Treatment of neuralgia of the occipital nerve

Neuralgia is a lesion of the peripheral nerves that arise when they are squeezed by surrounding tissues and accompanied by sharp pain in this area. It can hit almost any nerve in the human body. The most common types of neuralgia in medical practice are: neuralgia of the trigeminal nerve, intercostal neuralgia, neuralgia of the occipital and sciatic nerves.

Neuralgia of the occipital nerve - one of the often-called causes of headaches. Pain can increase with a turn of the head, sneezing and coughing, probing the neck. Often causes nausea and vomiting.

The main reasons for its occurrence are:

• Osteochondrosis (deformation or destruction of intervertebral discs, leading to compression of nerves in this area);
• Supercooling;
• infection;
• Trauma in the cervical spine;
• intoxication;
• A tumor or pseudotumor in the cervical vertebrae;
• Violation of blood supply;
• Gout (inflammation of the joints).

Pain in neuralgia It is pulsating, burning, sometimes turning into a shooting one and can have a long-lasting character. It usually begins at the base of the skull and spreads to different parts of the head. Pain in the eye can be noted (from the side where there is a pathology). More often the pain is one-sided, but it sometimes occurs on both sides. It can provoke simple movements of the neck. The scalp can become very sensitive to touch: even combing your hair can cause pain.

Treatment of neuralgia depends on the causes of its development and the type of affected nerve. Diagnosing the occipital neuralgia is extremely difficult, since the doctor should distinguish it from other causes of the headache. To correctly diagnose, a thorough examination of the patient, assessment of complaints and additional diagnostic measures, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, are required.

Surgical treatment of neuralgia of the occipital nerve is prescribed in cases of severe chronic pain and lack of effectiveness of conservative treatment. Several types of operations are used, the choice of which depends on the causes of the disease.

1. Microvascular (microvascular) decompression consists in the elimination of compression of the occipital nerves using microsurgical techniques. This method helps to significantly reduce the sensitivity of the nerve roots, leading to the elimination of pain.
2. Neurostimulation (stimulation of the occipital nerves) allows you to block pain in the occipital neuralgia by applying electrodes to the nerve, stimulating it with electrical impulses. The pain impulse, therefore, does not reach the place where it is perceived by the brain - it is interrupted by the electric, felt by the patient in the form of vibration or a sense of warmth in the place where pain had previously pulsed.

Non-surgical treatment of neuralgia, with the aim of alleviating pain, consists of taking thermal procedures, rest, physiotherapy procedures, including massage, using muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory drugs. A definite effect is provided by such anticonvulsants as carbamazepine (finplespin) and gabapentin. Very effective in such cases, the method, which consists in blocking the occipital nerves with anti-inflammatory steroid drugs: hydrocortisone, kenalog, metipred, dextamethasone, etc.). However, it should be noted that frequent use of this method can cause side effects.

If treatment of neuralgia does not bring positive results, you will have to undergo an additional examination in order to clarify the diagnosis. It is possible that the cause of pain in the back of the neck and neck is another disease.