Neck pain

The neck of a person, like any animal, is an amazing part of the body, quite fragile, but powerful.

The cervical spine, along with all muscles and ligaments, holds and moves the skull, absorbs shock when walking, protects the brain from concussions, protects the blood vessels that supply it, and also protects the spinal cord.

When you have neck pain, the reasons can be very varied.Some of them can go away on their own within a few days, while others can cause chronic illness and pain.

Why does pain appear?

The most common cause of neck pain is poor posture.With the back arched, 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.The development of neck and neck pain is facilitated by prolonged work without changing position, sleeping on a soft bed or high pillow, and prolonged static load.

Other causes of neck pain include injuries caused by a head-first fall, in a car accident, or while playing a sport.During sudden acceleration and then braking, the cervical spine performs 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 other illnesses.For example, during a heart attack, when a heart attack causes severe pain, radiating along the nerve plexuses to the upper extremities, 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 you have neck or jaw pain or 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 rigid.When I try to tilt my head towards my chest, my neck hurts a lot.

The spine in the neck area hurts with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and osteoarthritis, herniation or protrusion, with compression of the nerve roots or spinal cord by infectious edema, abscesses, tumors or benign neoplasms.

Special cases

Degenerative diseases

Osteochondrosis, or, in other words, degenerative disorders of the intervertebral discs, leads to constant neck pain.It is usually a mild aching pain, often accompanied by a feeling of numbness and pain in the shoulder girdle and head.

The area of the cervix affected by osteochondrosis can provoke the development of cerebral artery syndrome.With a decrease in intervertebral distances in this area, compressive damage occurs in the vertebral arteries passing through the openings of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae.Pressure on the vessel causes decreased blood flow to the brain, causing dizziness, decreased vision and hearing.On the other hand, mechanical irritation of the artery under pressure from the vertebrae causes a reflex spasm, which manifests itself as burning, shooting pain in the head.

Treatment

If your neck constantly hurts due to osteochondrosis, treatment begins with eliminating the pain syndrome.The second obligatory direction of treatment is to stop the degenerative processes of the cervical vertebrae.

Pain relief can be achieved using the following groups of drugs:

• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - directly block the cascade of mediators that signal pain;
• muscle relaxants – eliminate muscle spasms that reflexively result from severe pain;
• sedatives – calm and inhibit the nervous system and the transmission of painful impulses, in particular (valerian, antidepressants, sleeping pills);
• vasodilators - help eliminate vertebral artery syndrome and associated pain.

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, physiotherapy, massage, traction, reflexology and taping therapy.During an exacerbation, in order to relieve pain, the patient is 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, called myositis.This pain must be distinguished from neuritis (inflammation of the 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 high intensity of the pain leads to difficulty performing certain types of movements.Usually, the long neck muscles on the anterolateral surface or the sternocleidomastoid muscles hurt, which, when contracted bilaterally, pull the head back, and when contracted unilaterally, turn it.The deep muscles that surround the spine and move the entire neck and back are also often inflamed.

When palpating the muscle, its increased tone and dense nodular areas are noted.The disruption of microcirculation and local trophism leads to the progressive replacement of myocytes by connective tissue.As a result, the neck muscles weaken, their symmetry on the sides of the spine is disrupted, “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.Next comes a series of physiotherapeutic procedures - UHF heating, electrophoresis with drugs, paraffin heating, ozokerite wrap, 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 pain-relieving compresses, preparing ointment from willow buds crushed in butter, and making friction from 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 provide rest to the sore neck until its muscles are completely restored.Then you should begin to return them “to duty” through special gymnastics and massages.

Radicular syndrome

Severe neck pain, which spreads to the muscles of the head, shoulder girdle and upper extremities, can occur when the roots of the spinal nerves are pinched due to intervertebral disc prolapse, protrusion or herniation.

With this disease, protrusion of the inner core of the disc occurs towards the spinal canal or its lateral horns.A hernia and its symptoms usually appear on one side only.When pressure is created on the roots of the spinal nerves, a burning, sharp pain appears in the innervated muscles (cervical lumbago).The patient feels 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.The gradual protrusion of the core of the disc leads to trauma to the surrounding tissues, their 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 extremities is gradually limited.Long-term pinching of spinal nerves leads to paresis or paralysis of the limbs.

Therapy

What to do if you have neck pain due to a hernia?At home, for pain, analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, hormonal drugs and muscle relaxants are taken to relieve spasms.

In the hospital, severe neck pain is eliminated using "blocks" - the injection of painkillers into the sides of the spine.

Swelling and inflammation are eliminated using steroids, which can be injected directly into the hernia area.Muscle pain is eliminated 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 of the cervical spine contribute to protrusion or slight protrusion.Increasing the intervertebral space helps “retract” the intervertebral disc and relieve pressure on the nerves.

In case of a true hernia with rupture of the annulus fibrosus and prolapse of the nucleus into the spinal canal, surgical intervention 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 the spinal nerves;
• replacing a damaged disc with an artificial joint, which protects the cervical spine from further destruction;
• microendoscopic discectomy using a posterior approach and removal of small areas of the herniation using an endoscope;
• Posterior cervical disectomy through an incision at the nape of the neck.The operating channel is specially widened to prevent pinching in the future.

Tumors

If there is a constant pressing pain in the neck, you can suspect the appearance of a foreign formation in this department.

Benign tumors (lipoma, fibroma, neuroma, osteoma, hemangioma) most often have a regular shape and are well defined;they rarely cause pain.The discomfort is mainly associated with compression of the surrounding tissues by the tumor.Malignant tumors (osteogenic sarcoma, myeloma, cancer of the lymph nodes or thyroid) have no borders and give numerous metastases to neighboring tissues.Their destructive effect on the organs causes painful sensation and general deterioration of the condition.The front of the neck may become painful due to cancer of the larynx, throat, oral cavity, or thyroid gland.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 nerve roots on the side of the spine with the development of paralysis.

Treatment

Treatment of pain due to tumors primarily aims to eliminate the cause – shrink or eliminate the tumor.For this purpose, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, sclerosis 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 medications;
• moderate painkillers;
• with increasing pain, they switch to weak opiates;
• In case of severe pain, analgesia is only possible with the help of opiate medications.To improve analgesia of neck pain due to neoplasms, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants and corticosteroids are used.

Be careful!Neck pain can occur for a variety of reasons.In order not to miss serious illnesses, you must first consult a doctor to consult the occurrence of pain and accurately determine its source.