Dr. Irving Fish, director of pediatric neurology at New York University Medical Center in New York, says Zaino is not alone. From that, there's about 10 to 15 percent of children who have missed school. For children and adolescents, the most common disabling headaches are migraines, with the same symptoms and triggers as the adult variety. The second most common group is chronic headaches, usually brought on by stress. The third and least common are headaches due to underlying causes in the brain, such as bleeding, infection or brain tumors.
Experts say there are telltale signs look for to know if a child's headaches are serious.
Fish says to treat headaches effectively you often need more than just a pill. In Zaino's case the headaches were stress-related. Since starting her treatment, Zaino says life has never been better. She is now looking forward to starting college in the fall.