Pain at base of skull left side

Occipital neuralgia is a painful condition that occurs when the occipital nerves that run from the top of your spine to your scalp are compressed or irritated.

Occipital neuralgia is a painful condition that causes neck pain and is often accompanied by a headache. Read What Is Causing My Neck Pain and Headache?

Occipital neuralgia symptoms and causes

If you have occipital neuralgia, you may experience one or more of these symptoms:

• Throbbing, aching pain or sharp, electric-like pain that typically starts where the back of your head meets your neck.
• Pain that radiates to one side of your head, down your neck and/or back.
• Pain behind your eye.
• Increased sensitivity of your scalp.

See Occipital Neuralgia

These symptoms can be caused by irritation of the occipital nerves along their path, which may occur:

• Spontaneously, as a result of a pinched nerve root in your neck due to an injury or surgery. Commonly the roots of C2 and/or C3 at the top of your cervical spine are affected.

  See The C1-C2 Vertebrae and Spinal Segment

• Due to irritation/compression from tight neck muscles. This muscle tightness may be associated with physical or emotional stress.

See Cervical Spine Anatomy

The exact cause of occipital neuralgia may not always be determined. You may experience migraines or tension headaches simultaneously with occipital neuralgia.

See How Neck Pain and Headache Can Occur Together

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Finding occipital neuralgia pain relief

Here’s how you can ease painful occipital neuralgia symptoms:

• Apply ice/heat therapy. Ice therapy may reduce local inflammation and relieve pain. Tuck an ice pack under the base of your skull as you lie down. However, you may find more relief using heat therapy, such as an electric heating pad. When you apply heat to the affected area, local blood vessels are dilated and blood flow to the neck increases, which can reduce muscle tightness. Don’t apply the cold/heat source for more than 20 minutes at a time. Always use a barrier, such as a hand towel, between your skin and the cold/heat source.

  See How to Apply Heat Therapy

• Take NSAIDs. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen (e.g., Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (e.g., Aleve). Taking them may help reduce inflammation and relieve headache/neck pain. Follow the instructions on the labels and discuss with a physician or pharmacist to make sure you’re using these medications safely.

  See NSAIDs: Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

• Give yourself a neck massage. Apply gentle pressure from your fingertips at the base of your skull. This massage can help calm tight muscles and release tension. You can also place a rolled towel under your head and neck as you lie down on your back. The pressure from the towel can provide a gentle massage. Stop immediately if the massage aggravates your pain.

  See Massage Therapy for Chronic Stiff Neck

• Do chin tucks regularly. Some cases of occipital neuralgia may be related to poor posture stressing the nerves. The chin tuck exercise aims to stretch the muscles and connective tissue in the painful area and strengthen the muscles that align your head over your shoulders. Stand with your upper back against a wall, feet shoulder-width apart. Face forward, tuck your chin down, and pull your head back until it meets the wall. Try to bring your head back in a straight line without tilting it back or nodding forward. Hold the stretch for 5 seconds before resting, and repeat 10 times. If this exercise increases pain or discomfort, stop immediately.

  See Easy Chin Tucks for Neck Pain

If these self-care tips don’t ease your occipital neuralgia pain, visit a health care provider. You may find relief through prescribed pain medications and/or a guided physical therapy program. A doctor may even consider offering a steroid injection to help relieve inflammation and reduce the pain.

The human body is a complicated structure made of trillions of cells. These cells combine to form tissues that gather and make organs. Different organs collectively include organ systems, and these systems run our bodies.

Basic stuff, yet it all is complex, connected, and sometimes mysterious. The neck, part of the skeletal system, is crucial to our overall bodily structure. It provides support and structure to our heads, connects the cervical spinal cord to our brains, and gives home to essential blood vessels to circulate throughout our bodies. The neck muscles are exceptionally delicate, and even a minor injury or sprain can lead to dangerous results.

Neck pain ranked among the top five pains in the world. Temporary neck pain, particularly of the left side, can be caused by fatigue, an improper sleeping position, and irritating daily activities.

To be more literal, the neck pain we experience is caused by inflammation, muscle strain, or tension. While there aren't any severe and specific causes behind neck pain on the left side, persistent pain means something is wrong.

Neck pain on the left side has several reasons, from mild and common to severe and rare.

Most common causes

Tension or muscle strain

Tension and muscle strain are some of the biggest culprits behind pain on the neck's left side. When the tendon or neck muscle is torn or overstretched, muscle strain occurs. Tension in muscle is when it doesn't relax fully after contracting. These are caused by:

1. Sitting or leaning forward for a long time
2. An awkward sleeping position like with twisted or bent neck
3. During exercise, when you put too much force on muscles of the neck
4. Stress
5. Worn joints with age
6. Compression of nerves
7. Falling or crashing into someone cause whiplash
8. Cradling the phone between shoulder and ears

Whiplash

Forceful back and forth head thrusting causes whiplash. The reason includes accidents and during sports like football. Whiplash causes pain in the left side of the neck, headache, and muscle stiffness. Bufferin and OTC pain medicines are generally recommended to treat whiplash.

Cervical radiculopathy

When nerve fibers get irritated or get squeezed on the neck's left side, it can cause pain there. Your shoulder may be numb too.

Acute torticollis

If neck muscles contract so that the head twists to one side, it is called acute torticollis. Turning like this might cause neck pain on the left side.

Less common causes

Degeneration of cervical disk

Vertebral bones have disks between them. They are flexible, rigid, and act as shock absorbers. These disks might get weak, and their outer covering (annulus fibrosus) tears with time. With its breakage, the disks' internal material come out and accumulate on the spinal cord.

Meningitis

Inflammation caused by viruses, bacteria, or fungus causes neck pain. Meningitis causes headaches and muscle stiffness. If it remains untreated, it will lead to seizures and brain swelling.

Cervical Fracture

The first seven bones of the vertebrae are called cervical vertebrae. Fracture on any of these bones caused by accidents, sports, or other injuries causes broken necks.

Herniated cervical disk

When the outer covering of cervical disks worn out, nerves get pressed and pushes the nucleus to one side is known as a herniated cervical disk. Pressured nerves cause neck pain, numbness, stiffness, and arm pain.

Rare causes

Congenital anomalies

Congenital cervical vertebrae anomalies and torticollis in newborn babies cause pain on both sides of their neck. These occur during birth injuries and some unknown reasons.

Spinal tumor

An abnormal cell started growing in the spinal cord or vertebrae, cancerous or benign, called a spinal tumor. Spinal tumors cause muscle weakness, neck pain, and severe inflammation.

When to seek help?

Continual pain that doesn't improve on its means it's time to consult with a professional.

Visit the doctor immediately if you feel that your neck pain started running to your arms or you started getting numbness with tingling.

Doctors will first physically examine you and ask for your medical history. If they didn't get to the actual cause from there, they would recommend you to go through X-rays, CT scans, and MRI.

Treatment of neck pain on the left side

Most of the treatments depend on the severity and diagnosis. For mild pain, take a hot bath or shower. You can also try using a hot water bottle, neck massage, use of a neck pillow. It will relax neck muscles and give you relief.

If recommended by a doctor, you can seek a physiotherapist's help. He will give you tips for better posture, movement through various exercises.

If neck pain is prolonged, doctors might give corticosteroid injections to you. These lessen the pain and inflammation in the neck.

When the neck bones are fractured, or nerve cords are severely compressed, surgery is usually the answer. However, minor fractures usually only need a neck collar as treatment.

Neck pain on the left side is not a thing to ignore.

Proper diagnosis and treatment are required to cure it. While rare, undiagnosed or untreated neck pain can elevate to a permanent disability. Neck pain is not something you have to live with- even if you may consider the pain relatively mild. Don't let pain affect your quality of life, and get help with a compassionate specialist.

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