Headache Program
Our Providers
Our pediatric specialists provide personalized care for your child’s physical, mental and emotional health needs.
Contact Information
For headache appointments, call to see a child neurologist specializing in headache management.
Although headaches are common in children, recurrent or frequent headaches that interfere with daily life are a concern. The Headache Program is a specialized clinic within the Division of Neurology that evaluates and treats more than 2,000 patients annually.
Headache Program at Children’s National and Pediatric Specialists of Virginia: Why Choose Us
Our nationally-recognized Headache Program, led by child neurologists Marc DiSabella, D.O., Raquel Landgon, M.D., Jeffrey Strelzik, M.D., and William McClintock, M.D., has extensive experience treating children of all ages with chronic headaches. We are one of the few pediatric hospitals in the country with behavioral medicine specialists involved in headache care. Together with our behavioral pain medicine psychologist, Angela Fletcher, Psy.D., we provide the most up-to-date therapies for your child.
At Children's National Hospital, we use a comprehensive and holistic approach to management, including lifestyle modification, behavioral strategies and advanced medications to alleviate your child's pain.
Members of our Headache Program team belong to the American Headache Society and work closely with the National Institutes of Health to meet the special needs of patients and their families with headache disorders.
Our internationally-renowned physicians are also active in research and clinical trials to locate factors influencing headaches in children and adolescents.
Urgent Headache Appointments
An urgent appointment should be made if a child is experiencing the following:
- Headaches that are recurrent (more than four times per month) or are increasingly severe
- Headaches that have been present for over four weeks and are not responding to intervention
- Headaches resulting in missed school days
In an effort to improve access and ease of referral, the Headache Program has developed a centralized referral process for children with urgent headache needs. A dedicated program coordinator is available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to schedule urgent appointments.
Emergency Department referral is recommended for children with new onset of acute, severe headaches or new neurological deficits. For less severe or more intermittent headaches, please call the neurology appointment line at 202-476-3611 to schedule an appointment with one of our neurology care providers.
Interdisciplinary Intractable Headache Clinic
Children with headaches that are difficult to control will be referred by a Children’s National provider to our Interdisciplinary Intractable Headache Clinic. This clinic utilizes lifestyle modification and healthy habits, alternative medicine, pain-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, biofeedback, nerve blocks and infusions to provide additional treatment options for kids.
Contact Us
Questions about headache management, school forms, test results and other clinical concerns? Contact Headache Nurse Priscilla Smith. Our fax is 202-476-2864.
Follow-ups & Authorizations
For follow-up headache appointments or authorizations, contact Headache Coordinator, Jessica Keats. Our fax is 410-266-0943.
Help Your Child Grow Up Stronger
Read about everything parents need to know about kids' health, straight from our experts at Children's National Hospital.