pain at base of skull-occipital nerve

[BrandyF]

Has anyone had any surgical procedures for occipital nerve pain? By the way the occipital nerves are in back of head at the base of the skull on both sides. I have been having the epidural nerve blocks , but they do not seem to be helping much! I haven't yet tal;ked to my dr. about procedures because I still can't have any for another month due to the fusion I had in my neck! But the pain I have there is very severe!!!!!! anyone with any info, please write!!

[Hausr2]

Hello Brandy,

I can definitely relate with your occipital pain!  I have bulged and ruptured disc's in my neck as well and have been going to pain management for a year and a half, with relief at times, but only to my occipital area's, as they have yet to give me relief from my neck pain.  I have been told that I have Cervicogenic Headaches, and had two rounds of Nerve Blocks into my head.  At the end of the second round, the blocks were doing nothing for me.  They then decided to do Radiofrequency Ablation of my greater and lesser occipital nerve on my right side (in which was the worst side) The radiofrequency was a life saver!  They did attempt to do Cervical Facet Injections, but they did not work and stimulated my occipital nerves again.  I had it done for a second time, on both sides this time, and I have what we can call "regular headaches" now.  I do not suffer from the burning, insane pain anymore!  My last surgery was December 19, 2008, and I am still occipital pain free!

I hope you this helps you, as I have sought out help in so many ways!

Take Care!

[BrandyF]

Hi, I'm not doing so well! I'm in a great deal of pain everyday! I had 2 discs removed from my lumbar region on sept 19th, then 1 extreme 1 in my neck with fushion in my neck on oct 31st! I now have severe occipital nerve pain, whick i get injections for,& severe si joint pain/dysfunction , which i get injections for,I still have 2 heniated disc in my lumbar spine which are getting worse & giving me hell, which I probably am gonna have to have another surgery for, I still have 3 small herniations in my neck, & I was diagnosed with severe fibromyalgia 2 weeks ago, which I recieved 15 trigger point injections for that day!! so, now u know why I'm not so good!!! I hurt so badly everyday!!!! any suggestions???

[JainMD]

Hi Brandy,
How are you feeling now?
Initial management of occipital nerve pain or occipital neuralgia is physical therapy, muscle relaxants, low doses of tricyclic antidepressants, and nerve blocks or trigger point injections are appropriate for most cases.
Occipital neurectomy is usually unsuccessful and may cause anesthesia dolorosa.
Neurosurgeons do advocate sectioning of the 2nd and 3rd cervical roots or the greater and lesser occipital nerves.
Information on the efficacy of these procedures is lacking; the vast majority of patients do not appear to require a surgical procedure.
Hope this helps you.
Bye.