The neck of a person, like any animal, is an amazing part of the body, quite fragile, but powerful.
The cervical spine, along with all the muscles and ligaments, holds and moves the skull, absorbs the shock of walking, protects the brain from concussion, protects the blood vessels that feed it, and also provides protection for the spinal cord.
When your neck hurts, the reasons can be quite different.Some of these may resolve on their own within a few days, while some may cause chronic illness and pain.
Why does pain occur?
The most common cause of neck pain is poor posture.With a slouched back, the head ceases to occupy a position directly above the body and moves forward.In this position, the muscles and ligaments of the neck experience increased tension.The development of stooping and pain in the neck is facilitated by prolonged work without changing the position, sleeping on a soft bed or a high pillow and prolonged static load.
Other causes of neck pain include injury from falling head first, in a traffic accident or during sports.During sudden acceleration and then deceleration, the cervical spine makes a whiplash motion.As a result, ligaments and muscles can be overstretched, displacement or compression fractures can occur in the cervical vertebrae, and intervertebral hernias can form.
Neck pain can occur as a secondary manifestation of other diseases.For example, during a heart attack, when the heart attack causes severe pain, radiating along the nerve plexuses to the upper limbs, chest and neck.Neck pain during a heart attack is only part of a large complex of symptoms - shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, vomiting.If you have neck or jaw pain or other signs of a heart attack, you should call an ambulance immediately.
Neck pain is also used as a diagnostic sign of meningitis.In this disease, the muscles of the neck become hypertonic, i.e.become hard.When I try to tilt my head to my chest, the back of my head hurts a lot.
The spine in the neck area hurts in rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, spondylosis and osteoarthritis, hernia or protrusion, with compression of the nerve roots or spinal cord from infectious swelling, abscesses, tumors or benign neoplasms.
Special cases
Degenerative diseases
Osteochondrosis, or, in other words, degenerative disorders in the intervertebral discs, leads to the fact that a person has constant pain in the neck.It is usually a mild aching pain that is often accompanied by a tingling sensation and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar area affected by osteochondrosis can cause the development of cerebral artery syndrome.As the intervertebral distances decrease in this area, compression damage occurs to the spinal arteries passing through the openings of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the vessel leads to a decrease in blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, reduced vision and hearing.On the other hand, mechanical irritation of the artery with pressure from the side of the vertebrae causes a reflex spasm, which manifests itself as a burning, throbbing pain in the head.
Treatment
If your neck constantly hurts due to osteochondrosis, then therapy begins with eliminating the pain syndrome.The second mandatory direction of treatment is stopping the degenerative processes in the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved with the help of the following groups of drugs:
- nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - directly block the cascade of mediators that signal pain;
- muscle relaxants - elimination of muscle spasms that reflexively arise from severe pain;
- sedatives - calm and inhibit the nervous system and the transmission of pain impulses, including (valerian, antidepressants, sleeping pills);
- vasodilators - help eliminate vertebral artery syndrome and the pain associated with it.
To eliminate the cause of pain in the neck due to osteochondrosis, chondroprotective drugs are prescribed, which prevent the destruction of cartilage and vertebrae, as well as multivitamin mineral complexes.
Pain management also consists of exercise, physical therapy, massage, traction, reflexology, and taping therapy.During an exacerbation, to relieve pain, the patient is recommended to wear a special collar that protects the neck from excessive mobility.
Muscle pain
Neck pain can occur due to inflammation of the neck muscles called myositis.Such pain should be distinguished from neuritis (inflammation of the nerve trunks with impaired sensitivity) and pain caused by osteochondrosis.Myositis occurs suddenly, after exposure to predisposing factors - hypothermia, vibrations, long-term overstrain, especially with long-term repetitive movements of the same type.
Cervical myositis is characterized by sharp pain that occurs when the inflamed muscle is contracted.The acute severity of the pain leads to difficulties in performing certain types of movements.Usually, the long neck muscles on the anterolateral surface or the sternocleidomastoid muscles, which in bilateral contraction pull the head back, and in unilateral contraction rotate it, usually hurt.The deep muscles that surround the spine and move the entire neck and back are also often inflamed.
When palpating the muscle, its increased tone and dense nodular areas are noted.Violation of microcirculation and local trophism leads to gradual replacement of myocytes with connective tissue.As a result, the neck muscles weaken, their symmetry on the sides of the spine is disturbed, "torticollis" may appear, and it is difficult for the patient to keep his head upright.
Treatment
Treatment begins with reducing the load on the neck.This is followed by a course of physiotherapy procedures - UHF heating, electrophoresis with drugs, paraffin heating, ozokerite wrapping, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.Such procedures restore blood circulation in the neck muscles.Medications include injections of B vitamins, anti-inflammatory and pain relievers, ointments and rubs.
Traditional treatment recommends using cabbage or burdock leaves as pain-relieving compresses, making an ointment of crushed willow buds in oil, and making rubs of a mixture of turpentine with apple cider vinegar and egg yolk.The neck is also rubbed with lava oil and then wrapped.The main key to the success of any treatment is to provide rest to the sore neck until its muscles fully recover.Then you need to start getting them back "to work" through special gymnastics and massage.
Radicular syndrome
Severe pain in the neck, which spreads to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle, upper limbs, can occur when the roots of the spinal nerves are pressed due to prolapse, protrusion or herniation of the intervertebral discs.
In this disease, a protrusion of the inner core of the disc towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns is observed.The hernia and its symptoms usually appear on one side.With pressure on the roots of the spinal nerves, a burning, sharp pain occurs in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbago).The patient feels numbness in the lower jaw, the area around the ears, the back of the head, shoulder blades and hands.Dizziness and sharp pain in the neck appear when changing the position from horizontal to vertical.The gradual protrusion of the core of the disc leads to trauma to the surrounding tissues, their inflammation and swelling.This creates conditions for inflammation of the nerve endings with the development of radiculitis, and the mobility of the neck and upper limbs is gradually limited.Long-term pinching of the spinal nerves leads to paresis or paralysis of the limbs.
Therapy
What to do if your neck hurts because of a hernia?At home, for pain, pain relievers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal drugs and muscle relaxants are taken to relieve spasms.
In the hospital, severe pain in the neck is eliminated with the help of "blockades" - injection of painkillers from the side of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are eliminated with steroid drugs that can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is eliminated by taking muscle relaxants.
Also, to prevent the further development of the hernia, I use drugs that strengthen cartilage tissue - chondroprotectors.
In many cases, therapeutic gymnastics and traction of the cervical spine help with protrusion or slight protrusion.Increasing the intervertebral space helps to "retract" the intervertebral disc and relieve pressure on the nerves.
A true hernia with rupture of the annulus fibrosus and prolapse of the nucleus into the spinal canal requires surgery.There are several ways to get rid of neck pain through surgery:
- anterior cervical discectomy – removal of an excess piece of disc that presses on the spinal nerves;
- replacing a damaged disc with an artificial joint that protects the cervical spine from further destruction;
- microendoscopic discectomy using posterior access and removal of small areas of hernia through an endoscope;
- Posterior cervical discectomy through an incision in the back of the neck.The operating channel is specially widened so that pinching does not develop in the future.
New formations
If there is constant pressing pain in the neck, you can suspect the appearance of a foreign formation in this department.
Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) most often have a regular shape and are clearly defined;they rarely cause pain.The discomfort is mainly associated with the compression of the surrounding tissues by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, cancer of the lymph nodes or the thyroid gland) do not have boundaries and give many metastases to neighboring tissues.Their destructive effect on the organs causes a painful sensation and a general deterioration of the condition.The front of the neck can become painful due to cancer of the larynx, throat, oral cavity, or thyroid gland.The patient experiences difficulty swallowing, swelling of the neck and face, change in voice.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone tumor, then this condition also often accompanies damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots on the sides of the spine with the development of paralysis.
Treatment
The treatment of pain due to tumors is mainly aimed at removing the cause - reducing or removing the tumor.Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, sclerosing of the vessels feeding the tumor and surgical removal of the pathological entity are used for this purpose.
Pain relief depends on the severity of the pain:
- weak drugs;
- moderate pain relievers;
- as the pain increases, switch to weak opiates;
- in case of severe pain, analgesia is possible only with the help of opiate drugs.To improve analgesia in neck pain due to neoplasms, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and corticosteroids are used.
Pay attention!Neck pain can occur for a variety of reasons.In order not to miss serious diseases, you must first visit a doctor for a consultation about the onset of pain and accurately determine its source.