The human neck, like all animals, is a wonderful part of the body, rather fragile, but strong.
The cervical spine, together with all the muscles and ligaments, holds and moves the skull, absorbs shock during walking, protects the brain from concussion, protects the blood vessels that feed it, and also provides protection for the spinal cord.
If your neck hurts, the reasons can be very diverse.Some resolve on their own within a few days, while others can cause chronic illness and pain.
Why does the pain occur?
The most common cause of neck pain is bad posture.With a hunched back, the head ceases to occupy a position exactly above the body and moves forward.In this position, the muscles and ligaments of the neck experience increased tension.Prolonged work without changing posture, sleeping on a soft bed or a high pillow, and prolonged static load contribute to the development of hunched over and neck pain.
Other causes of neck pain include falling headfirst, a traffic accident, or an injury during sports.During sudden acceleration and then braking, the cervical spine performs a whip-like movement.As a result, the ligaments and muscles may be overstretched, displacement or compression fractures may occur in the cervical vertebrae, and intervertebral hernia may develop.
Neck pain can occur as a secondary manifestation of other diseases.For example, during a heart attack, when the heart attack causes severe pain that radiates along the nerve plexuses to the upper limbs, chest and neck.Neck pain during a heart attack is only part of a large set of symptoms - shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, vomiting.If your neck or jaw hurts, or if you notice other signs of a heart attack, call an ambulance immediately.
Neck pain is also used as a diagnostic sign of meningitis.With this disease, the neck muscles become hypertensive, that is, they become stiff.When I try to tilt my head towards my chest, the back of my head hurts a lot.
The cervical spine hurts due to rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, spondylosis and osteoarthritis, hernia or protrusion, compression of nerve roots or spinal cord, infectious edema, abscesses, tumors or benign tumors.
Special cases
Degenerative diseases
Osteochondrosis, or in other words, degenerative disorders of the intervertebral discs, leads to the fact that a person's neck hurts all the time.This is usually a mild aching pain that is often accompanied by feelings of numbness and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar zone affected by osteochondrosis can cause the development of cerebral artery syndrome.As the intervertebral distances decrease in this area, compression damage occurs in the vertebral arteries passing through the openings of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the blood vessel reduces blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, loss of vision and hearing.On the other hand, mechanical irritation of the artery by 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, then the therapy begins with the elimination of the pain syndrome.The second mandatory course of treatment is stopping the degenerative processes of the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved with the following drug groups:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - directly block the cascade of pain signaling mediators;
- muscle relaxants - they 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 to eliminate vertebral artery syndrome and the associated pain.
To eliminate the cause of neck pain caused by osteochondrosis, chondroprotective drugs are prescribed, which prevent the destruction of cartilage and vertebrae, as well as multivitamin and mineral complexes.
Pain management also consists of exercise therapy, physiotherapy, massage, traction, reflexology and taping therapy.In order to relieve pain during exacerbation, the patient must wear a special collar that protects the neck from excessive mobility.
Muscle pain
Neck pain can occur due to inflammation of the neck muscles, known as myositis.Such pain must be distinguished from neuritis (inflammation of the nerve trunks with sensitivity disorder) and from pain caused by osteochondrosis.Myositis appears suddenly, after exposure to predisposing factors - hypothermia, vibration, long-term overload, especially in case of long-term, repeated, same type of movements.
Cervical myositis is characterized by acute pain that occurs when the inflamed muscle contracts.The sharp severity of the 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 turn it when contracted unilaterally.The deep muscles surrounding the spine, which move the entire neck and back, are also often inflamed.
On palpation of the muscle, its increased tone and areas of dense nodules can be observed.Disturbance of microcirculation and local trophism leads to gradual replacement of myocytes with connective tissue.Because of this, the neck muscles weaken, the symmetry on the sides of the spine is broken, "torticollis" may appear, and the patient has difficulty keeping his head straight.
Treatment
Treatment begins with reducing the load on the neck.This is followed by physiotherapy procedures - UHF heating, electrophoresis with drug treatment, paraffin heating, ozokerite wrapping, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.Such procedures restore blood circulation in the neck muscles.Medications include vitamin B injections, anti-inflammatory and pain relievers, ointments, and rubs.
Traditional treatment recommends using cabbage or burdock leaves as a pain-relieving poultice, making a salve of crushed willow buds in butter, and a mixture of turpentine 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 the muscles have fully recovered.Then you need to start "putting them into service" with the help of special gymnastics and massage.
Radicular syndrome
Severe neck pain that spreads to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle, and upper limbs can occur when spinal nerve roots are pinched due to prolapse, protrusion, or herniated disc.
In this disease, the inner core of the disc protrudes towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns.The hernia and its symptoms usually appear on one side.When pressure is applied to the roots of the spinal nerves, a burning, sharp pain occurs in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbago).The patient feels numbness in the lower jaw, around the ears, back of the head, shoulder blades and arms.Dizziness and sharp pain in the neck when changing the position from horizontal to vertical.The gradual protrusion of the disc nucleus leads to damage, inflammation and swelling of the surrounding tissues.This creates the prerequisites for the inflammation of the nerve endings with the development of radiculitis, the mobility of the neck and upper limbs is gradually limited.Long-term pinching of spinal nerves leads to paresis or paralysis of the limbs.
Therapy
What to do if your neck hurts because of a hernia?In case of pain at home, they take painkillers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal agents, and antispasmodic muscle relaxants.
In the hospital, severe neck pain is eliminated with the help of "blockades" - injections of painkillers on the sides of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are treated with steroid medications that can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is relieved by taking muscle relaxants.
In addition, to prevent the further development of the hernia, I use drugs that strengthen the cartilage tissue - chondroprotectors.
In many cases, therapeutic exercises and traction on the cervical spine will help with prolapse or mild prolapse.Increasing the intervertebral space helps the intervertebral disc "pull back" and relieves pressure on the nerves.
In the case of a true hernia with rupture of the annulus fibrosus and prolapse of the core into the spinal canal, surgery is required.There are several ways to get rid of neck pain surgically:
- anterior cervical discotomy – removal of excess disc pressing on spinal nerves;
- replacing the damaged disc with an artificial joint that protects the cervical spine from further destruction;
- microendoscopic discectomy with 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 enlarged to prevent pinching in the future.
Neoplasms
If there is constant pressing pain in the neck, then the appearance of a foreign formation in this department can be suspected.
Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) are most often regular in shape and clearly defined;they rarely cause pain.The discomfort is mainly caused by compression of the surrounding tissues by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, lymph node or thyroid cancer) have no borders and many metastasize to neighboring tissues.Their destructive effect on the organs causes pain and general deterioration.The front of the neck can become painful due to laryngeal, throat, oral cavity or thyroid cancer.The patient experiences difficulty swallowing, swelling of the neck and face, and a change in voice.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone tumor, this condition is also often accompanied by damage to the spinal cord and the nerve roots on the side of the spine with the development of paralysis.
Treatment
Treatment of pain caused by tumors is primarily aimed at eliminating the cause - reducing or removing the tumor.For this purpose, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, sclerosis of the blood 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;
- switch to weak opiates as pain increases;
- in case of severe pain, pain relief is only possible with the help of opiates.Antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and corticosteroids are used to increase pain relief for neck pain caused by tumors.
Listen!Neck pain can occur for a variety of reasons.In order not to miss serious diseases, you should first consult a doctor about the occurrence of pain and accurately determine its source.