Occipital Neuralgia

Recently,I realised that several massage clients of mine suffer from similar head nerve pain, which goes on either side of the head, namely greater occipital nevers that could run as farward as the forehead. The pain which we call occipital neuralgia is always characterised as shooting or burning when it emerges due to muscle tension, inflammation or injuries.
Sometimes the pain can also seem to shoot forward (“radiate”) toward one eye. In some patients the scalp becomes extremely sensitive to even the lightest touch, making washing the hair or lying on a pillow nearly impossible. In other patients there may be numbness in the affected area. The region where the nerves enter the scalp may be extremely tender.

what can cause this nerve pain?
The pain is caused by irritation or injury to the nerves, which can be the result of trauma to the back of the head, pinching of the nerves by overly tight neck muscles, compression of the nerve as it leaves the spine due to osteoarthritis, or tumors or other types of lesions in the neck. Localized inflammation or infection, gout, diabetes, blood vessel inflammation (vasculitis), and frequent lengthy periods of keeping the head in a downward and forward position are also associated with occipital neuralgia.

how to diagnose and apply treatment ?
Diagnosing can be done in a number of ways, doctors might perform magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), or computerised axial tomography(CAT scan) to see if there is a potential injury or blockage present in cervical and neck spine. Another way is to use nerve block method temporarily in case to confirm the result.

Once diagnose is made, several potential treatment ways can be applied such as administering medication which could reduce pain, anti-inflammatory dtug or sometimes antidepressants, heat and massage are also helpful. Apart from those, acupuncture is well-proved that it has less side-effects and naturally self-rehabilitation method for this problem worldwide.

for more info, please phone: dr win acupuncture, 1054 new north road mt albert .098150518.