Occipital Nerve Block

What are the occipital nerves?

Your scalp contains the greater and lesser occipital nerves, fibers that transmit sensation between your body and brain. These nerves also pass through your neck, connecting to the C2 and C3 spinal nerves.

What is occipital nerve pain called?

If your occipital nerves become damaged or inflamed, you develop intense headaches, known as occipital neuralgia. This type of headache feels throbbing, piercing, or like a shock, with an underlying continuous ache. The pain of occipital neuralgia is similar to migraine pain.

Occipital neuralgia pain may affect the back of your head, the area behind your ears, or your upper neck. Pain originates at the base of the head and radiates into the scalp on one or both sides of the head. Often, when one side of the head is more affected, pain symptoms feel most intense behind the eye on that side of the head.

What causes occipital nerve pain?

If you suffer from a neck or head injury, you may experience occipital neuralgia as a result. This condition also arises after chronic neck tension or muscle tension.

Conditions that can cause occipital neuralgia include:

• Trauma to your greater or lesser occipital nerves
• Osteoarthritis in your upper (cervical) spine
• Degenerative cervical spine changes
• Tumors near the C2 and C3 nerve roots
• Infection
• Diabetes
• Gout

If your occipital neuralgia occurs as a result of an underlying disease, it’s said to be a secondary condition. You may not know what causes your occipital neuralgia, just that you often experience this type of painful headache.

How can the occipital nerve be treated?

It’s important to correctly identify occipital nerve problems, as occipital neuralgia can mimic migraines or other forms of headaches. Diagnostic imaging may be needed to confirm the nature of your condition. Nerve blocks are also sometimes helpful in diagnosis.

Once Dr. Zidan diagnoses your occipital neuralgia, he recommends effective treatment options for symptom relief and headache reduction. Because this condition can’t be cured, treatment focuses on pain relief. Surgery is only rarely needed.

You may benefit from heat therapy, massage therapy, or physical therapy exercises and stretches. Oral anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, or anticonvulsant medications may be needed. Injection therapies like percutaneous nerve blocks or Botox® injections decrease inflammation in the occipital nerve.

For support with occipital nerve pain and inflammation, schedule an appointment with Dr. Zidan at Miami Headache & Pain Clinic online or over the phone today.