Painful Relief

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Kids who suffer from frequent headaches are using over-the-counter pain relievers more than they should, according to a study presented at the American Headache Society's annual meeting last week. In a survey of nearly 700 children and adolescents ages 6 to 18 who had been referred to the Cleveland Clinic because of chronic headaches, 22% were using pain relievers like Advil, Aleve and Tylenol as often as 15 to 20 times a week, and 1 in 7 was taking the medication without telling a parent. Experts caution that overuse of such drugs can lead to "rebound" headaches as well as kidney problems and gastrointestinal bleeding. They suggest that kids take no more than two doses a week.