Occipital Headache

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Occipital headache is felt at the occiput and can radiate to the vertex. Occipital Headache also known as or related to headache with neck pain, occipital headache (finding), pain in his occiput, occipital pain, pain in her occiput, pain in the occipital region.

Occipital headache may result from inflammation, injury, or pressure on the occipital nerves, upper cervical spinal roots, dorsal horn, or sensory ganglion. Paresthesia or algesia of the tissues of the scalp and the skin of the neck is characteristic of occipital headache.

Occipital neuralgia is referred pain from an inflammation or compression of the greater occipital nerve as it exits between the occiput and the first cervical vertebra to pierce the large cervical muscle tendinous insertions.

Usually, the pain in this disorder radiates to the eye region, but can involve radiation over the scalp to the eye. Your headache sounds to me to be more of the former type of headache, as you describe it. This type of headache falls into the tension-type headache class.

What are some symptoms of an occipital headache?

Differentiating between occipital headache and other forms of headache may be difficult secondary to variability in presentation and considerable symptom overlap. Pain is usually localized in the distribution of the greater or lesser occipital nerves. The affected nerve is tender to palpation. Diagnostic injections have a role in not only differentiating different types of headaches, but also identifying the pain generator.