Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Why do people get headaches? – Evie V., age 10, Corpus Christi, Texas

Whether sharp and stabbing or dull and throbbing, a headache can ruin your day. But your brain doesn’t actually feel pain. So what is going on when it feels like your head is in a vise or about to explode?

I am a child neurologist – that is, a doctor who specializes in diseases of the brain in kids. Most of my patients are kids and adolescents who are struggling with headaches.

Head pain is complicated, and there is still a lot to learn about what causes it and how it can be treated. But researchers know there are a few key players that take part in generating pain.

Nerves communicate information like pain through electrical signals between the body and the brain.

While the brain itself doesn’t have any nerve sensors to feel pain, blood vessels in the head and structures that protect and surround the brain do sense........

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