Occipital Neuralgia at the Base of the Skull
If your pain sits at the back of the head, low down near the skull, you are probably early on and trying to work out what to record.
Start with what to note and what to ask. Diagnosis rests with your clinician.
What Cleveland Clinic says
Cleveland Clinic says the occipital nerves are a group of nerves in the back of your head. Cleveland Clinic also says an occipital nerve block can help diagnose and treat occipital neuralgia, also called occipital headache.
Those two lines give you a place and a term to use. What caused your pain, and whether a block suits you, is for a clinician to work out.
Early on: record where and when
Write down exactly where the pain sits, when it starts, and what you were doing. Note whether it is on one side or both. Dated notes let a clinician see a pattern.
Nerve pain is a large topic, and peripheral neuropathy is one page you may come across while reading. Whether it relates to your pain is a question for your clinician.
The change that signals the next stage
Raise these with a clinician in Clifton or wherever you are seen:
- Pain that spreads beyond the area you first noted
- Attacks that come more often or last longer than your notes show
- New numbness, weakness, or changes in vision
- Relief that used to come and no longer does
Headache reading
A general overview of headache can help with vocabulary before an appointment. It is background, not a verdict on where your pain fits.
What to ask at the visit
- Does my pain pattern fit what you would call occipital neuralgia, and what else would you want to rule out?
- Is a nerve block something worth discussing for me, and what would it tell us?
- What should I record over the next few months?
General pain reading
Pain management information for a broad audience is easy to find. Use it for background only.
Planning ahead
Keep the dated notes going between visits and bring them each time. The sequence matters more than any single day.
One question to take to your appointment
Ask this: given where my pain sits and how it has moved, what would you want me to report right away? You can also read what a pain medicine professional body publishes, to see how specialists describe their field before you go.