Search

Disorientation, nausea, confusion, dizziness, and displacement are frequently complained by headache-suffering children. Anyhow, the cause of these symptoms is still unclear, and a dysfunction of vestibular pathways or their alteration due to central pain pathways hyper-activation, has been proposed. The aim of this study is to use posturography to explore the balance function of headache-suffering children during pain-free periods. Posturography was performed on 19 migraineurs, 11 tension-type headache sufferers, and 20 healthy controls. Posturographic measures were performed during headache-free periods under different conditions: with eyes opened, eyes closed, and during right and left optokinetic stimulation. The last 2 conditions were used to mimic unreliable visual signals that can confound vestibular system. During eyes-closed conditions, headache-suffering children displayed higher displacements than healthy controls, since statokinesiogram surface was higher in tension-type headache sufferers and migraineurs compared with controls (P value = 0.0095). Romberg’s index, indicating the overall stability of the subject, was lower in healthy controls than in headache sufferers (P = 0.0139), thus suggesting a vestibular impairment in the seconds. Moreover, both during right and left optokinetic stimulation, the statokinesiogram length was higher in headache-suffering children (P