A person's neck, like that of any animal, is an amazing part of the body, quite fragile, but powerful.
The cervical spine, along with all muscles and ligaments, supports and moves the skull, absorbs shock when walking, protects the brain from concussions, protects the blood vessels that feed it, and also provides protection to the spinal cord.
When your neck hurts, the reasons can be very varied.Some of them can resolve on their own within a few days, while others can cause chronic illness and pain.
Why does pain occur?
The most common reason for neck pain is poor posture.With the back hunched, the head stops occupying a position exactly 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 high pillow, and prolonged static loading.
Other causes of neck pain include injuries from falling on the head, in a traffic accident, or while playing sports.During sudden acceleration and then braking, the cervical spine performs a whip-like movement.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 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 and vomiting.If your neck or jaw hurts or you see other signs of a heart attack, 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 rigid.When I try to tilt my head towards my chest, my neck hurts a lot.
The spine in the neck area hurts with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, spondylosis and osteoarthritis, hernia or protrusion, with compression of the nerve roots or spinal cord due to infectious edema, abscesses, tumors or benign neoplasms.
Special cases
Degenerative diseases
Osteochondrosis, or, in other words, degenerative disorders of the intervertebral discs, causes a person to constantly have neck pain.It is usually a mild pain, which is usually accompanied by a feeling of numbness and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar area affected by osteochondrosis can provoke 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 from the vertebrae causes a reflex spasm, which manifests itself as a stabbing, burning pain in the head.
Treatment
If your neck constantly hurts due to osteochondrosis, therapy begins with the elimination of pain syndrome.The second mandatory direction of treatment is to stop degenerative processes in the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved using the following groups of medications:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: they directly block the cascade of mediators that signal pain;
- muscle relaxants - eliminate muscle spasms that arise reflexively from severe pain;
- sedatives - calm and inhibit the nervous system and the transmission of painful 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 consists of exercise therapy, 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 excess mobility.
muscle pain
Neck pain can occur due to inflammation of the neck muscles, called myositis.This pain must 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, prolonged excessive exertion, especially with prolonged repetitive movements of the same type.
Cervical myositis is characterized by sharp pain that occurs when the inflamed muscle contracts.The acute intensity of the pain causes difficulty in performing certain types of movements.Usually the long muscles of the neck on the anterolateral surface or the sternocleidomastoid muscles hurt, which, when contracted bilaterally, pull the head back, and when contracted unilaterally, rotate it.The deep muscles that surround the spine and move the entire neck and back also tend to become inflamed.
When palpating the muscle, its increased tone and dense nodular areas are noted.Alteration of microcirculation and local trophism leads to the gradual replacement of myocytes by connective tissue.As a result, the neck muscles weaken, their symmetry on the sides of the spine is disturbed, "torticollis" may appear, and the patient finds it difficult to keep his head straight.
Treatment
Treatment begins by reducing the load on the neck.This is followed by a course of physiotherapeutic procedures: UHF warming, drug electrophoresis, paraffin warming, ozokerite wrapping, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.These procedures restore blood circulation to the neck muscles.Medications include vitamin B injections, anti-inflammatories and pain relievers, ointments, and massages.
Traditional treatment recommends using cabbage or burdock leaves as analgesic compresses, preparing an ointment with willow buds crushed in butter and rubbing 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 your sore neck until your muscles fully recover.Then you should start returning them "to duty" using special gymnastics and massages.
radicular syndrome
Severe pain in the neck, spreading to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle, and upper extremities, can occur when spinal nerve roots are pinched due to a prolapsed, protruded, or herniated intervertebral disc.
With this disease, a protrusion of the inner nucleus of the disc occurs towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns.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 appears in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbago).The patient feels numbness in the lower jaw, the area around the ears, the back of the neck, the shoulder blades, and the arms.Dizziness and acute pain in the neck appear when changing position from horizontal to vertical.The gradual protrusion of the nucleus of the disc causes trauma to the surrounding tissues, their inflammation and swelling.This creates preconditions for inflammation of the nerve endings with the development of radiculitis, and the mobility of the neck and upper extremities is gradually limited.Prolonged pinching of the spinal nerves causes paresis or paralysis of the extremities.
Therapy
What to do if your neck hurts from hernias?At home, for pain, painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, hormonal drugs and muscle relaxants are taken to relieve spasms.
In the hospital, severe neck pain is eliminated with the help of "blocks" - injections of pain relievers into the sides of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are removed with steroid medications, which can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is eliminated by taking muscle relaxants.
Additionally, to prevent further development of the hernia, I use drugs that strengthen cartilage tissue - chondroprotectors.
In many cases, therapeutic exercises and traction of the cervical spine help with protrusion or mild protrusion.Increasing the intervertebral space helps to "retract" the intervertebral disc and relieve pressure on the nerves.
In case of a true hernia with rupture of the annulus fibrosus and prolapse of the nucleus into the spinal canal, surgery is necessary.There are several ways to get rid of neck pain through surgery:
- anterior cervical discectomy: removal of excess disc that is pressing on the spinal nerves;
- replacing a damaged disc with an artificial joint, which protects the cervical spine from further destruction;
- microendoscopic discectomy using a 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 will not occur in the future.
Neoplasms
If there is constant, pressing pain in the neck, one can suspect the appearance of a foreign formation in this section.
Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) usually 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 gland) have no borders and give many metastases to neighboring tissues.Its destructive effect on organs causes a painful sensation and a general deterioration in the condition.The front of the neck may be painful due to cancer of the larynx, throat, oral cavity, or thyroid gland.The patient experiences difficulty swallowing, swelling in the neck and face, and voice changes.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone tumor, this condition also usually accompanies damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots on the side of the spine with the development of paralysis.
Treatment
The main objective of the treatment of pain due to tumors is to eliminate the cause: reduce or remove the tumor.For this, 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 pain relievers;
- with increasing pain, they switch to weak opiates;
- In case of severe pain, analgesia is only possible 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 several reasons.In order not to miss serious diseases, you must first visit a doctor to consult about the onset of pain and accurately determine its origin.