Cell Phones, Video Games Don't Spur Teen Headaches

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TUESDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Cell phones, televisions and computer games aren't giving teenagers headaches, researchers say, but listening to one or two hours of music daily may make their heads throb.

The authors of a study published online Feb. 9 in the journal BMC Neurology looked at a group of 13- to 17-year olds -- 489 who said they had headaches and 536 who didn't. No association was seen between electronic media devices and headaches.

"Excessive use of electronic media is often reported to be associated with long-lasting adverse effects on health, like obesity or lack of regular exercise, or unspecific symptoms like tiredness, stress, concentration difficulties and sleep disturbances," said study co-author Astrid Milde-Busch of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich in Germany. "Studies into the occurrence of headaches have had mixed results and for some types of media, in particular computer games, are completely lacking".

As for a link between music-listening and headaches, it's not clear if listening to music causes the headaches or is something teens do to soothe themselves when they get a headache.

More information

For more about headaches, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.