According to various researchers, from 25 to 80 % of schoolchildren suffer from headaches [1, 2, 3, 4]. Often, they are accompanied by attention deficit and hyperactivity. Eighteen to twenty-five percent of children and teenagers have tension headaches, i. e. repeated bilateral headaches of compressing, pressing and dull types [5, 6, 7, 8]. They make 2/3 of all headaches suffered by this group [9].

The specific feature of tension headache pathogenesis in children and adolescents is the immaturity of their psychological defense mechanisms. They can develop tension headaches as a result of physical and mental fatigue, sleep deprivation, visual overstrain, problems with their group or classmates [1]. In addition, some researchers [10, 11, 12] point out that children suffering from tension headaches often have cerebrovascular disorders, including attention deficit, memory loss, increased irritability, affective outbreaks. These disorders may be caused by birth injuries to the CNS, somatic diseases, craniocerebral trauma, neuroinfections.

In some cases, headache is accompanied by the symptoms of autonomic dysfunction [13, 14, 15]. Timely detection of vegetative disorders allows effective correction of the clinical manifestations of the pathology, which translates into improved quality of life for patients [15]. It is especially important to diagnose vegetative imbalance in children and adolescents, because their age is the time when segmental and supra-segmental structures of their brain mature, and those structures influence appearance of pain syndromes, including cephalothia.

Trigger points, mainly those found around upper shoulder girdle and neck, play an important role in tension headache development. A trigger point is a cluster of electrically active sections of muscle fibers that are connected to the contracted ending of the motor nerve in the skeletal muscle. Constant tension of the trigger point fibers disrupts blood circulation in the corresponding parts of the muscle; metabolic products accumulate there and prolong the existence of those points, which can contribute to the reflected headaches of different locations. Massaging (and self-massaging, most importantly) the trigger points helps to somewhat remedy the headache. The alleviation is the result of disruption of chemical and neurological feedback loop that keeps the muscle contracted. Also, massaging improves the local blood flow and straightens the muscle fiber [16, 17].

Reflexology has been used to treat headaches for a long time [18, 19]. There are acupuncture points that help remedy the condition. Acupuncture combined with the trigger points massage may yield a long-term relief from a headache.

Kinesio taping is one of the pain management methods suggested by Kenzo Kase (Japan) in 1973. The method is effective as part of rehabilitation programs; it has been applied all over the world for more than 30 years now. Kinesio tapes are elastic bands of high quality cotton covered with acrylic hypoallergenic adhesive gel that activates at the body temperature. The elastic properties of tapes are close to those shown by skin. And since they are cotton, the skin is breathing and evaporation remains unhindered. Thus, the tapes can be left on the skin for 5–7 days and there is no need to skip showers. Clinical studies have shown that kinesio tapes normalize microcirculation in the skin's connective tissue and subcutaneous fatty tissue, alleviate pain, restore functional activity of the muscles and optimize afferent pulses at the segmental level [20]. Depending on the application method, a tape can relax or contract the muscle, reduce fascia tension, minimize swelling, help with the resorption of hematomas. Kinesio tapes at trigger points and zones reinforce the effect of reflexology and point massage.