Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found that frequent headaches in children appear to be associated with sleep problems.
More than two-thirds of children studied who suffer from chronic daily headache also experience sleep disturbance, especially delay in sleep onset. For children with episodic headaches, one-fifth had sleep problems.
"What's novel in our study is the finding that a high percentage of patients with headache have sleep disturbance," says Kenneth Mack, senior study investigator. " The number of patients who have headaches and also sleep disturbance surprised us. They also have the same sleep disturbance: a delay in sleep onset."
The researchers undertook this study to scientifically study their observation in the clinic that many children suffer from both headaches and sleep problems.
The investigators do not yet know which problem comes first, sleep problems or headache, as sleep problems make the headaches worse, and vice versa. They could have a common cause, or one problem could be an early sign of the other.
Treatment must be simultaneous for both conditions, using medicine and non-medicine approaches, says Mack. " It's going to be hard to control the headaches till you get the sleep problems under control either with medication or non-medication treatment," he says.
Key non-medication treatments include attention to maintaining routine in the child's schedule and developing good sleep hygiene, according to Lenora Lehwald, study investigator. These include - making the child's bedroom a relaxing place and avoiding exciting stimuli like TVs and video games in the bedroom, and having a routine for calming down in the last hour before bedtime. Activities like reading make children drowsy and help prepare for bedtime.
If a child with both headache and sleep problems requires medicine, Mack prefers migraine medication that also helps with sleep issues.
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