Occipital Neuralgia and Its Management: An Overview

Greater and lesser occipital neuralgias are primary neuralgias that are relatively uncommon, where the pain is felt in the distribution of these nerves.

This review paper was intended to describe the features and management of occipital neuralgia in the context of a challenging case.

We looked at succinct literature from the past 30 years. We compared the features of our challenging case given in the current literature. In addition, an overview of the current literature is provided.

The case, although proved to be a diagnostic challenge, we were able to reach a conclusion and render the patient almost complete pain relief by conservative management modalities. It proved to be a rare presentation of occipital neuralgia with unusual pain distribution, and we are able to describe a literature-based explanation for this entity to be a diagnostic and management challenge.

Primary headaches, i'n general, are a group of headache disorders that require exquisite diagnostic skills. The clinical history is a key factor when making an accurate diagnosis, and to establish an appropriate management plan.