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Occipital Neuralgia

  • Uncommon Headache Syndromes (J Ailani, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Occipital pain is a common complaint amongst patients with headache, and the differential can include many primary headache disorders such as cervicogenic headache or migraine. Occipital neuralgia is an uncommon cause of occipital pain characterized by paroxysmal lancinating pain in the distribution of the greater, lesser or third occipital nerves. Greater occipital nerve blockade with anesthetics and/or corticosteroids can aid in confirming the diagnosis and providing pain relief. However, nerve blocks are also effective in migraine headache and misdiagnosis can result in a false positive. Physical therapy and preventive medication with antiepileptics and tricyclic antidepressants are often effective treatments for occipital neuralgia. Refractory cases may require intervention with pulsed radiofrequency or occipital nerve stimulation.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Carrie Dougherty declares no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, 3800 Reservoir Road NW, 7 PHC, Washington, DC, 20007, USA

    Carrie Dougherty

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  1. Carrie Dougherty
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Correspondence to Carrie Dougherty.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Uncommon Headache Syndromes

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Dougherty, C. Occipital Neuralgia. Curr Pain Headache Rep 18, 411 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0411-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0411-x

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