Teenage headaches: what's the cause?

Hello everyone!
My 17-year-old son has been struggling with headaches lately—it seems like he’s dealing with them every other day. Our family has a history of sinus issues and migraines, so it’s definitely in our genes.
Interestingly, whenever he's off from school or during the holidays, he feels perfectly fine. I know what you're thinking—that he's just playing hooky—but I promise, the pain is very real.
Maybe I'm being a bit old-fashioned, but I keep telling him it isn't healthy to head out with wet hair—he dries his hair in the morning and then rushes to school without even eating breakfast.
His blood work came back normal, aside from some elevated bilirubin levels.
The CT scans for his head and sinuses were clear, too. His primary care doctor and the ENT specialist don't think it's anything serious; they seem to attribute everything to school stress and burnout.
To make matters worse, my son never has time to sit down for a proper meal in heavenly peace—everything is just grab-and-go. That’s actually a major point of contention in our house.
Has anyone else dealt with similar issues with their teenagers, or does anyone have advice regarding these frequent headaches?!
Thank you.

I deal with headaches almost every single day too, but mine come from pure stress. Is he actually monitoring his blood pressure? Honestly, I know exactly what’s coming for me whenever I wash my hair and step out onto the balcony into the wind—it triggers a headache that drives me absolutely insane. Because of that, I don't think it's a smart move for him to be out in the elements with wet hair. Plus, if this only happens when he's heading off to school, he might just be dealing with some underlying stress, and that could be what's causing all this trouble.

Eye prescription? Man, I remember getting those killer headaches back when I started high school. Turns out it was just a mix of sinus issues and my vision being totally off, though nobody knew that at the time. Once I sorted out the sinus stuff and finally grabbed some glasses, everything just cleared up. 👍

Yes, we actually went ahead and got his vision checked too... everything looks fine there.
He’s under quite a bit of pressure at school—it’s pretty obvious—but he is working incredibly hard. He chose such a diverse range of subjects for his senior year that he’ll have plenty of different paths open to him for college later on.

Oh, my sweet boy... every bit of his pain hurts me just as much.

Betty Allen65, he's going through such a rough patch right now... I guess maybe it's just all too much for him to handle at once. 🙂

And what about his back? Have you guys tried using an orthopedic pillow?

velvetgull9 said:Betty Allen65, he’s going through a rough patch right now... maybe it's just all that stress weighing him down. 🙂

And about his spine—have you tried using an orthopedic pillow?

I guess I'm just being a bit slow here... I didn't even think of that.
Plus, his feet are slightly flat
which might be the culprit.

Thanks, dear.😘