Parents are often witnessing to, sometimes even victims, the angry outbursts and nagging of their teenage kids who seem to be sleep-deprived, unwilling to get ready for school. Children in this age group also frequently complain about their headaches or migraines, which can be problematic to their guardians. To parents or anyone in general, it may seem like a behavioral issue in teens but based on years of studies by Pediatric Neurologists. It has been revealed that teenagers' sleep patterns tend to undergo a drastic change once they hit puberty and become a major cause of migraine. This phase of physical development also affects the internal body clock, which shifts the ''circadian rhythm'' of teens.
The circadian rhythm is our body's internal process that works to regulate our sleep-wake cycle through the 24-hour. So, when a child enters puberty, their circadian rhythm also shifts, causing a delay of about two hours in their sleeping pattern. According to Pediatric Neurologists, this shift in the body clock is termed as "sleep-phase delay", which becomes the leading cause of sleep deprivation in teens, besides their highly active lifestyle, leading to numerous bouts of migraine which can affect as many as 28% adolescents aging between 15-19 years. Teens have a primary obligation to their education and are required to wake up early in the morning and go to their schools while deprived of sleep, which can prepare the ground for another painful migraine episode. If this ailment goes undiagnosed and untreated, it can hurt a child's social life and academics.