The Medical Consumer's Advocate
Headache, occipital neuralgia:
Sharp pain in the back of the head
Q:
My
situation is, for about a month I have been experiencing
a pain in the back of my head. I don't consider it a
headache because it comes and goes quickly, but it is
sharp. I also occasionally experience a feeling of
getting goose bumps in the area. I don't usually notice
the pain when I am busy, but when I am not doing
anything, I feel it. It is in a specific spot, not a
general area and the spot is sensitive to the touch. I
spoke to my doctor about it and am getting an MRI in a
couple of days. Of course I have myself convinced it is a
brain tumor. My doctor said it may be neuritis. After
hearing this I ran home to look it up on the internet.
From what I have read it sounds like it could be
occipital neuritis but I am not sure. My question is,
will an MRI be able to tell if it is neuritis, and is
this kind of pain common to brain tumor. I don't have any
other symptoms other than the spot being sensitive and
occasional goose bumps. Thank you for any help you can
give me.
A: Despite the fact that I wrote that little piece on
headaches, I don't consider
myself an expert on headaches (other than sinus headaches, of
course). If you haven't seen a neurologist about this
problem, you really need to.
But here is my opinion as a
non-neurologist. The fact that there is a single spot that is
sensitive to the touch suggests that there is indeed a problem with
a nerve (such as occipital neuralgia), rather than a vascular problem. Sinus headache is similarly
unlikely. Brain tumor also seems an unlikely possibility, but the MRI should rule
this out. It is important that the MRI evaluate your cervical spine in order
to rule out nerve root problems there.
I suspect your hunch (occipital neuritis) may be correct. Occipital
neuritis (or 'occipital neuralgia') is characterized by pain at the back of
the head combined with point tenderness over the nerve itself.
Here's a link
with a description of occipital neuritis, as well as a discussion of other
headache syndromes which mimic occipital neuritis.
Occipital neuritis is treatable, so if you're right, you may be in luck.