A person's neck, like any animal, is an amazing part of the body, quite fragile, but strong.
The cervical spine, along with all the muscles and ligaments, holds 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 quite different.Some of them can heal on their own within a few days, while some can cause chronic illness and pain.
Why does pain occur?
The most common cause of neck pain is poor posture.With a hunched back, the head no longer occupies 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 neck pain is facilitated by prolonged work without changing position, sleeping on soft beds or high pillows, and prolonged static loads.
Other causes of neck pain include injuries from falling head first, in traffic accidents, or during sports.During sudden acceleration and then braking, the cervical spine makes a whip-like movement.As a result, ligaments and muscles may become overstretched, displacement or compression fractures of cervical vertebrae may occur, and intervertebral hernias may form.
Neck pain can occur as a secondary manifestation of another disease.For example, during a heart attack, when a heart attack causes severe pain, radiating along the nerve plexus to the upper limbs, chest and neck.Neck pain during a heart attack is only part of a large symptom complex - shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, vomiting.If your neck or jaw hurts or other signs of a heart attack are observed, you should immediately call an ambulance.
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, the back of my neck hurts so much.
The spine in the neck area is painful with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, spondylosis and osteoarthritis, hernia or protrusion, with compression of the nerve root or spinal cord by infectious edema, abscess, tumor or benign neoplasm.
Special case
Degenerative disease
Osteochondrosis, or, in other words, a degenerative disorder in the intervertebral disc, leads to a person constantly experiencing neck pain.This is usually a mild ache, which is often accompanied by numbness and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar zone affected by osteochondrosis can cause the development of cerebral artery syndrome.With a decrease in the intervertebral distance in this area, compression damage occurs to the vertebral artery that passes through the opening of the transverse process of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the vessels causes a decrease in blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, decreased vision and hearing.Conversely, mechanical irritation of the artery with pressure from the vertebrae causes reflex spasm, which manifests itself as a burning, throbbing pain in the head.
Treatment
If your neck always hurts due to osteochondrosis, then therapy begins with eliminating the pain syndrome.The second mandatory treatment direction is to stop the degenerative process in the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved by using the following group of drugs:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - directly block the cascade of mediators that signal pain;
- muscle relaxants - relieve muscle spasms that reflexively arise from severe pain;
- sedative – calms and inhibits the nervous system and the transmission of pain impulses, including (valerian, antidepressants, sleeping pills);
- vasodilator - helps relieve vertebral artery syndrome and the pain associated with it.
To eliminate the cause of neck pain due to osteochondrosis, chondroprotective drugs are prescribed that prevent the destruction of cartilage and vertebrae, as well as multivitamin mineral complexes.
Pain treatment also consists of exercise therapy, physiotherapy, massage, traction, reflexology and taping therapy.During exacerbations, to relieve pain, patients are recommended to wear a special collar that protects the neck from excessive mobility.
Muscle pain
Pain in the neck can occur due to inflammation of the neck muscles, which is called myositis.Such pain should be distinguished from neuritis (inflammation of the nerve trunk with impaired sensitivity) and pain caused by osteochondrosis.Myositis occurs suddenly, after exposure to predisposing factors - hypothermia, vibration, too much prolonged energy, especially with prolonged repetitive movements of the same type.
Cervical myositis is characterized by acute pain that occurs when the inflamed muscles contract.Sharp pain severity leads to difficulty in performing certain types of movement.Usually the long neck muscles on the anterolateral surface or sternocleidomastoid muscles are sore, which, when contracted bilaterally, pull the head back, and when contracted unilaterally, turn it.Also often inflamed are the deep muscles that surround the spine and move the entire neck and back.
When palpating the muscle, increased tone and dense nodular areas are noted.Disruption 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 side of the spine is disturbed, "torticollis" may appear, and it is difficult for the patient to keep his head straight.
Treatment
Treatment begins with reducing the load on the neck.This is followed by a course of physiotherapeutic procedures - UHF heating, electrophoresis with drugs, paraffin heating, ozokerite dressing, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.Such a procedure restores blood circulation in the neck muscles.Medicines include B vitamin injections, anti-inflammatories and pain relievers, ointments and rubs.
Traditional treatments recommend using cabbage or burdock leaves as compresses that relieve pain, preparing an ointment from crushed willow buds in butter, and making a poultice from a mixture of turpentine with apple cider vinegar and egg yolk.The neck is also rubbed with lava oil and then bandaged.The key to the success of any treatment is to rest the sore neck until the muscles are fully restored.Then you should start returning them "on duty" through gymnastics and special massages.
Radicular syndrome
Severe pain in the neck, which spreads to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle, upper limbs, can occur when the spinal nerve root is pinched due to prolapse, protrusion or herniated intervertebral disc.
With this disease, the protrusion of the core in the disc occurs towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns.Hernias and their symptoms usually appear on one side.When pressure is made on the spinal nerve roots, a burning and sharp pain appears in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbago).Patients feel numbness in the lower jaw, the area around the ears, back of the head, shoulder blades, and arms.Dizziness and sharp pain in the neck appear when changing the position from horizontal to vertical.The gradual protrusion of the disc core leads to trauma to the surrounding tissue, inflammation and swelling.This creates a prerequisite 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 cord leads to paresis or paralysis of the limbs.
Therapy
What to do if your neck hurts from a hernia?At home, for pain, painkillers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, 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 painkillers on the side of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are eliminated with steroid drugs, which can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is relieved by taking muscle relaxants.
Also, to prevent further hernia development, I use drugs that strengthen cartilage tissue - chondroprotectors.
In most cases, therapeutic exercises and traction of the cervical spine help with protrusion or slight protrusion.Increasing the intervertebral space helps "pull back" the intervertebral disc and relieves pressure on the nerves.
In cases of true hernia with rupture of the fibrous ring and prolapse of the nucleus into the spinal canal, surgery is required.There are several ways to get rid of neck pain through surgery:
- anterior cervical discectomy - removal of an excess piece of disc that is pressing on the spinal nerve;
- replacing the damaged disc with an artificial joint, which protects the cervical spine from further destruction;
- microendoscopic discectomy using a posterior approach and removal of a small area of the hernia through an endoscope;
- Posterior cervical discectomy through an incision in the back of the neck.The operating channel is specially enlarged so that the pinch does not develop in the future.
Neoplasms
If there is constant pain in the neck, you can suspect the appearance of a foreign formation in this department.
Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) often have a regular and well-defined shape;they rarely cause pain.Discomfort is mainly associated with compression of surrounding tissue by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, cancer of the lymph nodes or thyroid gland) do not have boundaries and give many metastases to neighboring tissues.Their damaging effect on the organs causes painful sensations and a general deterioration of the condition.The front of the neck can be painful due to cancer of the larynx, throat, oral cavity or thyroid gland.Patients experience difficulty swallowing, swelling in the neck and face, and voice changes.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone tumor, then this condition also often accompanies damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots next to the spine with the development of paralysis.
Treatment
Treatment of pain due to tumors is mainly aimed at eliminating the cause - reducing or removing the tumor.For this purpose, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, sclerosis of the vessels that feed the tumor, and surgical removal of pathological formations are used.
Pain relief depends on the severity of the pain:
- weak drug;
- moderate pain relievers;
- with increasing pain, they turn to weak opiates;
- in case of severe pain, analgesia may only be with the help of opiate drugs.To improve analgesia for 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 a serious illness, you must first visit a doctor to consult about the occurrence of pain and determine the exact source.