Occipital neuralgia is a rare neurological condition that involves shooting, shocking, throbbing, burning, or aching pain and headache that generally starts at the base of the head and spreads along the scalp on one or both sides of the head.
Treatment options like hot and cold therapy, stretching and massage relieve the pain for many people. If your symptoms don't go away with noninvasive treatment, you may be a candidate for a spinal cord stimulator or occipital nerve stimulator. Treatment relieves the symptoms for most people.
There is not one test to diagnose occipital neuralgia. Your doctor may make a diagnosis using a physical examination to find tenderness in response to pressure along your occipital nerve. Your doctor may diagnose — and temporarily treat — with an occipital nerve block.
Occipital neuralgia is not a life-threatening condition. Most people get good pain relief by resting and taking medication.
Yes, occipital neuralgia may go away on its own, but it may take some time. Not every individual requires medication and surgery. One can get rid of occipital neuralgia on its own if the cause of inflammation is corrected.
What causes occipital neuralgia to flare up? Occipital Neuralgia may arise spontaneously for no apparent reason. At other times, however, Occipital Neuralgia can occur after some type of traumatic injury. This could include a blow to the back of the head or neck or sudden twisting and turning of the head and neck.
Stress can create tension or tightness in your neck muscles. Tight neck muscles compress your occipital nerves, leading to occipital neuralgia pain. By managing your stress, you can both ease and prevent the formation of tension in your muscles and encourage relaxation instead.
MR neurography can be reliably used for the diagnosis of greater occipital nerve neuropathy in patients with unilateral occipital migraines with a good correlation of imaging findings to the clinical presentation.
Overall treatment options for occipital neuralgia include anti-neuropathic medications such as Pregabalin and Gabapentin which act to dampen down the overactivity of these damaged nerves.
Acute continuous occipital neuralgia often has an underlying cause. The attacks last for many hours and are typically devoid of radiating symptoms (e.g., trigger zones to the face). The entire episode of neuralgia will continue up to 2 weeks before remission.
The median age at diagnosis for occipital neuralgia was 55 years (range, 29–74).
Conservative Management: First-Line Treatment
First-line treatment consists of conservative management, including rest, massage, hot/cold compresses, and physical therapy. An escalation of care can include anti-inflammatory medications and muscle relaxants, especially in the context of acute pain.
The best treatment for occipital neuralgia is often massage. It is so beneficial because it helps relieve the pain of occipital neuralgia due to tight neck muscles and muscle tension that is putting pressure on the nerves.
True occipital neuralgia is rare. The American Migraine Foundation estimates that only 3.2 people out of 100,000 actually suffer from this condition.
While an intense and painful condition, occipital neuralgia is not typically a chronic and/or life-threatening condition. Most patients notice significant improvement in the condition after a week to 10-days of self-care, rest, and medication (if prescribed).
Patients may feel that the headache is akin to an electric shock and it can be chronic (very long lasting). In addition, patients often report other effects, such as severe scalp sensitivity, extreme light sensitivity and even pain directly at the back of the eyes.
Stand with your upper back against a wall, feet shoulder-width apart. Face forward, tuck your chin down, and pull your head back until it meets the wall. Try to bring your head back in a straight line without tilting it back or nodding forward. Hold the stretch for 5 seconds before resting, and repeat 10 times.
Because of the inflammatory process associated with occipital neuralgia, anti-inflammatory nutrients can be beneficial for patients who suffer from this type of headache. Calcium/magnesium supplements are most commonly used for their overall anti-inflammatory properties.
In multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain is a frequent condition, negatively influencing the overall quality of life. Cranial neuralgias, including trigeminal, glossopharyngeal neuralgias, as well as occipital neuralgia, are typical expression of neuropathic pain.
Tension-type headache, which is much more common, occasionally mimics the pain of occipital neuralgia.
Occipital neuralgia is a condition characterized by intense, short pain in the head and neck. Chiropractic care can help to treat occipital neuralgia by aligning the spine and relieving irritation and inflammation of nerves.
A few things to keep in mind include: Limit corn, seed oils and trans fats. These include sunflower seed oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil, margarine, other types of vegetable shortening, and most other vegetable and cooking oils.
What may irritate or inflame occipital nerves to cause occipital neuralgia? If your occipital nerves are already inflamed or irritated, touching the back of your head or neck may trigger occipital neuralgia. Even brushing your hair or bumping your head against a headrest may trigger it.