What causes intermittent pain in the back of the head?

What causes intermittent pain in the back of the head?

Occipital neuralgia happens when there’s pressure or irritation to your occipital nerves, maybe because of an injury, tight muscles that entrap the nerves, or inflammation. Many times, doctors can’t find a cause for it. Some medical conditions are linked to it, including: Trauma to the back of the head.

Why do I have a pulsing pain in the back of my head?

Occipital Neuralgia is a condition in which the occipital nerves, the nerves that run through the scalp, are injured or inflamed. This causes headaches that feel like severe piercing, throbbing or shock-like pain in the upper neck, back of the head or behind the ears.

Can occipital neuralgia cause muscle spasms?

If the patient has tenderness over the distribution of the greater occipital nerve is important in making this diagnosis. There may be some associated muscle tightness or spasm in the neck region.

How do you relax the occipital nerve?

Here’s how you can ease painful occipital neuralgia symptoms:

1. Apply ice/heat therapy. Ice therapy may reduce local inflammation and relieve pain.
2. Take NSAIDs.
3. Give yourself a neck massage.

Does occipital neuralgia show up on MRI?

Radiographic imaging is of limited utility in the diagnosis of occipital neuralgia but is primarily concerned with excluding structural pathology of the cord, the spine, the occipital nerves or adjacent structures. As such, MRI is best suited to this task 1,4.

What causes sharp stabbing pains in the head?

Primary stabbing headaches are caused by overactivity or problems with pain-sensitive structures in the head. They may occur without an identifiable cause, or they could develop from an underlying disease.

What causes occipital neuralgia to flare up?

What causes occipital neuralgia? Occipital neuralgia may occur spontaneously, or as the result of a pinched nerve root in the neck (from arthritis, for example), or because of prior injury or surgery to the scalp or skull. Sometimes “tight” muscles at the back of the head can entrap the nerves.

How do you relax the occipital muscles?

Apply gentle pressure from your fingertips at the base of your skull. This massage can help calm tight muscles and release tension. You can also place a rolled towel under your head and neck as you lie down on your back. The pressure from the towel can provide a gentle massage.

Why does the back of my head hurt when I Turn my Head?

Having tight neck muscles can also cause sharp pains in the back of your head when you turn your head. If the pain in the back of your head and neck is caused by muscle tightness, you can find out how to treat a stiff neck in one minute or less by reading my article on the subject.

What causes muscle spasms in the middle of the ear?

In fact, there is one particularly rare type of tinnitus (known as Middle Ear Myoclonus, or MEM for short) that causes muscle spasms in the ear that are so loud that other people standing close by can hear them. These muscle spasms can be annoying and interfere with your quality of life.

Where does the pain in the ear come from?

However, pain in the ear can come from almost anywhere in the head or neck. The 10th cranial nerve supplies the back (posterior) half of the external ear canal – the bit that is open to the outside.

What causes muscle spasms in the lower back?

A common location for muscle strains is the lower back. In addition to causing sudden pain and lingering soreness, muscle strains can also cause painful back spasms. 2  Facet joints are the bones that connect the different portions of your spine.

What causes pain in the back of the head?

  The pain is caused by irritation or injury to the nerves, which can be the result of trauma to the back of the head, pinching of the nerves by overly tight neck muscles, compression of the nerve as it leaves the spine due to osteoarthritis, or tumors or other types of lesions in the neck.

What causes sharp pain in the middle ear?

Glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN) is a rare condition that can cause sharp, stabbing, or shooting pain in the throat area near the tonsils, the back of the tongue, or the middle ear.

Why do I have spasms in my back?

A back spasm is an involuntary contraction of the back muscles. Moving in a certain way may trigger a back spasm. More often than not, spasms happen because of muscle weakness, overuse, or injury. 1  Chronic back spasms may be the result of an underlying condition.

Why does my head hurt when I have a sinus infection?

Under certain conditions, like infection or congestion, the sinuses can become inflamed and build up blockages. This results in a sinus headache, which presents as an intense pain around the forehead, nose, eyes, upper mouth/teeth, or cheeks.