Category: Occipital Neuralgia

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May 07, 2026 | Headache Surgery, Occipital Neuralgia, Uncategorized

The Staged Approach To Chronic Headache/Migraine Relief

Table of Contents Why Are Some Occipital Neuralgia Treatments Performed in Stages? Patients often ask why more than one procedure may be recommended to achieve the best possible outcome. It’s a thoughtful question, and the answer is nuanced. Before I explain, it’s important to note that what follows reflects my personal approach and clinical experience. […]

March 11, 2026 | Occipital Neuralgia

What About Radiofrequency Ablation? (Part 1)

Back of a woman with one arm touching the back of their neck

I’m often asked: “What do you think about radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for occipital neuralgia?” It’s a very reasonable question. Many patients have heard that RFA can be effective for certain types of nerve pain, so it seems logical to assume that it should work for occipital neuralgia as well. However, once the anatomy and underlying […]

February 26, 2026 | Occipital Neuralgia

Can Stress Make Occipital Neuralgia Worse?

This is one of the most common questions raised in my office. In my view, stress is an underrecognized but meaningful contributor to many aspects of health, including peripheral nerve function. Here, I will specifically discuss the mechanical forces that stress can generate – forces that are directly relevant to the pathology we address surgically […]

February 12, 2026 | Occipital Neuralgia

What Causes Compressed Nerves To Malfunction?

What Happens to a Nerve Under Long-Term Compression? As I’ve written previously, the occipital nerves can be compressed by a variety of surrounding structures—muscle, fascia, scar tissue, or even nearby blood vessels such as the occipital artery. Patients often understand that compression can cause pain. A more interesting question is: What actually happens to the […]

February 12, 2026 | Nerve Pain, Occipital Neuralgia

Which Came First The Muscle Or The Nerve?

Over the past week alone, several patients have asked essentially the same question, “Are my tight neck muscles irritating the nerves, or are irritated nerves causing my muscles to tighten?” It’s a fair question, and frustratingly, the answer is often: both. In many cases, it’s less a straight line of cause and effect and more […]

February 09, 2026 | Occipital Neuralgia

Migraine Or Neuralgia – That Is The Question?

People often confuse migraine symptoms with something called neuralgia. The former refers to an often disabling neurological condition characterized by severe and sometimes frequent headaches. The latter literally means “nerve pain” with the implication that the condition in question is secondary to some type of nerve injury or dysfunction. While migraines can be sub-classified in […]

February 06, 2026 | Occipital Neuralgia

How & Why Did I Get Occipital Neuralgia

The title of this post is often the million dollar question. I have posted many times in the past about how ON can be caused by compression from spastic neck muscles, compression by tight connective tissue (i.e., fascia) and/or compression from surrounding blood vessels. Many of the patients I see have had headaches ever since […]

August 06, 2024 | Headache Surgery, Occipital Neuralgia

“THE EVOLUTION OF HEADACHE SURGERY” – Dr. Ziv’s Presentation at Yale University

Dr. Ziv Peled recently presented Grand Rounds at Yale University’s Division of Plastic Surgery on the over 20-year evolution of headache surgery. Take a look at the first part of this video to learn more…

August 04, 2024 | Occipital Neuralgia

COVID-19 AND OCCIPITAL NEURALGIA

I always knew it was just a matter of time and it finally happened. I was speaking with a patient of mine who was a bit more than one year out from her occipital neuralgia operation. She was doing extremely well with “over 90% relief” at the one-year mark, when she was diagnosed with COVID-19. […]

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