Now that summer is officially over, students are back in school. For most, it's a wonderful time but for children and teenagers who suffer from migraines it can be painful.
Back to school for Vincent Plessel means reuniting with classmates, playing team sports and sometimes, getting migraine headaches.
"You can't move, your head gets heavy, you just want to lay down. You don't feel like eating, you just wanna rest," Vincent explained.
Vincent started getting migraines several times a week when he was just 6 years old.
"I could actually see the veins in his head throbbing, that's how bad it was," Vincent's mother Cindy Plessel said.
The headaches forced Vincent to miss school and sometimes he couldn't play on the soccer team.
Doctors say about 28% of teens have migraines. They say pressure at the beginning of the school year often brings them on.
"Not only the academic stress but also the emotional and psychological stress of going into a new school often being with new teachers, interacting with new peers and having to manage all of that at the same time," Dr. Joshua Cohen of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital says.
Getting up earlier is also a major factor. "They're getting up at 6 to 7 in the morning," Dr. Cohen says. "That tremendous shift in their sleep schedule is often a big trigger for their migraines."
Dr. Cohen helps his patients manage their migraines for the new school year. He suggests first slowly adjusting the sleep schedule from summer to school, relaxation techniques to manage stress and keeping a headache diary to see what foods may trigger the migraines.
Written by Wendy Damonte
