Nerve · Head

Greater occipital nerve

Nervus occipitalis major

The greater occipital nerve is the large sensory branch of the second cervical nerve, and it supplies the skin over the back of the head from the base of the skull almost to the crown. To get there it has to turn upward and pierce the deep muscles at the base of the skull and the tendinous edge of trapezius. That passage through muscle is the reason this small nerve matters so much to therapists: when the suboccipital tissue is tight or thickened, the nerve can be compressed as it emerges, producing tenderness at the base of the skull and sharp or burning pain that shoots up the back of the head — often mistaken for, and often coexisting with, a headache of another cause.