Neck pain

2 August 2021

The symptoms of neck pain are familiar to everyone: it pulls the muscles, it is impossible to bend and turn your head, and to look away, you have to turn your whole body. The culprit of the trouble, as a rule, is the spine: disorders, hernias, scoliosis lead to the fact that a person experiences pain in the back and neck. The discomfort makes him heal himself. But if the pain radiating to the neck does not disappear after home therapy, the next step is to see a doctor.

Neck pain in adults

Neck pain in women

Neck pain during pregnancy

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

How to deal with this trouble? A special bandage for pregnant women will help you keep your back in the correct 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 adversely affect the condition of the mother and the unborn baby.

Neck pain in young mothers

Back and neck pain are common among young mothers. The issue is complicated by the fact that a woman during breastfeeding can not use many drugs, because the milk will get harmful substances. How to help and prevent neck pain from interfering with the baby's joy?

Watch your posture. While you were carrying a child, the center of gravity shifted with increasing abdomen - you had to lean back to maintain balance, and your shoulders were tense all the time.
Do not overload physically, try to properly distribute the load on the back. Different carrying devices can help with this. They distribute the child's weight on both shoulders and prevent back and neck fatigue.
Baby care items should be adjusted according to their height so that they do not stay in an awkward 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 differ by gender - it can occur in both men and women. However, there are some differences in anatomy: the male neck is decorated with a pronounced Adam's apple - a thickening of the thyroid cartilage, whose plates are located at an angle to each other.

Adam's apple pain in men can indicate a very serious illness:

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

Neck pain in the elderly

Pain radiating to the neck in the elderly may indicate the development of diseases:

Cancer of the apex of the lung (cancer with Pancost and Horner syndrome). The patient's pain in this case is associated with the growth of the tumor in the nerve endings of the shoulder girdle and neck.
Tumors of the neck, salivary glands.
Coronary heart disease. The pain can spread from the chest to the neck and arms, causing symptoms similar to osteochondrosis.
Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory disease characterized by stiffness and pain in the muscles of the shoulder girdle and thighs.
Spinal metastases in various cancers (it is no secret that the likelihood of cancer increases with age).
Subluxation of the cervical spine 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 causing distant pain

Perhaps the most specific "childhood" cause of neck pain is torticollis, when the child's head is turned sharply to the side. Torticollis is dangerous because it distorts the cervical spine and disrupts the formation of the facial skeleton.

Contrary to popular belief, the disease manifests itself not only during childbirth. Depending on the appearance of torticollis, the following types are distinguished:

Congenital - can occur in the womb if the fetus is not positioned correctly, but most often this happens during birth, when the baby turns his head to the side and injures the muscles of the neck.
Dermatogenic - when the neck is twisted by scars left by trauma or burns.
Reflex - occurs in injuries, otitis media, diseases of the salivary glands.
Neurogenic - due to muscle spasms after polio or encephalitis.
Spastic - due to excessive tension in the neck muscles.
Traumatic - associated with a fracture of the spine.

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

The fetus during natural birth is in breech presentation.
The location of the fetus in the mother's abdomen is such that the wall of the uterus presses against the cervix.
Birth is difficult and the baby's mastoid muscle is damaged (with scar formation).
It is necessary to use pliers and vacuum for hard work.
The mastoid muscle becomes inflamed during intrauterine development, as a result of which the muscle tissue is 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 shaping of the baby's head, wearing an orthopedic collar and gymnastic exercises.
Surgery - is performed if conservative methods have not yielded results. During the operation, the surgeon lengthens the sternocleidomastoid muscle and straightens the position of the child's head.

Different types of neck pain

Acute neck pain

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

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

The treatment of pain depends on the cause and includes:

Prescribing painkillers.
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 unpleasant. I would like to quickly understand why it hurts and recover. What are the causes of severe pain?

Exacerbation of osteochondrosis, when unsuccessful movement, rotation or concussion of the body causes displacement of the vertebrae, disruption of existing hernias, compression of the spinal nerves.
Cervical radiculitis (inflammation and pinching of the spinal roots).
Cervicago - "lumbago" (acute severe muscle spasm).
Severe back and neck pain can occur after an injury.

Neck pain in osteochondrosis

The neck pain in osteochondrosis is very strong and gives the patient many unpleasant 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 twisted. In the most severe cases, this can lead to a pre-stroke condition, when a person is dizzy, everything floats in front of his eyes, sometimes speech and vision are lost.

Pain in the left neck

Pain in the left neck is a possible symptom of problems not only in the cervical spine, but also outside it. What can a person have if there is pain in the left neck?

Heart disease (heart attack, coronary artery disease, angina pectoris).
Cancer of the upper left lung.
Injuries.
Metastases of tumors from other organs to the nodes on the left side of the neck.
Infectious inflammation of the lymph nodes (due to tonsillitis, ARVI, tonsillitis).

Pain in the neck on the right

Pain in the neck on the right is an alarming symptom, but it is most often explained banally: a person has osteochondrosis with all its consequences. Such consequences include nerve entrapment, muscle spasms, intervertebral bulges and hernias, vascular disorders.

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

Bile colic radiating to the neck and shoulder.
Right-sided apical lung cancer with tumor invasion of 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 in the front right side 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.

Neck and shoulder pain

Pain in the neck and shoulders is a classic sign of cervical osteochondrosis and its accompanying complications (disorder of the hernia, nerves, spine). In addition, the simultaneous pain in the neck and shoulders is a symptom of such diseases:

Gallstone disease during exacerbation, with biliary colic.
Heart disease.
Osteoarthritis of the shoulder.
Cervical plexitis is an inflammation of the large nerve nodes in the spinal nerves.
Periarthritis of the shoulder and shoulder blade - inflammation of the tendons of the shoulder and the capsules of the shoulder joints.
Myositis.
Arthritis.

Neck and back pain

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 the posture in one part of the spine is good and in the other it is bad. In osteochondrosis, neck pain is mild when the disease is in remission, and severe, painful if it has worsened. Exacerbation begins with sharp pain in the neck and back with a failed turn, movement, impact. It can be removed with the help of medications prescribed by the doctor, rest, light heat on the affected area, exercise and physiotherapy.

Pain in the neck and nape

Pain in the neck and nape is most often a symptom of banal cervical osteochondrosis - a dangerous disease, but not fatal. But sometimes this indicates meningitis and this disease is 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 nape, stiffness of the occipital muscles, inability to simultaneously pull the head to the chest, bend the leg at the knee - all these are meningeal symptoms that will immediately alert the doctor. The treatment of a dangerous disease is carried out in a hospital,

In addition to meningitis and osteochondrosis, the cause of neck and neck pain can be trauma, occipital nerve neuralgia, hypertension and muscle tension.

Causes and symptoms of neck pain

Trauma

The cause of neck pain sometimes turns into an injury, due to which the cervical vertebrae are displaced or broken, the spinal nerves are damaged. Injuries can result from accidents, falls, injuries, poor diving or sudden movement. Symptoms of a neck injury include:

Improper neck flexion, inability to turn the head, tension in the chest and neck muscles indicate a fracture of the lower vertebrae.
Pain in the crown and back of the head is an indicator that the 1st 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 a whiplash injury that occurs due to alternating sharp bending and stretching of the neck (this can happen when the vehicle is stoppedsharply).

Neoplasms

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 lung. It germinates nerve bundles and blood vessels, causing 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 - cancer of the lymph nodes. Because many lymph nodes are concentrated in the neck, they grow as the disease progresses and it is difficult not to notice it. Other notable 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 in the palate. At an early stage it is painless, only occasionally you may notice seals in the affected glands.
The laryngeal tumor grows in its walls, visually representing a tuberculous neoplasm. It is difficult to notice them during a routine examination, which is why cancer, unfortunately, is diagnosed at a late stage, when other manifestations become apparent: a feeling of a foreign body in the throat, hoarseness and nasal voice, nasal breathing difficulties. Laryngeal tumor is also dangerous because it is prone to early metastasis, which significantly worsens the patient's prognosis for recovery.
Thyroid cancer is manifested by nodular lumps, pain in the front of the neck and voice changes.
With thyroid cartilage cancer, patients complain of difficulty swallowing and moving food into the larynx, a foreign body sensation, or a lump in the throat.

Reflected pain 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 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 accompanied by seizures when the pain radiates to the shoulders, neck, sometimes to the arm.
Pain in the neck on the right, under the right shoulder blade 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 at the top 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 cervical spine.
Abscesses and phlegmons 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 occur along with muscle spasm. The spasm is not only due to stress, injury or injury - the cause can be stress, nervous shock 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, heart rate increases, and digestion, on the contrary, slows down. Muscle tone increases in response to hormonal changes. As soon as the alarming situation occurs, the body goes back to normal. But if the emotional stress acquires a chronic form, the muscle spasm becomes permanent and against its background diseases of the spine (osteochondrosis, hernia, protrusion of the disc) develop.

Sedentary lifestyle, frequent computer use

Pain in the muscles of the neck often occurs due to the fact that a person has impaired posture, and the cause of impaired posture may be weakness of the muscular corset. As a rule, this happens to people who are far from physical education, lead a sedentary lifestyle and work a lot in front of the computer. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the workplace is often not properly organized and the person sits hunched over or uncomfortably bent over. As a result, the pain radiating to the neck becomes a constant companion, the usual muscle spasm is formed, degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs begin, osteochondrosis develops. And even with osteochondrosis, neck pain becomes a constant companion: periods of pain relief are replaced by exacerbations and only competent treatment, a change in lifestyle from sedentary to mobile, posture control, strengthening the muscles of the neck and back canbreak this cycle.

Diagnosis of neck pain

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

First of all, you need to collect a medical history:
Life history. It is necessary to establish whether there have been injuries to the neck and shoulder girdle in the past, what diseases the person has and which of them have become chronic, whether there has been a recent cold and hypothermia. For example, the fact of cholecystitis may explain the painful sensations in the neck - in biliary colic pain sometimes radiates in this area. At the same time the cause of pain in the left neck can be: a tumor in the upper left lung, muscle inflammation and compression of the spinal roots on the left.
History of the disease - how and how it started, with which doctor the patient consulted, what examination and treatment was prescribed, how it affected the course of the disease (whether it improved or worsened).
The visual examination will help to establish the 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 injuries and trauma.
If there is a suspicion that the pain in the neck and shoulders is the result of diseases of other organs, the patient should be referred to a specialized specialist - oncologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, cardiologist and others.
In other cases, radiology will help clarify the diagnosis: MSCT, CT, X-ray.
Sometimes electroneuromyography (ENMG), an electrophysiological test, is a useful diagnostic procedure that determines the condition of muscles and the peripheral nervous system.

Treatment of neck pain

Medication treatment

Medical treatment for neck pain, if due to cancer or problems in other organs, is aimed at dealing with the identified underlying disease. If the issue is in diseases of the spine and muscle tension, then the following drugs 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 gels and ointments. In the acute stage, both can be prescribed (at intervals of several hours). So if you can turn your head from neck pain just through tears, injections and ointments will come to the rescue.
Muscle relaxants are drugs that reduce skeletal muscle tone.
Antispasmodics - drugs to relieve smooth muscle spasms.
B vitamins are needed to improve metabolic processes and the synthesis of neurotransmitters.
If blood circulation is disturbed due to compression of blood vessels and muscles, vasodilators are prescribed.

Massage

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

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

Physiotherapy

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

Electrophoresis with various drugs. Under the influence of alternating current, the drugs penetrate deep into the tissues.
Phototherapy (laser therapy) - exposure to light rays with a fixed wavelength on the affected area of the body.
Magnetotherapy is a method of treating pain under the neck and neck using an alternating or permanent magnetic field. The method has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
Ultrasound treatment relieves pain and inflammation in the neck.
Detensor therapy is stretching of the spine due to a person's weight on a special mattress with sloping 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. Shock wave therapy allows you to reduce or eliminate pain, improve blood flow to the area of exposure of the device.
Vibration therapy - exposure to mechanical vibrations with the help of vibrating massagers.
Exercise therapy (physiotherapy) - the complex can vary from traditional gymnastics to an individual set of exercises, developed taking into account the diagnosis and condition of the patient.

Surgical intervention

Surgical treatment of neck pain is prescribed when conservative therapy has not given the desired result:

The pain does not go away with medication
There are signs of compression of the spinal cord and roots
Pronounced and increased weakness in the muscles of the arms

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

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

Prevention of neck pain

a healthy lifestyle to prevent neck pain

With neck pain, turning the head, tilting it or lying down comfortably becomes a big problem. And if it hurts a lot, then life stops pleasing at all. You can avoid neck problems with prevention. What do we have to do?

Choose a comfortable sleeping position, a mattress with sufficient firmness and a low pillow on which your shoulders will not fall.
Follow your own posture: do not bend down, do not sit hunched over.
Perform at least simple exercises to strengthen your neck muscles on a regular basis. Stretching and yoga are helpful.
If you are a sedentary lifestyle, take breaks every hour and a half to walk, stretch and stretch.
Beware of physical injuries: do not turn your neck sharply, avoid blows and traumatic sports loads.
Get rid of the habit of talking on the phone by pressing it with your ear and shoulder.
Avoid nervous breakdowns, stress and worries. Negative emotions and anxiety can cause stiffness, fatigue and muscle cramps.
It is undesirable to strain one of the two shoulders, as the curvature of the spine causes pain in the neck on the right or left.
Avoid colds and currents that can cause myositis (inflammation of the muscles of the neck).
Drink plenty of decaffeinated fluids. Adequate 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 spasm 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, the first "calls" should not ignore the body's alarming signals, but to undergo an examination and get a doctor's recommendation. It is out of place to remember about prevention: moderate exercise, sleep and work in a comfortable position, proper nutrition and weight distribution during wearing will help maintain neck health.