An occipital nerve block is a minimally invasive procedure that alleviates pain caused by the greater and lesser occipital nerves. These nerves are located at the back of the head above the neck. They can cause headache pain. An occipital nerve block reduces these pain symptoms by decreasing inflammation in the affected area.
During the procedure, the skin and tissues around the occipital nerves with a local anesthetic. Then, a needle through the skin and deeper tissues to inject an anesthetic and steroid medication solution into the occipital nerves. Immediate relief after the initial injection is often times. The injection itself only takes a few minutes to complete. Once the medication has been injected, the patient will be sent to a separate room to recover.
