If you’re looking for treatment of occipital neuralgia in Los Angeles, it’s best to consult with your primary care physician or neurologist. They can provide recommendations and referrals to specialists with experience in effectively diagnosing and treating this condition.

Occipital Headache Overview 2024

This headache is a chronic condition that causes intense pain in the back of the head and neck. Pain occurs when the occipital nerves, which extend from the top of the spinal cord to the scalp, become inflamed or injured due to various factors such as trauma, compression, or irritation. 

Causes

The most common cause of occipital neuralgia is an entrapment of the greater or lesser occipital nerves as they exit the cervical spine and pierce the fascia and muscle of the upper neck en route to supply the skin of the head. This is usually caused by tight neck muscles from poor posture or injuries such as whiplash or concussion. 

It’s important to find doctors who understand how to find and treat these entrapment locations. Doctor Dean is a nerve entrapment expert who has personally invented non-invasive manual therapy and nerve stretch techniques specifically designed to release the occipital nerves without surgery, botox, or medications. Our Treatments and expertise in finding and eliminating Occipital nerve entrapments are crucial in managing pain and relieving headaches and migraines. 

Other Triggers include:

•  Medical conditions: Certain health issues like arthritis, diabetes, and infections

 Diagnosis

Blood work and imaging can be taken to rule out similar conditions to other conditions. Still, the primary method of diagnosis is a physical examination by an experienced doctor who is knowledgeable in the assessment of the cervical spine and nerve palpation to reproduce symptoms.

Treatment options

Our Dr. Dean has invented and trained other doctors to perform manual neural mobilization techniques, specific nerve stretches, and postural correction to address and relieve stress on the occipital nerves causing the headache. This combination of treatment techniques has a very high treatment success rate. 

Standard traditional treatment plans include:

• Medications such as muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories
• Steroid injections and nerve blocks are injected around the nerve to numb the pain and reduce inflammation.
• Decompression Surgery is the last case option in which space is surgically created around the nerve. 
• Nerve Stimulators place electrodes in the nerve to deliver electrical impulses. 

Reach out to Dr. Dean by texting or calling 323-354-6077 or emailing at drjustindean@gmail.com

Our editorial process includes evidence-based practices, interventions, and recommendations.