It's not generally simple to diagnose occipital neuralgia, as it can share symptoms with other sorts of headache, which includes migraine.
Get in touch with your medical professional should you expertise a pointy pain as part of your neck or scalp, notably if it happens abruptly. They are going to carry out Actual physical and neurological tests, and they may also set up for an MRI or CT scan.
For those who’re experience nervous about obtaining an occipital nerve block injection, don’t be reluctant to check with your Health care company about it and also the method. They might solution any issues you'll have.
These possibilities can reduce pain or support chill out and release the muscles that are putting stress around the occipital nerves.
Migraines have a tendency to possess identifiable triggers, Dr. Costandi notes. They can be accompanied by visual disturbances along with other symptoms that precede the headaches. Occipital neuralgia, However, will not commonly have possibly of All those traits.
Occipital headache pain might start out behind just one eye or in the back of your head. The pain might come to feel like:
When Not one of the abovementioned therapeutic options support our people, we refer them learn more here to your pain management expert to consider interventional selections. Various techniques can be used, which includes:
Occasionally, your Health care supplier may possibly propose sedation with the procedure. In the event you’re obtaining sedation, you’ll should quick for six to 8 hours right before it. You’ll also need to have someone else to generate you residence after the procedure in case you received sedation.
Massage therapy or physical therapy might help alleviate the symptoms of occipital neuralgia. It could possibly alleviate the tense muscles That may be creating your pain.
BK is forty two and introduced having a three-thirty day period record of posterior headache episodes she called predominantly sharp, capturing pain with linked pins-and-needle sensation above her posterior neck and head. She also recognized radiating aching pain that traveled to her forehead.
Cause details might involve suboccipital muscles that induce pain, specifically when accomplishing head actions.
When you aren’t finding relief from People treatments, your health practitioner may possibly prescribe muscle relaxers To ease muscle mass tightness across the nerves.
These scarce tumors are nearly always a side effect of the problem known as neurofibromatosis style 1, so inquiring if This is actually the scenario is very important
Based on the Mayo Clinic, this phenomenon only seems to come about in individuals who use a lot of these remedies to deal with headache disorders, for instance migraines.