from school. I never got the answer I wanted but she did start talking to me more about things going on at school and hasn't had a headache since.
I am not saying that this couldn't be CF related....I'm just saying that CF kids have a lot to deal with and I feel that my daughters headaches were more stress related than anything. This age is when they start realizing they are a little different and, in my daughters case, when they start telling people they have CF. I always try and keep in mind that she has CF but she is still entitled to have issues that aren't CF related.
I hope that it is nothing serious for your son and that the headaches stop soon.

 

[3timesthefun]

I was told that the frontal sinuses didn't fully develop until age 11 or so. He has had several ct scans, I will have to go back and look.

 

[LouLou]

I would take Jared to a chiropractor. A lot of sinus and arm pain (I know you didn't mention arm pain but just thought I'd mention) is caused by misalignment of the top three vertabrae. They can evaluate him and see if it would help before they do any adjustments to him. I go once a month for an adjustment. It's no wonder we CFers need to be realigned with all the coughing we do.

Target sells dust mite bearers for mattresses and pillows. We all should have these on our beds.

 

[anonymous]

Have you tried giving something for sinuses when he has a headache such as Tylenol Sinus? I would try it and see if it helps better than just a regular Tylenol. Susan

 

[NoExcuses]

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[anonymous]

Kait has headaches all of the time...just mentioned this at clinic on Thurs. ...the docs want us to have her eyes checked and if everything is fine there, then she will she an ENT about her sinuses. She does have sinus problems but i would really hate for her to have another surgery..

Kaitsmom<img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">

 

[Ricky]

Hey there,
I'm not a doctor but I can tell you that your child headaches are probably form CF. I don't know why your doctor would say that, it's simply not true. When I lived in Atlanta from 1990 to 2005 I knew a Girl who hadn't reached her teenage years yet and she had sinus surgery 12 times already. I've had it 7 times myself but i just turned 40 last week. I would get a second opinion if I were you.

 

[anonymous]

When our ds started complaining of headaches at age 4, our ENT and other drs said it wasn't his sinuses because he'd just had sinus surgery a few weeks prior. (His headaches were in the front and the top of his head.) Because he had one severe enough to wake him from sleeping, they did a ct of the head and bloodwork and sent him for an eye exam. After that all came back neg they diagnosed ds with migraines (long family history all 5 of my siblings and multiple of their children have migraines.) About 7 months later when ds was having lots of lung problems, etc, they finally repeated the sinus ct and determined that it was the sinuses all along and not migraines. It would probably be prudent to have him checked for other issues, but if they all come back clear, I'd assume that it was either the sinuses or stress. My oldest ds has lots of problems with stress and after ruling out all other causes, he now sees a neuro for stress induced chronic daily headaches. I hope that helps. Good luck!