The human neck, like other animals, is an amazing part of the body, quite fragile, but strong.
The cervical spine, together with all the muscles and ligaments, supports and moves the skull, absorbs shock when walking, protects the brain from concussion, protects the blood vessels that feed it, and also provides protection to the spinal cord.
When your neck hurts, the causes can be very diverse.Some of them may go away on their own within a few days, while others may 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 stops occupying a position directly above the body and moves forward.In this position, the neck muscles and ligaments experience increased tension.The development of hunchback and neck pain is facilitated by prolonged work without changing position, sleeping on a soft mattress or high pillow, and prolonged static loads.
Other causes of neck pain are injuries due to falling head first, traffic accidents, or while exercising.During sudden acceleration and then braking, the cervical spine makes a whip-like movement.As a result, ligaments and muscles can become overstretched, displacement or compression fractures of the cervical vertebrae can occur, and intervertebral hernias can form.
Neck pain can occur as a secondary manifestation of another disease.For example, during a heart attack, a heart attack causes severe pain that spreads along the nerve plexus 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, vomiting.If your neck or jaw hurts or there are 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 stiff.When I tried to tilt my head towards my chest, the back of my neck hurt 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 by infectious edema, abscess, tumor or benign neoplasm.
Special case
Degenerative disease
Osteochondrosis, or in other words, a degenerative disorder of the intervertebral discs, causes a person to constantly experience neck pain.It is usually mild pain, which is often accompanied by numbness and soreness in the shoulder girdle and head.
The collar zone affected by osteochondrosis can lead to the development of cerebral artery syndrome.With reduced intervertebral distance in this area, compressive damage occurs to the vertebral arteries passing through the openings of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the blood vessels causes a decrease in blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, decreased vision and hearing.On the other hand, mechanical irritation of the arteries with pressure from the spine causes a reflex spasm, which manifests itself as a burning, throbbing pain in the head.
Treatment
If your neck constantly hurts due to osteochondrosis, then therapy begins with eliminating the pain syndrome.The second mandatory direction of treatment is stopping degenerative processes in the cervical vertebrae.
Pain relief can be achieved using the following groups of drugs:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - directly block the flow of mediators signaling pain;
- muscle relaxants – eliminate muscle spasms that reflexively arise 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 causes of neck pain due to osteochondrosis, chondroprotective drugs are prescribed that prevent damage to the cartilage and spine, 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
Neck pain can occur due to inflammation of the neck muscles, which is called myositis.Such pain should be differentiated 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, prolonged excessive activity, especially with prolonged repetitive movements of the same type.
Cervical myositis is characterized by acute pain that occurs when the inflamed muscles contract.The sharp severity of the pain causes difficulty in performing certain types of movements.Usually the long neck muscle on the anterolateral surface or the sternocleidomastoid muscle is painful, which, when contracting bilaterally, pulls the head back, and when contracting unilaterally, rotates 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.Local disturbances of microcirculation and trophism lead to the gradual replacement of myocytes with connective tissue.As a result, the neck muscles weaken, the symmetry of the sides of the spine is disturbed, "torticollis" appears, and the patient finds it difficult to keep the head straight.
Treatment
Treatment begins by reducing stress on the neck.This is followed by physiotherapeutic procedures - UHF warming, electrophoresis with drugs, paraffin warming, ozokerite wraps, diathermy, massage, acupuncture.The procedure restores blood circulation in the neck muscles.Treatment includes vitamin B injections, anti-inflammatory drugs and pain relievers, ointments and liniments.
Traditional medicine recommends using cabbage or burdock leaves as a pain-relieving compress, preparing an ointment from crushed willow buds with butter, and making a rub from a mixture of turpentine with apple cider vinegar and egg yolk.His neck was also smeared with lava oil and then bandaged.The main key to the success of any treatment is to give the sore neck rest until the muscles have fully recovered.Then you need to start putting them back “on duty” through special exercises and massage.
Radicular syndrome
Severe pain in the neck, which radiates to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle, upper limbs, can occur when the spinal nerve roots are pinched due to prolapse, protrusion or herniation of the intervertebral disc.
With this disease, the inner nucleus of the disc protrudes towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns.Hernias and their symptoms usually appear on one side.When pressure is created on the spinal nerve roots, a burning, sharp pain appears in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbago).Sufferers feel numbness in the lower jaw, area around the ears, back of the head, shoulder blades and arms.Dizziness and sharp pain in the neck appear when changing position from horizontal to vertical.Gradual protrusion of the disc nucleus causes trauma to the surrounding tissue, inflammation, and swelling.This creates the prerequisites 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 causes paresis or paralysis of the limbs.
Therapy
What to do if your neck hurts due to a hernia?At home, to relieve pain, painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal drugs, and muscle relaxants are taken to relieve spasm.
In the hospital, severe neck pain is eliminated with the help of "blockade" - an injection of painkillers on the side of the spine.
Swelling and inflammation are relieved with steroid medication, which can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is relieved by taking muscle relaxants.
In addition, to prevent further development of the hernia, I use drugs that strengthen cartilage tissue - chondroprotectors.
In many cases, therapeutic exercises and traction traction of the cervical spine help with a bulge or slight bulge.Increasing the intervertebral space helps “retract” the intervertebral disc and relieves pressure on the nerves.
In the case of a true hernia with rupture of the fibrous ring 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 the excess disc that is pressing on the spinal cord;
- replacing damaged discs with artificial joints that protect the cervical spine from further damage;
- microendoscopic discectomy using a posterior approach and removal of a small area of hernia via endoscopy;
- Posterior cervical discectomy through an incision at the back of the neck.The operating channel is specially enlarged to prevent pinching in the future.
Neoplasm
If there is a persistent pressing pain in the neck, you can suspect the appearance of foreign formations in this department.
Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) most often have a regular shape and clear boundaries;they rarely cause pain.Discomfort is mainly associated with compression of the surrounding tissue by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, cancer of the lymph nodes or thyroid gland) have no boundaries and give numerous metastases to the surrounding tissues.Its destructive effect on organs causes painful sensations and a general worsening of the condition.The front of the neck can feel painful due to cancer of the larynx, throat, oral cavity or thyroid gland.Patients experience difficulty swallowing, swelling of the neck and face, and changes in voice.If the cervical spine hurts due to a bone tumor, 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 aimed primarily at eliminating the cause – reducing or eliminating the tumor.For this purpose, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, sclerosis of the vessels feeding the tumor, and surgical removal of pathological formations are used.
Pain relief depends on the severity of the pain:
- weak drugs;
- moderate painkillers;
- with increasing pain, they turn to weak opiates;
- in cases of severe pain, analgesia is possible only with the help of opiate drugs.To improve analgesia for neck pain due to neoplasms, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants and corticosteroids are used.
Notice!Neck pain can occur for various reasons.In order not to miss serious illnesses, you should visit a doctor in advance to consult about the onset of pain and accurately determine its source.