A pain that starts at the base of your skull and shoots up over one side of your head, sometimes settling behind the eye? A scalp so sensitive that even brushing your hair is unpleasant? These are the hallmarks of occipital neuralgia \u2014 a headache that starts in the neck and is very often mistaken for migraine.<\/p>\n
The greater occipital nerve exits between the upper cervical vertebrae, passes through the deep neck muscles and climbs the scalp towards the crown. When it is compressed or irritated \u2014 most often by deep muscle tension or dysfunction of the upper neck joints \u2014 it produces the characteristic pain: shooting, stabbing or throbbing, along the nerve’s path from skull base to crown.<\/p>\n
Sharp, shooting or burning pain from the base of the skull up one side of the head; a scalp tender to the touch; pain triggered by neck movements or prolonged positions; discomfort behind the eye on the affected side; constant tension in the upper neck. Unlike migraine, the pain follows a clear path with a palpable starting point.<\/p>\n
Chronic tension in the upper cervical muscles (desk work and “text neck” are frequent culprits), C1\u2013C2\u2013C3 joint dysfunction, forward-head posture, whiplash-type injuries, cervical arthritis, and stress that keeps the neck muscles guarded. In most patients the cause is mechanical \u2014 and treatable.<\/p>\n
Yes \u2014 occipital neuralgia of musculoskeletal origin, by far the most common type, responds very well to targeted conservative treatment. Nerve blocks and invasive procedures are reserved for cases that fail a properly conducted programme.<\/p>\n
After a careful assessment of your upper cervical spine and suboccipital muscles, your plan may include manual and chiropractic care for the upper neck joints, dry needling for the muscles compressing the nerve, suboccipital myofascial release, postural retraining for head position, and ergonomic advice \u2014 all in English, in central Bucharest.<\/p>\n
Many patients improve significantly within 3\u20136 sessions. Chronic cases sustained by years of posture and stress need a longer programme \u2014 but the direction usually shows quickly.<\/p>\n
If headaches starting at the back of your head keep returning and painkillers help less and less, stop enduring them. Your first assessment at Medicine Park is free \u2014 find out whether it is occipital neuralgia and what your treatment plan looks like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shooting pain from the base of the skull up over your head? Occipital neuralgia is often mistaken for migraine \u2014 and treatable without surgery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"regiune":[8,2],"class_list":["post-82","afectiuni","type-afectiuni","status-publish","hentry","regiune-head-neck-tmj","regiune-spine-back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/afectiuni\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/afectiuni"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/afectiuni"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/afectiuni\/82\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102,"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/afectiuni\/82\/revisions\/102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"regiune","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regiune?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}