The Treatment Options for Occipital Neuralgia

Headaches are of different kinds, and one of the most common forms of it is occipital neuralgia. This condition occurs due to the occipital's nerve inflammation that runs up the backside of the scalp, the area where the spinal column and neck meets. Inflammation can occur because of vasculitis, muscle tension, infection, and some medical problems like gout and diabetes. The patient can experience symptoms like throbbing, shooting pain felt on the backside of the head or at the back of the ears, photosensitivity, and tender scalp.

Occipital neuralgia needs to be diagnosed to determine the other causes and the needed treatment. This is also needed in order to enhance the efficacy of the given treatment. The treatment of headache should be concentrated on lessening the inflammation of the nerve and severing the nerve to alleviate the pain. To fully understand, the list below will provide you with the treatment measures for this kind of headache.

Medications - for mild condition of this headache that is caused by inflammation of the nerve, the treatment given will be for lessening the pain. Rest and massage are also helpful for a lot of people and OTC's pain relievers may be the only medication needed for pain. For more acute cases, pain relievers with higher dosage are mostly prescribed. Some of the people react to OTC's anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen, however this kind of medicine is often required as well as the prescription-strength pain medications. When the nerve inflammation is caused by muscle tension or prolonged sitting, muscle relaxants are very helpful. Anti-epileptic medications like Tegretol or Neurontin may be helpful also in lessening the symptoms.

Local Nerve Blocks - this is also called occipital nerve blocks, which is a numbing drug that is injected straightly on the occipital nerve to get rid of pain. The doctor use thin needle to instill the medication and a person will normally experience pain relief after some minutes. The site may stay numb for numerous hours or even days depending on the medication used and the procedure. The numb will normally occur on the back of the scalp.

Steroid Injections - this can be given together with a local nerve block or this can be used alone. The steroids effects by lessening the occipital's nerve inflammation, but the symptoms will improve after numerous days. The effectiveness of this is mostly for controlling inflammation and pain for numerous weeks or even months. The injection must be repeated every month when the occipital neuralgia is on severe stage.

Surgical Treatments - the only permanent alternative in treating occipital neuralgia. This is done to cut off the nerve, averting it from transmitting pain signals on the brain. In other cases, they burn the nerve instead of cutting it. The surgery may be done also so that the nerve will be decompressed or the patient will be fitted with an occipital nerve stimulator that functions like a pacemaker, distributing tiny charges on the nerve to stop headaches.

Source:

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/536/main.html

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5486026_causes-occipital-neuralgia.html