How Occipital Nerve Blocks Help Manage Chronic Pain
If you are living with chronic headaches, you are not alone. According to the World Health Organization, headaches are one of the most common nervous system disorders. When you choose to work with an interventional pain physician, they recognize that each person’s experience with pain is unique. That’s why we offer many different types of treatments to help our patients manage their specific headache condition. Today we’re going to share the basics about one such treatment: Occipital Nerve Blocks.
What is an Occipital Nerve Block?
Also known as a neural blockade, a nerve block is a tool that can help diagnose, treat and/or prevent a variety of types of pain. An occipital nerve block specifically targets pain messaging that travels along the occipital nerve. It can be used to help treat the pain associated with certain types of chronic headaches.
How it Works
Inflammation and irritation of the occipital nerve can cause headaches that start at the base of the skull and travel to the top of the head or to the sides along the temples. Occipital Nerve Blocks work by blocking these nerves which, in turn, can decrease the severity and frequency of headaches that are caused by these nerves.
Occipital Nerve Blocks have been successfully used in several ways, including:
Treatment for chronic headache pain
Prevention of worsening symptoms
Diagnosing the source of a patient’s chronic pain
To learn more about how to prepare for this procedure, please visit our page dedicated to Occipital Nerve Blocks. There we will walk you through pre-injection instructions, what to expect in the procedure and recovery information.
Conditions that Benefit from Occipital Nerve Blocks
The type of pain that this treatment works best to target is called cervicogenic – pain that originates from the neck area. That pain will typically radiate from the base of the skull and continue into the temples, eyes, top of the head. Occipital Nerve Blocks have shown favorable results in the following conditions:
Migraines (episodic and chronic)
Cluster headaches (chronic and tension-type)
Occipital neuralgia
If you or someone you love is living with chronic headaches, Occipital Nerve Blocks may be an option for you. Our pain clinic has Asheville doctors accepting new patients who can thoroughly assess your condition and provide you with more information related to your unique symptoms.
Precautions
Prior to any treatment, patients should inform their doctor of any additional pre-existing condition(s). It’s also recommended that all patients have a current physical evaluation on record before proceeding with interventional treatments. Some circumstances that may be more prone to side effects include:
Certain medications, especially blood thinners
Diabetes or pre-diabetes
Infection
Heart condition
Steroid allergy
Interventional Pain Physician
At Comprehensive Pain Consultants of the Carolinas, we welcome patients with back pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia, diabetic pain, arthritis, shingles, autoimmune diseases, joint pain, headaches, migraines and more. At Comprehensive Pain Consultants of the Carolinas, we aim to improve your quality of life by listening to you, creating custom treatment plans, and educating you as we learn more about your conditions. We’re invested in your sustained relief from pain.