Occipital Neuralgia

Three of 100,000 Americans experience severe shooting head pain from occipital neuralgia. While the condition is rare, those who suffer from occipital neuralgia can find solutions for pain relief at the office of Aizik L. Wolf, MD. Dr. Wolf performs spinal stimulation implant surgery or other surgical procedures to disrupt pain signals in the occipital nerves. Call the office in South Miami, Florida, to find out if surgery is right for you, or book an occipital neuralgia consultation online today. 

What is occipital neuralgia?

Occipital neuralgia affects the occipital nerves that run through your scalp. When these nerves become inflamed or damaged, you might experience piercing headaches and symptoms that interfere with your quality of life.

Causes of occipital neuralgia can include:

• Trauma
• Infections
• Pinched nerves
• Cervical disc disease
• Blood vessel inflammation
• Osteoarthritis of the cervical (upper) spine

Conditions like gout and diabetes can also contribute to occipital neuralgia pain.

When should I seek treatment for occipital neuralgia?

Schedule a diagnostic evaluation at the office of Aizik L. Wolf, MD, if you have symptoms of occipital neuralgia, such as:

• Burning or throbbing head pain
• Pain behind the ears
• Shock-like neck pain

Pain may start at the base of your head and shoot through your scalp on one or both sides.

Because the symptoms of occipital neuralgia are like migraines and cluster headaches, you may not know you have the condition. Don’t put off a diagnostic evaluation if you have persistent pain or the intensity of your head pain increases.

How is occipital neuralgia treated?

In the early stages of trigeminal neuralgia (TN), you might manage your pain with nonsurgical therapies like:

• Heat
• Medications
• Physical therapy
• Massage therapy
• Nerve blocks
• Surgery

Dr. Wolf may recommend surgery if these strategies aren’t enough to relieve your pain. 

What is Occipital Nerve Decompression?

Having surgery for headaches may seem scary, but keep in mind that an occipital nerve decompression is not really brain surgery.During nerve decompression surgery, the occipital nerves are carefully freed from the muscle or blood vessels causing compression of the nerve. 

The outpatient procedure usually takes less than 2 hours in the operating room under general anesthesia  and you will go home the same day. Recovery is quick with minimal downtime. Most patients will have complete pain relief while others will experience much fewer episodes of pain within a few weeks after surgery.

Patients may experience some numbness or tingling at the surgical site, this is normal and due to nerves recovering from being compressed and irritated prior to surgery.

Call the office of Aizik L. Wolf, MD, to schedule a diagnostic evaluation for occipital neuralgia or book an appointment online today.