A person's neck, like any animal, is an amazing part of the body, rather fragile, but powerful.
The cervical spine, along with all the muscles and ligaments, supports and moves the skull, absorbs shock when walking, protects the brain from concussions, protects the blood vessels that supply it, and also provides protection to the spinal cord.
When your neck hurts, the reasons can be very different.Some of them may resolve on their own within a few days, while others may cause chronic illness and pain.
Why does pain occur?
The most common cause of neck pain is poor posture.With a curved 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 greater tension.The development of stooping and neck pain is facilitated by prolonged work without changing position, sleeping on a soft bed or a high pillow, and prolonged static load.
Other causes of neck pain include injuries from a fall of the head, in a car accident, or during sports.During sudden acceleration and subsequent braking, the cervical spine performs a whip-like movement.As a result, ligaments and muscles may overstretch, displacement or compression fractures may occur in the cervical vertebrae, and intervertebral hernias may form.
Neck pain can occur as a secondary manifestation of other diseases.For example, during a heart attack, when a heart attack causes severe pain that radiates along the nerve plexuses to the upper extremities, 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 your neck or jaw hurts or other signs of a heart attack are observed, you should call an ambulance immediately.
Neck pain is also used as a diagnostic sign of meningitis.With this disease the neck muscles become hypertonic, that is, they become stiff.When I try to tilt my head towards my chest, the back of my neck hurts a lot.
The spine in the neck area hurts with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, spondylosis and arthrosis, hernia or protrusion, with compression of the nerve roots or spinal cord by infectious edema, abscesses, tumors or benign neoplasms.
Special cases
Degenerative diseases
Osteochondrosis, or, in other words, degenerative disorders of the intervertebral discs, leads a person to constantly have neck pain.This is usually a mild aching pain, often accompanied by a feeling of numbness and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar area affected by osteochondrosis can cause the development of cerebral artery syndrome.With a decrease in intervertebral distances in this area, compression damage occurs to the vertebral arteries passing through the openings of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the vessel causes a decrease in blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, decreased vision and hearing.On the other hand, mechanical irritation of the artery with pressure on the vertebrae causes a reflex spasm, which manifests itself as a burning, throbbing pain in the head.
Treatment
If the neck constantly hurts due to osteochondrosis, therapy begins with the elimination of the pain syndrome.The second obligatory direction of treatment is to stop degenerative processes in the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved using the following groups of drugs:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: directly block the cascade of mediators that signal pain;
- muscle relaxants – eliminate muscle spasms that reflexively result 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 neck pain due to osteochondrosis, chondroprotective drugs that prevent the destruction of cartilage and vertebrae, as well as multivitamin-mineral complexes are prescribed.
Pain treatment also includes physical therapy, physiotherapy, massage, traction, reflexology and taping therapy.During a flare-up, to relieve pain, the patient is advised 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 disturbance of sensitivity) and pain caused by osteochondrosis.Myositis occurs suddenly, after exposure to predisposing factors: hypothermia, vibration, prolonged overexertion, especially with prolonged repetitive movements of the same type.
Cervical myositis is characterized by sharp pain that occurs when the inflamed muscle contracts.The strong severity of pain leads to difficulty in performing certain types of movements.Usually the long neck muscles on the anterolateral surface or the sternocleidomastoid muscles which, when contracted bilaterally, pull the head back and when contracted unilaterally turn it, 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.The interruption of microcirculation and local trophism leads to the gradual replacement of myocytes with connective tissue.As a result, the neck muscles weaken, their symmetry on the sides of the spine is disturbed, “stiff neck” may appear, and it is difficult for the patient to keep his head straight.
Treatment
Treatment begins with reducing the load on the neck.Follows a course of physiotherapeutic procedures: UHF heating, electrophoresis with drugs, heating with paraffin, ozokerite compress, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.Such procedures restore blood circulation in the neck muscles.Medications include injections of B vitamins, anti-inflammatories and painkillers, ointments and rubs.
Traditional treatment recommends using cabbage or burdock leaves as pain-relieving compresses, preparing an ointment from willow shoots crushed in butter and making rubs with 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 the muscles are fully restored.Then you should start bringing them "back into service" through special gymnastics and massage.
Radicular syndrome
Severe neck pain, spreading to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle and upper extremities, can occur when the roots of the spinal nerves are pinched due to prolapse, protrusion or herniation of the intervertebral discs.
With this disease, protrusion of the internal nucleus of the disc towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns occurs.A hernia and its symptoms usually appear on one side.When pressure is created on the roots of the spinal nerves, a sharp, burning pain (cervical low back pain) appears in the innervated muscles.The patient feels numbness in the lower jaw, the area around the ears, the back of the head, shoulder blades and arms.Dizziness and sharp neck pain appear when changing position from horizontal to vertical.The gradual protrusion of the disc nucleus leads to trauma to the surrounding tissues, their inflammation and swelling.This creates the 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 due to hernias?At home, against pain, you take painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal drugs and muscle relaxants to relieve spasms.
In the hospital, severe neck pain is eliminated with the help of "blocks" - the injection of painkillers into the sides of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are eliminated with steroid drugs, which can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is eliminated by taking muscle relaxants.
In addition, to prevent further development of the hernia, I use drugs that strengthen the cartilaginous tissue: chondroprotectors.
In many cases, therapeutic exercises 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.
In case of true hernia with rupture of the fibrous ring and prolapse of the nucleus into the spinal canal, surgical intervention is necessary.There are several ways to eliminate neck pain through surgery:
- anterior cervical discectomy – removal of an excess piece of disc that is pressing on the spinal nerves;
- replace a damaged disc with an artificial joint, which protects the cervical spine from further destruction;
- microendoscopic discectomy via posterior approach and removal of small areas of the 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.
Neoplasms
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 compression of the surrounding tissues by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, cancer of the lymph nodes or thyroid) have no borders and metastasize to nearby tissues.Their destructive effect on organs causes a painful sensation and a general worsening of the condition.The front of the neck may become painful due to cancer of the larynx, throat, oral cavity, or thyroid.The patient experiences difficulty swallowing, swelling in the neck and face, and a change in voice.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone tumor, this condition also often accompanies damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots on the side of the spine with the development of paralysis.
Treatment
Treatment of pain due to tumors is mainly aimed at eliminating the cause by reducing or removing the tumor.For this purpose, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, sclerosis of the vessels feeding the tumor and surgical removal of the pathological formation are used.
Pain relief depends on the severity of the pain:
- weak drugs;
- moderate painkillers;
- as pain increases, they switch to weak opiates;
- in case of intense pain analgesia is possible only with the help of opioid drugs.To improve analgesia in neck pain due to malignancy, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and corticosteroids are used.
Be careful!Neck pain can occur for various reasons.In order not to miss serious diseases, you must first visit a doctor to consult about the appearance of pain and accurately determine its source.