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, supports and moves the skull, absorbs shocks when walking, protects the brain from concussion, protects the blood vessels that supply 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 reason for 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 increased 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 injury from falling head first, in a car accident or during sports.During sudden acceleration and then braking, the cervical spine makes a whip-like motion.As a result, ligaments and muscles can become 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, which radiates along the nerve plexuses in 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 your neck or jaw hurts or other signs of a heart attack occur, you should call an ambulance immediately.
Neck pain is also used as a diagnostic sign of meningitis.With this disease, the muscles of the neck become hypertonic, that is, they become rigid.When I try to tilt my head towards my chest, the back of my neck hurts a lot.
The spine in the neck region hurts with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, spondylosis and osteoarthritis, hernia or protrusion, with compression of the nerve roots or spinal cord from infectious edema, abscesses, tumors or benign neoplasms.
Special cases
Degenerative diseases
Osteochondrosis, or, in other words, degenerative disorders in the intervertebral discs, leads to a person constantly having neck pain.This is usually a mild pain, which is often accompanied by a feeling of numbness and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar zone affected by osteochondrosis can cause the development of cerebral artery syndrome.With the reduction of intervertebral distances in this area, compressive damage occurs to the vertebral arteries that pass through the openings of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the vessel causes blood flow to the brain to decrease, causing dizziness, impaired vision and hearing.On the other hand, mechanical irritation of the artery by pressure from the vertebrae causes a reflex spasm, which manifests as a burning, throbbing pain in the head.
Treatment
If your neck constantly hurts due to osteochondrosis, then the treatment begins with the elimination of the pain syndrome.The second mandatory direction of treatment is the cessation of degenerative processes in the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved using the following drug groups:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - directly block the cascade of pain signaling mediators.
- muscle relaxants - eliminate muscle spasms that arise reflexively 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 are prescribed that prevent the destruction of cartilage and vertebrae, as well as multivitamin mineral complexes.
Pain treatment also includes exercise therapy, physical therapy, massage, traction, reflexology, and tape therapy.During an exacerbation, 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.This pain must be distinguished from neuritis (inflammation of nerve trunks with impaired 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 intense severity of the pain leads to difficulty in performing certain types of movements.Usually the long muscles of the neck on the anterolateral surface or the sternocleidomastoid muscles, which when contracted bilaterally pull the head back and when contracted unilaterally turn it, usually hurt.Also often inflamed are the deep muscles that surround the spine and move the entire neck and back.
When palpating the muscle, its increased tone and dense nodular areas are noted.Disruption 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, "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.A course of physiotherapeutic procedures follows - UHF heating, electrophoresis with drugs, paraffin heating, ozokerite wrapping, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.Such procedures restore blood circulation to the neck muscles.Medications include injections of B vitamins, anti-inflammatories and pain relievers, ointments and rubs.
Traditional treatment recommends using cabbage or burdock leaves as soothing compresses, preparing an ointment of crushed willow buds in butter, and rubbing 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 rest the sore neck until its muscles are fully restored.Then you should start getting them back "on duty" through special exercise and massage.
Radical 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 pinched due to prolapse, protrusion or herniation of intervertebral discs.
With this disease, there is a protrusion of the inner core of the disc 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 burning, sharp pain occurs in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbar).The patient feels numbness in the lower jaw, the area around the ears, the back of the head, the shoulder blades and the hands.Dizziness and sharp pain in the neck occur when changing position from horizontal to vertical.The gradual protrusion of the disc nucleus leads to trauma to the surrounding tissues, their inflammation and edema.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.
Treatment
What to do if your throat hurts because of a hernia?At home, for pain, painkillers, non-steroidal 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 "blocking" - the injection of painkillers into the sides of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are eliminated with steroid medications, which 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 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 the 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 an excess piece of disc that is pressing on spinal nerves.
- replacing a damaged disc with an artificial joint, which protects the cervical spine from further damage.
- microendoscopic bisectomy using a posterior approach and removing 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 future bites do not develop.
Neoplasms
If there is constant pressing pain in the neck, you can suspect the appearance of a foreign formation in this part.
Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) are usually normal in shape and well defined.they rarely cause pain.The discomfort is mainly related to the compression of the surrounding tissues by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, cancer of the lymph nodes or thyroid gland) have no boundaries and give many metastases to neighboring tissues.Their destructive effect on the organs causes a painful sensation and a general worsening 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 throat and face, and a change in voice.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone mass, then 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 - reducing or removing the tumor.For this purpose, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, hardening of the vessels supplying the tumor and surgical removal of the pathological formation are used.
Pain relief depends on the severity of the pain:
- weak drugs;
- moderate painkillers;
- with increasing pain, they change to weak opiates.
- in case of severe pain, analgesia is possible only with the help of opiate drugs.To enhance 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 serious diseases, you must first visit a doctor for a consultation about the appearance of pain and accurately determine its source.