Will An Occipital Knob Skull Reduction Also Improve My Headaches?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’ve been dealing with this issue for years. Ever since my last year of high school I’ve found out about this problem. It was quite embarrassing in high school years when I cut my hair off my last year even though I’ve grown my hair out since junior high school. Since I’ve cut my hair off it’s been harder to sleep. I trained myself to sleep on my face. Some days I wake up with bad headaches and sometimes it itches. I learned how to live with it but I think it might be time for a change somewhere.

A:It is not rare that a prominent bone bulge on the back of the head is associated with headaches and difficulty sleeping when laying on it. There is a surgical procedure to make a major change in that problem as illustrated in my prior email. (occipital knob skull reduction) This would not only provide an aesthetic improvement but is very likely going to improve the ability to lay on it and may even solve the headache issue.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana