occipital pain
 

has anyone had success treating this? muscle relaxers dont seem to do anything. i dont get any sharp pains but i have a headache at the base of my head 24/7

sitting obv makes it worse. i would get a standing desk but i have pots so im screwed

Muscle relaxers do nothing for me in this regard either. My neurologist has done multiple trigger point injections (including SCM and occipital block) which has provided some relief. A 5 day course of Toradol eliminates these headaches for me. Unfortunately, since Xmas the headaches come right back after I stop Toradol. It used to give me a couple months of relief.

My headaches are not as bad of late as I am on disability from work and driving as little as possible. Driving aggravates my headaches the worst.

sounds so familiar. muscle relaxers do nothing for me either. driving is the worst, when i drive even a couple miles, my neck tenses and jaw starts to chatter.

that is weird that toradol is so beneficial to you on so many levels

ive had my pt and a rheum say i dont even have trigger points at the base of my head and when i told my pt to feel my trigger point she said it was my vertebrae(??) but ive goten massages awhile ago and they said i had trgr points there. everyone contradicts everything

i need to keep a sx log, like right now im on skelaxin. and i just woke up so the base of my head doesnt hurt but my jaw/eye hurts pretty bad.

if this tmj stuff doesnt help i might ask for an occiptal block. i think that's why the novocaine felt so good.

my scm is hypertrophied but its a 1000 percent better with just keeping my "chin tucked" at all times and wearing a brace when i sit awhile or have to bend over. when i used to sleep at night it was so tight i swear i got sleep apnea

Mspennyloafer, do you wear a night guard when you sleep? I wonder if you have bruxism and that's what's causing a lot of your pain. If you do, don't use a guard that you buy over the counter because they still let your jaw move. Have a solid one made by a dentist.

i probably do, my bottom teeth are extremely overcrowded. i need braces but my tmj is too bad to get braces

i almost bought one of those otc splints but i didnt. ill let you guys know how my dental appointment is. really hope i can get the splint covered by ins

Not much helps the occipital migraines for me. Percocet can relieve it sometimes, but other times I can throw everything I have at it, and it just won't go away! My 'emergency flare-up kit' :D contains Aleve, Ice, Percocet (and a Senekot-S for the constipation I get from the Percocet). I take all these and lie down propped up on pillows and ride it out. I truly feel like I am dying when nothing helps - have trouble breathing, can't think, crying makes it worse... but here I am, not dead yet!

My Pain Mgt. Doc says it's Cervical DDD and spondyolosis referring the pain out to the occipital area, over the rt side of my head, into my eye and jaw. Can't recall which vertabrae it it, but I think C1-C3 are the ones that refer pain away from the vertabrae. Her answer is neurolosys: burning the nerves at the vertebrae to end the pain signals to the brain. The nerve will grow back I am told, and I'd have to have the procedure repeated every few years. No thanks, not yet!! Not until my pain is daily and unrelenting.

((((mrspennyloafer))))

holy crap neurolysis and it doesnt even fix it?????? that sounds intense and i cant imagine that reburning a nerve doesnt have some strange effects after awhile

i only have it on one side of my head too.

my dad has degen disc disease in his lower body (he's the one who i got ehlers danlos from).. i really really do not want to develop it in my neck. id much prefer my lower body. not taht i have much of a choice in the matter but it worries me.

How did she come to this conclusion? MRI and EMG? My pain guy thought the same thing until the MRI and EMG were clear and the diagnostic facet block injections didn't work. He initially didn't think that TOS could lead to cervicalgia/occipital neuralgia but that ended up being the case.

I wouldn't let her do rhizotomy or neurolysys without doing a diagnostic facet block first if I were you.

My headaches went from a 3 to 8 on the pain scale this weekend. I'm positive that the side neck stretches they had me do on Friday at PT are to blame. I thought it might be ok because they mobilized the 1st rib with a karate belt but I'm back to taking Toradol and Norco again to cope. We had to cancel our plans to go out for Easter today.

I will return the PT next week...but I won't do the neck stretches anymore!

My headaches wrap around on both sides BTW.

purely from x-ray and symptoms! She wouldn't even consider my past TOS surgeries. I surely can believe that I have developed these new dx (spondyolosis and DDD), but to refuse to consider what might be happening in the brachial plexus, collar bone, sternum, scalenes... she's the best in her field in the SE, but it just didn't sit well with me. TOS can mimic so many things and I am not willing to be a guinea pig ever again.

Yes nospam, she did require a diagnostic nerve block first. I would think having a nreve burned repeatedly in the same area would cause lots of scar tissue.

hope you get past your flare soon!

Nospam, why are you in pt just a couple of weeks prior to surgery, or is it for something else? I hope you feel better soon.

I went for a free consult at the place I plan to do my post surgery PT and they were adamant they could improve me without the need for surgery. I decided to give it a two week trial (last week was week 1). My surgery is still scheduled for 4/19. 4/13 is my last scheduled PT prior to surgery. It has been more massage therapy and manipulation than traditional PT so far. No more stretching for me either now. I do believe their PT program is the best I've found but I plan to move forward with surgery unless a miracle occurs this week.

http://www.andoaston.com/staff

So the diagnostic blocked worked and gave you relief? For how long?

Hmm did they do the first rib adjustment as the very last thing? At least for me, neck stretches are okay as long as I shove the rib down afterwards. But everyone is different.

stormy weather
 

No Marc, I haven't chosen to have the nerve block done yet. I am reeeally hesitant to have this pain doc do anything to me until I know for a fact that my current pain is from DDD and spondyolosis alone. Before I have anything done to me, I would return to Dr Annest in Denver for assessment and possible surgery - after re-reading all his notes and letters (I keep copies) he clearly indicates that a "clean up" surgery is not unusual, that scar tissue can build up to re-create the symptoms.

marc and mspennyloafer: you might try charting your pain on a calendar and comparing it to the weather happening around you. I have noticed that maybe 60% of my flareups are weather related. 30% are caused by me doing some lifting or work I shouldn't be doing. The remaining 10%... ? DDD? Spondyo? Arthritis? c-ribs growing back?

If I am not mistaken, spondyolosis is arthritis - a bone spur on a cervical bone. This spur is so close to a nerve that any weather movement (pressure, fronts, temp changes) might make this thing ache enough to cause minor swelling - enough to touch that nerve and send me into a flare-up from hell.

anyone else notice weather playing a part in your occipital pain? Mine happens the day BEFORE a weather front moves over my city.

Anne

ive had a LOT of problems with neck stretching. its done me more harm than good

really i havent been able to stretch my neck and feel "normal" for over a year. a month ago i was doing it fine but i had a flare up and i can't do it again. its tricky. i think not being able to stretch at all is a sign that your nervous system is fried.

I saw Dr. Ando today and my headache is back down to a 3 (A 3 day course of Toradol contributed as well).

Hi there, i have had a headache that started 14 months ago, n is now at extreme n i cant get any relief. I had to have another day off today..the pain is behind my ears n sometimes the ear cartlidge, mainly on left side, usually at the back of my head, sharp stabbing pains, today theyr in my forehead, sometimes sore arm and painful neck. Seeing neuro tomorrow , do u think he will help with injections? Bone scan says costovertebral junction arthritic reaction /enthesitis at t1, and arthritic reaction in left shoulder, minor enthesitis in the facet joints mainly on left at c1/c2 , minor hyperaemia in the ac joint. She said my pain is too severe for the findings to be the cause of my 14 month headache