Can Occipital Nerve Surgery Relieve Tension Headaches?
Tension headaches are some of the most prevalent categories of headaches; people experience them as an unrelenting pressure or throbbing at the forehead or the back of the head. Since tension headaches can be easily treated using changes in daily routine or a pill, chronic sufferers are in search of more permanent treatments. Another remarkable therapy model that has been considered is occipital nerve surgery which is mostly applied to occipital neuralgia treatment. But can it also alleviate tension headaches at the same time? Now, let it be useful to analyze whether it is possible to use occipital nerve surgery for tension headaches.
What are Tension Headaches?
Tension headaches are associated with stress, poor position such as sitting for long hours in front of the computer, improper seating posture, or tension in the muscles in the neck and at the back of the head. These are usually described as aching and boring as opposed to the pulsating nature of a migraine. Tension headaches are mostly episodic, that is, have a limited duration but chronic tension headaches which occur three or four times a week or even daily have a devastating effect on the patient’s existence.
Key Symptoms of Tension Headaches:
- A dull, steady, moderately severe headache is present on both sides of the head.
- Touch or pain reactions in the forehead, temples, or at the back of the head
- Pain in the muscles of the neck and the shoulders.
- A heaviness of the head like a weight or pressure on the head.
Tension headaches are typically caused by contraction or stress in muscles, head, and neck, but if the tension involves the muscles of the neck and upper back it involves occipital nerves that link the spine to the scalp.
Occipital Nerve Surgery: What do you know about it?
Occipital nerve surgery is a surgical procedure, which is used when treating a condition called occipital neuralgia, which occurs as a result of irritation or pressure on the nerves referred to as the occipital nerve. This can cause rage of pain which is through from the base of the neck to the top of the head, which may be mistaken as migraine or tension.
The surgery typically involves:
Nerve Decompression: Performing an occipital release where all the tissue, muscles, and blood vessels that pin the occipital nerves are clipped.
Nerve Stimulation: Placing an electrical stimulator to the occipital nerves that help interrupt pain signals to the head region of the brain.
While occipital neuralgia is the main headache disorder for which the surgery is employed, some chronic headache patients have indicated that other kinds of headaches like migraines and tension headaches were also alleviated.
Read more about related topic: What is Occipital Nerve Surgery? A Complete Guide
Occipital Nerve Surgery: Does This Help With Tension Headaches?
Although tension headaches are not an occipital neuralgia; they can be symptomatic of occipital nerve inflammation. For example, the tension in neck muscles can lead to pressure on the occipital nerve and this causes a pain of occipital neuralgia and tension headache. In any event, the relief of the occipital nerve compression bog may help lessen some components of tension headaches.
How does occipital nerve surgery help with tension headaches
Reducing Nerve Sensitization
People develop sensitization of the occipital nerves due to muscle tension in their neck and shoulders which is chronic. Reduction in the sensitivity or the headache pain may be realized through surgery decompression or stimulation of the nerves.
Interrupting Pain Pathways
Occipital nerve stimulation works by essentially ‘turning off’ the nerves that transmit headache pain to the brain and, therefore, occurs when the frequency or severity of headaches must be lessened. It may also be useful for those who have tension headaches that worsen because of occipital nerve displacement.
Addressing Chronic Headaches
In particular, chronic daily headaches that contain components of both tension and neuralgic headache may benefit from the surgery on the occipital nerve to encompass a wider range of aspects of the headache. It can affect the neural as well as the stiffer muscle contractions contributing to pain.
Wrapping Up
Occipital nerve surgery provides the potential for improving headache pain for people with chronic tension headaches that originate from the irritation of the occipital nerve. Nevertheless, the signs and nature of this Parkinsonian complication are varied and it is not an absolute definitive treatment; it must only be called into action once other treatments have been attempted.
In fact, for body ache patients and others, who go through regular chronic daily headaches or have mixed headaches, occipital nerve surgery could be a viable solution that can minimize the severity of the pain. You should consult a specialist or make a call to Migraine Surgery Speciality Center to find out whether this treatment is suitable for you.
In many cases, when tension headaches start to interfere with your level of functioning, non-surgical and surgical treatments like occipital nerve surgery may be your key to getting back your quality of life.
