Occipital Neuralgia Quiz
Check your symptoms and
find possible causes with AI for free
Worried about your symptoms?
Start the Occipital Neuralgia test with our free AI Symptom Checker.
This will help us personalize your assessment.
By starting the symptom checker, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Have a headache
Headaches in back of head
Headache on one side
Hand tingling
Headache on the side of my head
Headaches with sharp, electrifying pain
Tingling
Not seeing your symptoms? No worries!
What is Occipital Neuralgia?
Occipital neuralgia is a rare type of headache characterized by intense, brief, throbbing, electric-shock-like pain in the back of the head or behind the ears. It can occur on one or both sides of the head, and is thought to result from pinching of a nerve by scalp or neck muscles, neck injury, as well as neck or skull base surgery.
Typical Symptoms of Occipital Neuralgia
- Pain at the back of the head
- Headache
- Headache on one side only
- Tingling or prickling sensation without touching the skin
- Earache
- Headache with electric shock-like pain
- Pain around the ears
- Pain in the temples
Diagnostic Questions for Occipital Neuralgia
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this disease:
- Do you have pain at the back of your head?
- Do you have a headache?
- Is your headache on one side only?
- Do you feel tingling or prickling sensations in your skin?
- Do you have an earache?
Treatment of Occipital Neuralgia
Treatment options include injecting numbing and inflammation-reducing medications in the area of the nerve (occipital nerve block), medications to reduce nerve pain, as well as rest/neck immobilization, applying heat/ice to the neck, or massage.
Reviewed By:
Benjamin Kummer, MD (Neurology)
Dr Kummer is Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), with joint appointment in Digital and Technology Partners (DTP) at the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) as Director of Clinical Informatics in Neurology. As a triple-board certified practicing stroke neurologist and informaticist, he has successfully improved clinical operations at the point of care by acting as a central liaison between clinical neurology faculty and DTP teams to implement targeted EHR configuration changes and workflows, as well as providing subject matter expertise on health information technology projects across MSHS. | Dr Kummer also has several years’ experience building and implementing several informatics tools, presenting scientific posters, and generating a body of peer-reviewed work in “clinical neuro-informatics” – i.e., the intersection of clinical neurology, digital health, and informatics – much of which is centered on digital/tele-health, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. He has spearheaded the Clinical Neuro-Informatics Center in the Department of Neurology at ISMMS, a new research institute that seeks to establish the field of clinical neuro-informatics and disseminate knowledge to the neurological community on the effects and benefits of clinical informatics tools at the point of care.
Shohei Harase, MD (Neurology)
Dr. Harase spent his junior and senior high school years in Finland and the U.S. After graduating from the University of Washington (Bachelor of Science, Molecular and Cellular Biology), he worked for Apple Japan Inc. before entering the University of the Ryukyus School of Medicine. He completed his residency at Okinawa Prefectural Chubu Hospital, where he received the Best Resident Award in 2016 and 2017. In 2021, he joined the Department of Cerebrovascular Medicine at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, specializing in hyperacute stroke.
Content updated on Mar 31, 2024
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
Was this page helpful?
Tell your friends about us.
We would love to help them too.
Think you might have
Occipital Neuralgia?
Try a symptom check testHow Ubie Can Help You
With a free 3-min Occipital Neuralgia quiz, powered by Ubie's AI and doctors, find possible causes of your symptoms.
This questionnaire is customized to your situation and symptoms, including the following personal information:
Biological Sex - helps us provide relevant suggestions for male vs. female conditions.
Age - adjusts our guidance based on any age-related health factors.
History - considers past illnesses, surgeries, family history, and lifestyle choices.
Your symptoms
Our AI
Your report
Your personal report will tell you
✔ When to see a doctor
✔︎ What causes your symptoms
✔︎ Treatment information etc.
People with similar symptoms also use Ubie's symptom checker to find possible causes
- Pulsating headache
- Pain in the ear
- Headache over the entire head
- Ear pain worsens when I pull my earlobe
- I have a headache when I cough
- I feel uncomfortable in my ear
- Headache at night
- Bilateral headache
- Earwax buildup
- Headache aura
- Light sensitivity headache
- Numbing headache
- Toothache causing ear pain
- Jaw pain radiating to the ears
See full list
Symptoms Related to Occipital Neuralgia
Diseases Related to Occipital Neuralgia
Ubie is supervised by 50+ medical experts worldwide
Our symptom checker AI is continuously refined with input from experienced physicians, empowering them to make more accurate diagnoses.
Ubie is recognized by healthcare and tech leaders
“World’s Best Digital
Health Companies”
Newsweek 2024
“Best With AI”
Google Play Best of 2023
“Best in Class”
Digital Health Awards 2023 (Quarterfinalist)
Which is the best Symptom Checker?
Ubie’s symptom checker demonstrated a Top-10 hit accuracy of 71.6%, surpassing the performance of several leading symptom checkers in the market, which averaged around 60% accuracy in similar assessments.
Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Pan W, Peng J, Elmofty D. Occipital Neuralgia. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2021 Jul 21;25(9):61. doi: 10.1007/s11916-021-00972-1. PMID: 34287719.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11916-021-00972-1Barmherzig R, Kingston W. Occipital Neuralgia and Cervicogenic Headache: Diagnosis and Management. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2019 Mar 19;19(5):20. doi: 10.1007/s11910-019-0937-8. PMID: 30888540.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-019-0937-8Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS) The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia. 2018 Jan;38(1):1-211. doi: 10.1177/0333102417738202. PMID: 29368949.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0333102417738202Choi I, Jeon SR. Neuralgias of the Head: Occipital Neuralgia. J Korean Med Sci. 2016 Apr;31(4):479-88. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.4.479. Epub 2016 Mar 9. PMID: 27051229; PMCID: PMC4810328.
https://jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=10.3346/jkms.2016.31.4.479Dougherty C. Occipital neuralgia. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2014 May;18(5):411. doi: 10.1007/s11916-014-0411-x. PMID: 24737457.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11916-014-0411-xWamsley CE, Chung M, Amirlak B. Occipital Neuralgia: Advances in the Operative Management. Neurol India. 2021 Mar-Apr;69(Supplement):S219-S227. doi: 10.4103/0028-3886.315980. PMID: 34003169.
https://www.neurologyindia.com/article.asp?issn=0028-3886;year=2021;volume=69;issue=7;spage=219;epage=227;aulast=WamsleyBlumenfeld A, Ashkenazi A, Napchan U, Bender SD, Klein BC, Berliner R, Ailani J, Schim J, Friedman DI, Charleston L 4th, Young WB, Robertson CE, Dodick DW, Silberstein SD, Robbins MS. Expert consensus recommendations for the performance of peripheral nerve blocks for headaches--a narrative review. Headache. 2013 Mar;53(3):437-46. doi: 10.1111/head.12053. Epub 2013 Feb 13. PMID: 23406160.
https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/head.12053