Headaches

More than half of all adults experience headaches every year, and headaches represent the third most common cause for health-related workplace absence. Those who suffer from headaches experience not only pain, but also a number of associated personal and financial burdens. Common headache types include:

Migraine
Tension Headache
Occipital Headache
Headache caused by medication overuse

Headache management specialists understand just how disruptive frequent headaches or intense migraines can be. At Interventional Spine of Vermont, providers are intimately familiar with the challenges headache sufferers face and are properly trained to diagnose and treat a range of symptom types.

Our physicians offer several treatments for headache, including occipital nerve injection, trigger point injection, cervical ablation, and sphenopalatine ganglion block.

Occipital Nerve Block

Some headaches are due to irritation of the occipital nerve. These headaches typically start at the base of the skull and travel along the top of the head to behind the eyes or along the back of the head to the area behind the ears. These headaches are called occipital neuralgia and can develop from a number of underlying causes.

When conservative treatment regimens such as physical therapy, medication, and acupuncture fail to provide relief, injection therapy may be indicated. Our specialists carefully identify the occipital nerve or nerves and inject a small quantity of local anesthetic and anti-inflammatory steroid to the area directly surrounding the nerve. The procedure, while quite simple and minimally invasive, can lead to profound pain relief for several months.

Contraindications to the injections include allergies to steroids and active infection. Please let your provider know if you have any of these conditions before proceeding with treatment.

Migraines | Cluster Headaches | Occipital Neuralgia

*An injection of local anesthetic and steroid to the occipital nerves can mitigate the symptoms of severe, chronic headache*

Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block

Also known as the SPG, the Sphenopalatine Ganglion is thought to be involved with a number of headache symptoms. The ganglion lies behind the nasal cavity and is in close proximity to the trigeminal nerve, which is likewise involved in chronic headaches and migraines. While the exact mechanisms underlying migraine are not fully understood, clinical studies have demonstrated that selectively blocking the sphenopalatine ganglion can effectively alleviate chronic symptoms.

This SPG block involves inserting a device into the nose to deliver anesthetic medication to the ganglion. The procedure, quick and not painful, can provide substantial symptomatic relief for patients suffering from frequent or recurrent migraines or facial pain. Patients typically start to experience relief within 30 minutes of the procedure. Recent studies have furthermore demonstrated that biweekly SPG blocks performed over the course of six weeks can provide lasting symptomatic relief for up to several months.