Greater occipital nerve blocks ...​

​Background

Some patients get headaches where the pain is centred in the upper neck and back of the head. This can be caused  by damage to or irritation of the greater occipital nerves and is then called occipital neuralgia. Your doctor thinks this may be what is causing your pain.

Procedure
A greater occipital nerve block is a type of diagnostic injection. This means the procedure is performed to test whether the occipital nerves are causing your headache. This is done by injecting a small amount of local anaesthetic and steroid around the nerves to see if this relieves your pain for a period of time (this can vary from a few days to several months).

What does the procedure involve?
The procedure can be performed in the rooms at Mary Street, Unley. You will be asked to lie face down on the procedure bed and the area around the injection site will be cleaned. The local anaesthetic and steroid mixture will be injected into the area at the top of your neck.

What happens after the procedure?
After the procedure is performed you will be monitored for a short time before you go home. You should organise for someone to drive you home after the procedure.
A few weeks after the procedure you will have a follow up appointment with your doctor. You should attend this appointment at our office.
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What are the possible complications?
This procedure has a very low risk of complication but there are some that you should be aware of.
Local discomfort: some patients may experience some discomfort in the area of the injection for a few hours or a few days. This is the most common complication for this procedure.
Bleeding or infection: these are very rare. Please contact our office immediately If you develop a fever, or an increase in pain, swelling, redness or heat in the area. If these symptoms occur outside office hours, you should attend the nearest emergency department.