Neck pain

2 August 2021

The symptoms of neck pain are familiar to everyone: it pulls the muscles, it is impossible to tilt and turn the head, and to look sideways, you have to turn your whole body. The culprit of problems, as a rule, is the spine: violations, hernias, scoliosis lead to the fact that a person experiences pain in the back and neck. Anxiety makes him self-medicate. But if the radiating pain in the neck does not go away after home therapy, the next step is to visit the doctor.

Neck pain in adults

Neck pain in women

Neck pain during pregnancy

Back and neck pain often bothers expectant mothers. The explanation is simple - with a change in body weight and proportions, posture changes, the load on the back increases.

How to deal with this trouble? A special maternity bandage will help keep your back in the right position. To strengthen the muscles of the back and neck, it is useful to do swimming and yoga (of course, with the permission of an obstetrician-gynecologist). You should sleep in a comfortable position, on a firm mattress and a low pillow. But the most important thing is to consult a doctor, as any self-medication can negatively affect the condition of the mother and the unborn baby.

Neck pain in young mothers

Back and neck pain is common in new mothers. The issue is complicated by the fact that a woman during breastfeeding can not use too much medication because harmful substances will get into the milk. How to help yourself and prevent pain in the neck area from interfering with the baby's joy?

Monitor your attitude. While carrying a baby, the center of gravity shifted with an increase in the abdomen - you had to bend backwards to maintain balance, and the shoulders were tense all the time.
Do not overdo it physically, try to distribute the load properly on the back. Various holding devices can help with this. They distribute the weight of the baby on both shoulders and prevent fatigue of the back and neck.
Baby care items should be adjusted according to their height so that they do not stay in an uncomfortable position for a long time.
It is very important to be in a comfortable position when breastfeeding, especially at night.

Neck pain in men

Neck pain, as a rule, does not vary by gender - it can occur in both men and women. And yet there are some differences in anatomy: the male's neck is adorned with a pronounced Adam's apple - a thickening of the thyroid cartilage, the plates of which are placed at an angle to each other.

Pain in Adam's apple in men can indicate a very serious disease:

Thyroiditis is an inflammation of the thyroid gland. With thyroiditis, patients worry about neck pain when they return, pain in Adam's apple, above and below it, swelling of the neck.
Thyroid cartilage cancer - its risk lies in the fact that the onset of the disease can be similar to a common cold: a sore throat when swallowing, it is difficult to turn the neck and even breathe.
Thyroid cartilage phlegmon is a widespread suffocation of the cartilage and soft tissues of the neck, which is life threatening. Patients complain of chills and high fever, pain when swallowing, loss of voice, difficulty breathing.
Cartilage tuberculosis occurs, as a rule, with existing pulmonary tuberculosis and is its complication.
Kadik may be ill due to osteochondrosis. Violation leads to pain when swallowing, sneezing, coughing.
Fractures, bruises, and cartilage compression can lead to dislocation, swelling of the neck, and choking.

Neck pain in the elderly

Radiation pain in the neck, in the elderly, may indicate the development of diseases:

Lung apex cancer (cancer with Pancost and Horner syndrome). The patient's pain in this case is accompanied by tumor growth in the nerve endings of the shoulder girdle and neck.
Neck tumors, salivary glands.
Coronary heart disease. The pain can spread from the chest to the neck and arms, causing osteochondrosis-like symptoms.
Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory disorder characterized by stiffness and pain in the muscles of the shoulder girdle and buttocks.
Spinal metastases in various oncological diseases (it is no secret that the likelihood of getting cancer increases with age).
Subluxation of the cervical vertebra as a complication of rheumatoid arthritis.
The most common causes of neck and neck pain in the elderly are osteoarthritis and osteochondrosis of the spine, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic inflammation of the connective tissue.

Neck pain in children

Severe neck pain in children occurs for the same reasons as in adults:

Trauma
Osteochondrosis
Stress and anxiety
Tumors
Diseases of other organs that cause distant pain

Perhaps the most specific "childish" cause of neck pain is torticollis, when the child’s head turns sharply to the side. Torticollis is dangerous because it leads to curvature of the cervical spine and disrupts the formation of the facial skeleton.

Contrary to popular belief, the disease appears not only during birth. Depending on how the torticollis appeared, the following types are distinguished:

Congenital - can occur in the mother's womb if the fetus is not positioned properly, but most often occurs during birth, when the baby turns its head sideways and hurts the neck muscles.
Dermatogenic - when the neck is distorted by scars left by trauma or burns.
Reflex - occurs with injuries, otitis media, salivary gland disease.
Neurogenic - due to muscle spasms after polio or encephalitis.
Spastic - due to excessive tension of the cervical muscles.
Traumatic - associated with a fracture of the spine.

Torticollis (except dermatogenic and neurogenic) is usually seen in newborns, or manifests in the first months. The greatest risk of its occurrence occurs when:

The fetus during natural birth of the child is in easy appearance.
The location of the fetus in the mother's womb is such that the wall of the uterus presses on the neck.
Childbirth is difficult, and the baby's mastoid muscle is damaged (with the formation of a scar).
It is often necessary to use pliers and vacuum for hard work.
The mastoid muscle is inflamed during intrauterine development, as a result of which muscle tissue was replaced by fibrous tissue in the area of inflammation.
The mastoid muscle is pathologically hypertrophied and shortened.
By cesarean section.

How can you cure torticollis?

The conservative method is with the help of a course of massage and physiotherapy, special orthopedic styling of the baby's head, wearing orthopedic collar and gymnastic exercises.
Surgery - performed if conservative methods have not yielded results. During surgery, the surgeon lengthens the sternocleidomastoid muscle and directs the position of the baby's head.

Different types of neck pain

Sharp pain in the neck

Why is there a sharp pain in the neck? There are two reasons:

Trauma (fracture, stroke, contusion).
Violation of nerve endings - this is the case with osteochondrosis, herniated intervertebral discs, compression of the spinal canal.

Treatment of pain depends on the cause and includes:

Recommendation of pain medication.
Muscle relaxants and antispasmodics to relieve muscle spasm.
Immobilization (immobilization) of the cervical spine.
Exercise therapy and physiotherapy.

Severe neck pain

Severe neck pain is always uncomfortable. I would like to quickly understand why it hurts and I recover. What are the causes of severe pain?

Worsening of osteochondrosis, when an unsuccessful movement, rotation or concussion of the body causes displacement of the vertebrae, violation of an existing hernia, compression of the spinal nerves.
Cervical radiculitis (inflammation and entrapment of the spinal roots).
Cervicago - "lumbago" (sharp sharp muscle spasm).
Severe back and neck pain can occur after an injury.

Neck pain with osteochondrosis

Neck pain with osteochondrosis is very severe and gives the patient many uncomfortable minutes. As a result of muscle spasm or displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other, the arteries that supply the brain can be compressed or distorted. In more severe cases, this can lead to a condition similar to a pre-stroke, when a person is dizzy, everything floats before his eyes, sometimes speech and vision are lost.

Neck pain in the left

Left neck pain is a possible symptom of problems not only in the back of the cervix but also outside it. What can a person have if he has neck pain in the left?

Heart disease (heart attack, coronary artery disease, angina pectoris).
Left upper lung cancer.
Injuries.
Tumor metastases from other organs to the joints of the left side of the neck.
Infectious inflammation of the lymph nodes (due to tonsillitis, ARVI, tonsillitis).

Neck pain on the right

Pain in the neck on the right is an alarming symptom, but most often it is explained in a banal way: a person has osteochondrosis with all the ensuing consequences. Such consequences include nerve blockage, muscle spasms, intervertebral elongation and hernia, vascular disorders.

But there are other causes of neck pain on the right:

Biliary colic that radiates to the neck and shoulder.
Apical lung cancer on the right side with tumor invasion in the nerves located above.
Bruises, injuries, fractures of the clavicle and vertebrae.
Tumors of the cervical spine (metastases from other organs).
If the pain is concentrated on the right front of the neck, it may also indicate heart problems (heart attack, coronary artery disease).
Inflammation of the lymph nodes due to ARVI and sore throat.

Pain in the neck and shoulders

Pain in the neck and shoulders is a classic sign of osteochondrosis of the cervix and its accompanying complications (violation of the hernia, nerves, trunk of the spinal cord). In addition, concomitant pain in the neck and shoulders is a symptom of such diseases:

Gallstone disease during an exacerbation, with biliary colic.
Heart dissases.
Osteoarthritis of the shoulders.
The cervical plexus is an inflammation of the large nerve nodes of the spinal nerves.
Shoulder and shoulder periarthritis - inflammation of the shoulder tendons and capsules of the shoulder joints.
Mioziti.
Arthritis.

Pain in the neck and back

Pain in the neck and lower back, as a rule, is a sign of widespread osteochondrosis, which has invaded the entire spine. After all, it does not happen that behavior in one part of the spine is good, and in the other it is bad. With osteochondrosis, neck pain is mild when the disease is remission, and severe, painful if it has worsened. Worsening begins with a sharp pain in the neck and back with a twist, movement, unsuccessful impact. It can be removed with the help of medicines prescribed by the doctor, rest, light heat on the affected area, exercise therapy and physiotherapy.

Pain in the neck and neck

Pain in the neck and back of the head is most often a symptom of a banal cervical osteochondrosis - a dangerous but not fatal disease. But sometimes it indicates meningitis, and this disease poses a threat to human life. The causative agents of meningitis - bacteria and viruses - invade the brain and spinal cord and cause inflammation of their membranes.

Numbness, pain in the neck and back of the head, stiffening of the occipital muscles, inability to pull the head to the chest at the same time, bend the leg at the knee - all of these are meningeal symptoms that will immediately alert the doctor. Treatment of a dangerous disease is performed in a hospital,

In addition to meningitis and osteochondrosis, the cause of pain in the neck and back of the head can be injuries, occipital nerve neuralgia, hypertension, and muscle strain.

Causes and symptoms of neck pain

Trauma

The cause of neck pain sometimes becomes an injury, due to which the cervical vertebrae are displaced or broken, the spinal nerves are damaged. Injury can occur from accidents, falls, injuries, bad dives or sudden movements. Symptoms of a neck injury include:

Improper neck flexion, inability to return tension of the muscles of the head, chest and neck indicate a fracture of the lower vertebrae.
Pain in the crown and back of the head is an indication that the first cervical vertebra is damaged.
Swelling and "bruising" can be the result of a neck injury.
Neck pain when turning the head, shoulders, upper chest, headache are a symptom of whip injury, which occurs due to alternating sharp bending and neck extension (this can occur when the vehicle is brakedsuddenly).

Neoplasia

An extremely dangerous cause of neck pain is a malignant neoplasm. How can it be?

Neck pain as a symptom of a tumor in the upper part of the lungs. It grows on nerve bundles and blood vessels, which causes severe pain. A person may be bothered by neck pain on the left or right, depending on the location of the tumor.
A symptom of neck pain sometimes indicates the development of lymphoma - lymph node cancer. Since many lymph nodes are concentrated in the neck, they grow as the disease progresses and it is difficult not to notice it. Other prominent signs of lymphoma are excessive sweating, seemingly unreasonable fever, and weight loss.
Salivary gland cancer is a tumor that affects the salivary glands behind the ears, on the side of the neck and on the palate. At an early stage, it is painless, only occasionally can you notice seals on the affected glands.
A laryngeal tumor grows on its walls, visually representing a tuberous neoplasm. Difficultly difficult to notice them during a routine examination, therefore, cancer, unfortunately, is diagnosed at a late stage, when other manifestations appear: a feeling of a foreign body in the throat, noise and nasal sound, difficulty breathing nose. A laryngeal tumor is also dangerous because it is prone to the early onset of metastases, which greatly worsens the prognosis of the patient’s recovery.
Thyroid cancer presents with nodular lumps, pain in the front of the neck, and voice changes.
In thyroid cartilage cancer, patients complain of difficulty swallowing and moving food in the larynx, the sensation of a foreign body, or a lump in the throat.

Pain reflected in diseases of other organs

The pain that radiates to the neck does not always indicate that the problem is in the neck itself. Sometimes it hurts due to the poor health of other organs, and then the pain is called reflected. What diseases can cause it?

Cardiac (ischemic heart disease, heart attack, angina pectoris) - they are associated with attacks, when the pain radiates to the shoulders, neck, sometimes in the arm.
Pain in the neck on the right, under the right shoulder and in the right shoulder occurs during an attack of biliary colic with stones in the gallbladder.
Diseases of the esophagus (reflux, erosion, ulcer).
Oncological diseases (lymphoma, tumor metastases) are the cause of human suffering when the neoplasm affects the nerve endings. So, cancer of the apex of the lung, when the tumor grows upwards, leads to pain in the neck and shoulders. Intracranial tumors, oncological diseases of the head also cause pain in the back of the cervix.
Abscesses and phlegm of the head.
Bleeding in the subarachnoid space between the brain and its delicate tissues.

Psychological causes of neck pain

Symptoms of neck pain often appear along with a muscle spasm. Spasm is not just due to stress, injury or injury - the cause can be stress, nervous breakdown and fatigue. Why is this happening?

The fact is that the body perceives stress as a threat to its well-being, and this makes it mobilize. There is a release of stress hormones into the bloodstream, the heart rate increases, and digestion, on the contrary, slows down. Muscle tone increases in response to hormonal changes. Once the alarming situation is experienced, the body returns to normal. But if the emotional stress takes a chronic form, the muscle spasm becomes constant, and against its background, spinal diseases develop (osteochondrosis, hernia, disc lengthening).

Sedentary life, frequent work at the computer

Pain in the neck muscles often occurs due to the fact that a person has impaired behavior, and the cause of impaired behavior may be a weakness of the muscle corset. As a rule, this happens to people who are away from physical education, lead a sedentary lifestyle and work hard on the computer. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the workplace is often not properly organized, and the person sits bent or uncomfortably bent. As a result, the radiating pain in the neck becomes a constant accompaniment, the usual muscle spasms are formed, degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs begin, osteochondrosis develops. And even with osteochondrosis, neck pain becomes a constant accompaniment: periods of pain relief are replaced by exacerbations, and only competent treatment, a change in lifestyle from sitting to moving, posture control, strengthening of neck musclesand the backpack can disrupt this cycle.

Diagnosis for neck pain

How to determine the causes of neck pain and determine the diagnosis?

First of all, you need to collect a history:
Anamnesis of life. It is necessary to find out if there have been neck and shoulder girdle injuries in the past, with which diseases the person was ill and which of them became chronic, if there was a recent cold and hypothermia. For example, the fact of cholecystitis may explain the painful sensations in the neck - with biliary colic, the pain sometimes radiates only in this area. At the same time, the cause of left neck pain can be: a tumor in the upper part of the left lung, muscle inflammation and compression of the left spinal roots.
History of the disease - how and how it started, which doctor the patient consulted, what examination and treatment was prescribed for him, how it affected the course of the disease (whether it got better or worse).
A visual examination will help establish a diagnosis - the doctor palpates the lymph nodes and muscles, checks the mobility of the head and neck, assesses the condition and color of the skin, looks for visible damage and trauma.
If there is a suspicion that neck and shoulder pain is the result of diseases of other organs, the patient should be referred to a specialist - oncologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, cardiologist, etc.
In other cases, radiation diagnosis will help clarify the diagnosis: MSCT, CT, X-ray.
Sometimes electroneuromography (ENMG), an electrophysiological study, is a useful diagnostic procedure, which determines the condition of the muscles and peripheral nervous system.

Treatment of neck pain

Drug treatment

Medical treatment of neck pain, whether it is due to cancer or problems in other organs, is aimed at coping with the underlying disease identified. If the issue is in diseases of the spine and muscles, then the following medications can be prescribed:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to relieve pain and reduce inflammation. NSAIDs are available in the form of tablets, injections and in the form of gel and oil. In the acute phase, both can be described (at intervals of several hours). So if you can turn your head from neck pain only through tears, injections and oils will come to the rescue.
Muscle relaxants are drugs that reduce skeletal muscle tone.
Antispasmodics - medicines to relieve smooth muscle spasms.
B vitamins are needed to improve metabolic processes and the synthesis of neurotransmitters.
If blood circulation is impaired due to compression of blood vessels and muscles, vasodilator drugs are prescribed.

Massage

Massage to treat pain in the neck and lower back is used when the acute symptoms of the disease are reduced. The beneficial effect of massage is that:

Improves blood circulation to the affected area
Relieves muscle spasm, relaxes, helps relieve tension and fatigue
Removes swelling and inflammation
Improves cerebral blood supply
Restores the ability of joints to move

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy treatment of neck pain begins at the same time as medication, when acute symptoms subside or remission appears. During the period of acute course of the disease, only those manipulations that have an analgesic effect can be described. Physiotherapy gives a good effect, because the effect is aimed especially at the diseased area. What procedures are possible?

Electrophoresis with different medicines. Under the influence of alternating current, the drugs penetrate deep into the tissues.
Phototherapy (laser therapy) - exposure to light rays with a certain wavelength in the affected area of the body.
Magnetotherapy is a method of treating pain under the neck and neck using an alternating or constant magnetic field. The method has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
Ultrasound treatment provides relief from neck pain and inflammation.
Detensing therapy is a spine extension due to a person’s weight on a special mattress with inclined ribs. This type of physiotherapy normalizes muscle tone, relieves tension.
The shock wave therapy (SWT) method is based on the action of low-frequency acoustic waves that the human ear cannot hear. Treatment with the help of shock wave therapy allows you to reduce or eliminate pain, improve blood flow to the area of exposure to the device.
Vibration therapy - exposure to mechanical vibrations using a vibrating massager.
Exercise therapy (physiotherapy exercises) - the complex can vary from traditional gymnastics to an individual set of exercises, developed taking into account the diagnosis and the patient's condition.

Surgical intervention

Surgical treatment for neck pain is prescribed when conservative therapy has not yielded the desired result:

The pain does not go away with medication
There are signs of spinal cord and root compression
Significant and increased weakness in the muscles of the hands

Most often, operations to remove disc herniations are performed simultaneously with the fusion and immobilization of adjacent vertebrae. To eliminate spinal cord compression, laminectomy is used - the removal of part of the vertebral arch, followed by the elimination of osteophytes and hernias.

After proper surgery and rehabilitation, the symptoms of neck pain cease to bother the patient.

Prevention of neck pain

With neck pain, turning the head, bending or lying down smoothly becomes a big problem. And if it hurts a lot, then life ceases to be fun at all. You can avoid neck problems with prevention. What should we do?

Choose a comfortable sleeping position, a mattress with sufficient stability and a low pillow on which your shoulders will not fall.
Monitor your behavior: do not exercise, do not sit bent over.
Perform at least simple exercises to strengthen your neck muscles regularly. Stretching and yoga are helpful.
If you are a sedentary lifestyle, take breaks every hour and a half to walk, lie down and lie down.
Protect yourself from physical injuries: do not turn your neck tightly, avoid shocks and traumatic sports loads.
Get out of the habit of talking on the phone by pressing it with your ear and shoulder.
Avoid nervous shocks, stress and worries. Negative emotions and anxiety can cause stiffness, fatigue and muscle cramps.
It is undesirable to load one of the two shoulders, as the curvature of the spine causes pain in the neck on the right or left.
Avoid colds and leaks that can cause miosis (inflammation of the neck muscles).
Drink plenty of decaffeinated juices. Sufficient water allows you to efficiently transport the substances and electrolytes that your muscles need.
Eat foods that contain calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. Deficiency of these substances can cause muscle spasms and neck pain.

Severe neck pain can seriously ruin your life, especially if it happened at the wrong time - for example, on a long-awaited vacation. Therefore, at the first "calls", you should not ignore the alarm signals of the body, but undergo an examination and get the doctor's recommendation. It is not unreasonable to remember about prevention: moderate exercise, sleep and work in a comfortable position, proper nutrition and weight distribution during holding will help maintain neck health.