r/Occipitalneuralgia

I suffered from ON triggered by driving about 6 years ago. When I changed vehicles, all headaches went away and I was symptom free for years. Ten months ago, when I purchased a new vehicle, the symptoms all came back. I’m trying to figure out what it is about certain cars that trigger ON? I wonder if I purchase new tires that are better at absorbing vibration if that will help? Anyone have any input?

Hi there, I have been given two options left by my neurosurgeon... 1: Reattempt an occipital decompression this time with fat grafting to protect the nerves and help them heal. (I had one in Jan of 2025 and it was not a success although I was pain free for 2 weeks, 3 months post but had a migraine and the pain returned) as he may have missed pressure points or even scar tissue could be causing a problem now.

2: C2 Gangionectomy/rhizotomy, severing the nerves at the C2 level, causing complete numbness. While this is the immediate preferred option, there are the risks of deafferentation/phantom pain, which is virtually incurable and completely debilitating. And also pain reoccurrence years down the line when the nerve eventually grows back which occurs in a “significant percentage of patients”.

If I go with option 1, I’ve decided I would give it between 3 months to 6 months maximum to show signs of pain reduction before resorting to C2 Gangionectomy/rhizotomy. So it’s more of a question of, how much longer can I endure this pain, and can I throw another 6 months of my life away when I’ve already lost 2.5 years. Keep in mind my body completely rejects opiates now so I would be in pain without any means to deal with it. Has anyone had success in a secondary decompression?