 [ Symptoms ] does drinking gatorade work just as well as water when thinning mucus  my boyfriend has a cough his rule when i was sick was every time you cough take a drink  i usually had water but he wants something with more flavor and basically refuses to drink regular water we have been getting gatorade tea powerade etc but never just water do the other drinks work just as well as water does when trying to thin the mucus or is there no effect when drinking anything but water [ Disease ] many years ago i volunteered to perform sports physicals at four local middle schools i spent a lot of time in that nurse is office and apparently so did many of the students all day long it was a dance of complaints since the nurse is professional hands are often tied when it comes to treatment the most common disposition for a sick child is a trip home next to tummy aches headaches were at the top of the whine list when i think back to my own middle school days there were plenty of things that can lead to headaches just being at school all day is a headache to some kids fortunately for all of us most headaches are not brain tumors or aneurysms in healthy active kids the most common type of headache that is seen is the classic muscle tension headache the brain itself does not feel pain but all of the sensitive nerves muscles and blood vessels of our head can certainly generate a doozie of a headache do not get me wrong headaches can be hallmarks of something more serious but most of the time a random self limiting headache is just that… a headache headaches are in the body of the beholder a medical provider cannot see a headache which makes this an ideal get out of school reason teenagers tend to be great actors and are able to give a command performance at will some performances are so good they end up in my office by the time i see them parents are worried about brain tumors meningitis and all types of horrible diagnoses “on a one to 10 scale with 10 being the worst headache what number do you give your headache ” if a comfortable looking person tells me “nine ” and their mannerism looks more like a one or two i am suspicious i will then inquire as to the frequency of headaches their location on the head factors that may bring on the headache and things the person does to make the headache better the number of missed days from school is another important bit of information “i think it is a migraine ” most people do not have a clue what “migraine” really means but will frequently self diagnose most feel that the word “migraine” just indicates a bad headache when i explain to them that a migraine is a certain type of vascular blood vessel headache that usually occurs on just one side of the head usually severe accompanied by nauseavomiting and proceeded by an “aura” a feeling that a headache is imminent such as blurrywavy vision they will usually admit they do not have these things migraines tend to run in families and in women may be cyclic related to menstruation among many other triggers hormonal contraceptives can also trigger migraines in some people younger children do a lot behavioral modeling they see a parent constantly complaining of headaches and they may get one too