Occipital Neuralgia: What treatments work for you?

I have these weeks long headaches a few times a year…I was offered injections but do the exercises and rest my eyes more…the pain travels down to my neck, even into my back…Tylenol helps to manage it..osteopathic hands-on therapy helps very much.

I have good luck with anti inflammatory diet including turmeric, i also went to a pt for neck massage. It helped alíviate some pain from being so tight.

I had trigger point injections with steroid on both sides of occipital nerves 2 weeks ago. It sent me into a major flare. I'm waiting for things to settle down...PA at Pain Management said it could take 3 weeks. Anyone else have this kind of reaction? I'm hesitant to do any other injections....

@rwinney I forgot all about a car accident years ago that messed up my neck (wore a Philadelphia Collar for months), & lost a few teeth on same side of my head that hurts. Gabapentin took the constant pain away. Still taking it 35 years later for nerve pain in my legs. Ugh - it causes brain fog .

So sorry for your pain….the head/neck aches can be quite persistent….this condition is treatable, or at least manageable ….i did a combo of off-label script for amitriptyline 10mg ( low-dose ), focused exercises (easy) and osteopathic treatment…also, increased awareness about supporting my neck when doing my music editing…we can help ourselves more than we might think. Good luck to others who are dealing with this pesky condition .

@denway91 agree about injections.

I suffer from occasional yet very severe headaches that follow the occipital nerve path on the right side and back of my head and at times neck. The anesthesiologist I had for other pain management quickly diagnosed this issue and produced that exact head ache just by touching a certain area. It seems that at certain times (no clue when) everything lines up and I become extremely susceptible to the point of even a slight touch or other seemingly trivial trigger will start that misery. At other times-no problems and I am grateful. I do know that narcotics are no help at all-only something like ketorolac, a strong nsaid will eventually reduce or even eliminate that debilitating pain. To me that indicates a physical (could be emotional causing the physical) tension on that nerve is the culprit, IDK. The cause appears to be elusive, in my case anyways, since I have not been able to get a clear cut diagnosis-any thoughts?

Sounds exactly like my O.N. So frustrating, and the only thing that helps me is an ice pack on the back of my skull. I alternate three little frozen gel pads made for eyes, but they fit behind my ear and relieve the pain.

@pierwell
Pain Mgt. Dr did RFA (Radio Frequency Ablation) on occipital nerves. Almost immediate relief 2 years ago.
Check it out.

Glad it helped you. I’ve had two ablations but no success.