Occipital neuralgia is a subtype of headache that affects the back of the head (occipital region). It can present as a sharp piercing pain which can last from seconds to minutes. This can develop into debilitating chronic occipital pain. The cause of occipital neuralgia stems from damage of the greater occipital nerve, lesser occipital nerve and/or third occipital nerve. These arise from the C2 and C3 cervical spinal nerve roots. Things that can cause damage to these nerves include trauma and repetitive neck movements.
I saw a 45 year female patient presenting with several years of chronic occipital neuralgia – diagnosed by a neurologist. It was poorly controlled despite several nerve and pain medications. Her severe occipital pains would come on without warning at least several times daily. She was desperate for help and wanted to try laser acupuncture as a modality of treatment. After the first treatment, she had noticed a dramatic improvement in the frequency and severity of her occipital neuralgia episodes. We’ve had a total of 3 treatments now. It is not entirely gone and perhaps it may never be due to the nerve damage, but she is now at least able to have an appreciably better quality of life. I also encouraged her to see a physiotherapist for improvement for neck strengthening which should reduce the rate of recurrence.
Another similar but different pain to occipital neuralgia is osteoarthritis of the upper cervical spine especially C1-3 vertebrae. This pain tends to be more of an arthritic ache rather than the sharp nerve type pains. The treatment with acupuncture is similar and also yields decent results in terms of pain control. However, as with any degenerative condition, this too is not curable – only controllable.
There is some evidence to suggest indeed that acupuncture is an effective modality for occipital neuralgia [1]. It is worthwhile trying acupuncture as an adjunctive option for the overall management of occipital neuralgia.
[1] H. Zheng et al. Effects of acupuncture in the treatment of occipital neuralgia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Dec 2; 101(48)
