HEADACHES IN CHILDREN

Depending on the age of the child, they may not be able to tell you the symptoms of the headache. In small children who are not able to explain the headache, parents should watch out for them crying and holding their heads, or being excessively sleepy. In older children reaching puberty may also be a cause of headaches. If a child’s headache is accompanied by fever and neck stiffness it is extremely important to seek medical help as this may indicate meningitis or encephalitis. Fortunately, most children’s headaches are not serious and may be effectively treated using OTC medication.

Pharmacy customer: Hello, do you speak English?
PTA: Hello. Yes, a little. What can I do for you?

Do you have tablets with acetylsalicylic acid?
Yes, which size pack would you like?

A small pack should do.
 Is it for you or for another person?

It’s for my son. Why do you ask?
You see acetylsalicylic acid is not recommended for children. Even though it is possible to give it to children older than six years of age, it is contra-indicated in most cases, unless it is recommended by a doctor.How old is your son?

He’s ten.
Have you any idea what caused the headache?

I know that he has quite a few tests to write in the next weeks so he’s studying a lot. It might be caused by stress. He does sports, he plays basketball twice a week and football on the weekends. It could be that he is not getting enough to drink during the day, with all the extra work and sport.
Is it possible that he has a head injury?

No, that was the first thing that I asked him when he started complaining of the headache!
And he doesn’t have a high temperature or any neck stiffness?

No, he suddenly got very pale and said that he felt a little nauseous but hasn’t vomited, thank goodness. That’s when he told me that he had the headache, which is why I immediately came to you.
I can recommend this ibuprofen liquid for children. We need to know the weight of the child for the dosage. Have you any idea what your son weighs?

Well, he weighs around 75 pounds, he’s quite tall for his age. What’s that in kilos?
Oh that’s easy, just divide by 2.2. Let’s see, that’s just about 34 kilos. You can give him two and a half teaspoons now and, if necessary, again six hours after the first dosage. I could also recommend paracetamol, but if it were me, I’d take my son to see a doctor just to be on the safe side.

He tends to get slight headaches every now and again, so I’m not really worried that it is anything serious. I’ll give him the first dosage when I get home and if there is no improvement, I’ll take him to my GP immediately.
Okay. So here’s the suspension. Is there anything else I can do for you?

No, thank you. You have been very kind and patient with me! Goodbye!
Bye!

Vocabulary
headaches in children Kopfschmerzen bei Kindern
susceptible anfällig
tension headache Spannungskopfschmerzen
lack of fluids Flüssigkeitsmangel
infants Kleinkinder
excessively sleepy extrem schläfrig
accompanied by begleitet von
meningitis Hirnhautentzündung
encephalitis Gehirnentzündung
not recommended nicht empfohlen
head injury Kopfverletzung
pale blass, fahl
nauseous übel, unwohl
vomited sich übergeben
slight leicht
improvement Verbesserung
GP Allgemeinarzt, Hausarzt

Den Artikel finden Sie auch in Die PTA IN DER APOTHEKE 02/15 auf Seite 66.

Catherine Croghan, Lecturer in English and native speaker