Neck pain in the front is pain of varying intensity felt along the front of the neck. Local or diffuse pain occurs with injuries and inflammatory processes in the organs of the neck, pathologies of the thyroid gland, lymphadenitis and sialadenitis. To determine the cause of discomfort, ultrasound imaging, X-ray examination, radioscintigraphy, electrophysiological methods, laboratory tests, and invasive research approaches are used. To relieve acute pain syndrome, analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, physiotherapeutic methods are used.
Organ damage can occur in people of all ages, including children. Soreness in the neck in front can be the result of both inflammatory processes and endocrine pathology. Pain is aggravated by movements of the head, especially when the head is tilted forward. The symptom is accompanied by fever, increased sweating, constant feeling of heat, palpitations. Often, pain is caused by the following reasons:
When the submandibular salivary glands are affected, complaints are usually made of a sharp soreness in the anterior part of the neck, radiating to the ear, lower jaw. Unpleasant sensations tend to increase with head turning, chewing and swallowing movements. Swelling and compaction up to several centimeters in size are formed very quickly. Due to the decrease in the amount of saliva, it becomes difficult to eat, there is a constant dry mouth. Often, sialadenitis occurs with violations of the general condition - subfebrile fever, chills, weakness.
Frequent causes of sharp pains are purulent processes in the pharynx, which pass to the adjacent fiber with the development of a pharyngeal abscess. Patients complain that the neck begins to hurt in front, the skin in this part is hot to the touch and bright pink. Pain is strong, throbbing. Due to severe discomfort, a person refuses food and water. The symptom occurs against the background of febrile fever. Similar manifestations can be detected with extensive paratonsillar abscesses complicating bacterial tonsillitis.
Inflammation of the muscles of the neck causes sharp shooting or dull pain in the neck, disturbing for several days or even weeks. Pain in myositis often occurs after hypothermia, exposure to drafts. As a rule, pain sensations are noted in front of the neck, go to the chin, collarbone and shoulders. The intensity increases with a long stay in one forced position, heavy physical exertion. If the symptoms worsen over time, interfere with daily work, you should contact a specialist to determine the cause of the neck pain.
The severity of symptoms depends on the number of damaged nerves. Most often, they are concerned about sharp pains along the anterolateral surface, difficulty when trying to speak loudly, cough. Painful sensations can radiate to the ear, occipital region, chest. Characterized by paresthesia, a feeling of "crawling". Patients associate the appearance of unpleasant symptoms with hypothermia, complications after vaccination, and injuries. Damage to the cervical plexus - plexitis - is also provoked by other causes: diabetes mellitus, infectious diseases.
Pain in the front of the neck is observed with systemic pathologies of the connective tissue (collagenosis) with a predominant lesion of muscle tissue and skin - scleroderma, dermatomyositis. Typical are constant painful sensations of a pulling or aching nature, which are accompanied by thickening and swelling of the skin. Shooting pains radiating to the anterior surface of the neck are possible with the involvement of the spinal column against the background of rheumatoid arthritis. With collagenosis, along with local symptoms, signs of damage to other systems develop.
Common causes of pain in the upper neck are inflammatory processes in the lymphoid tissue. Patients note severe local pain in the submandibular region on one side. Discomfort is aggravated by talking, tilting the head in the direction of the lesion. The symptom is combined with a swelling ranging in size from a pea to a walnut. The skin over the formation is edematous and hyperemic. With inflammation of the lymph nodes, there is a high body temperature, general weakness, myalgia is possible. A similar clinical picture is also characteristic of lymphangitis.
Severe dull pain in the midline of the neck may be a manifestation of the tuberculous process of the cartilaginous tissue of the larynx. Men note local discomfort in the region of the Adam's apple. In addition to pain, prolonged subfebrile body temperature and increased night sweats are found. With chondroperichondritis of the larynx, there are sharp pains in the upper and middle third of the neck. Also in this area, a round, painful formation is palpated, the skin over which acquires a bright red color. Other causes also cause symptoms: recurrent perichondritis, developmental anomalies.
With atypical variants of angina attacks, patients instead of compressive pains in the heart feel that the neck hurts in front. The pain is very strong, combined with a feeling of lack of air, it becomes difficult to talk and swallow. In addition to soreness, other symptoms are noted: severe weakness, cold sweat and blanching of the extremities, shortness of breath. Intense pain in the cervical region, which occurs against the background of uncomfortable sensations in the heart, accompanied by fainting, pallor and fear of death, may indicate the development of myocardial infarction.
Severe pain can occur after blows to the neck from the front, sports injuries, car accidents. With minor injuries, bruises, the pain syndrome persists for several days, and breathing and swallowing disorders are usually absent. With damage to internal organs, primarily injuries of the larynx, patients complain of unbearable pain, which is combined with shortness of breath, hemoptysis. In any case, after injuries of the cervical region, it is necessary to consult a doctor as soon as possible to determine the extent of damage and provide medical assistance.
In inflammatory diseases of the mucous membrane of the trachea or esophagus, pain can be localized in front of the surface of the neck. In this case, they are called referred pains. With esophagitis, in addition to pain, swallowing is disturbed, there is constant heartburn and retrosternal discomfort. In the case of tracheitis, pain in the front of the neck occurs against the background of a painful dry cough, an increase in body temperature to subfebrile numbers, and sometimes shortness of breath develops. Pain syndrome can serve as a sign of widespread mediastinitis involving the cervical tissue.
If the patient's neck hurts in front, he needs to consult a general practitioner, who either prescribes an examination on his own, or directs the patient to a specialist. Diagnostic search includes instrumental imaging methods to identify pathological changes, due to which the neck hurts in front. To clarify the diagnosis, laboratory methods are carried out. The most informative for identifying the cause of the disorder are:
If suspicious masses of the thyroid gland are detected on radiographs, it is necessary to biopsy the node to exclude malignant degeneration of cells. A diagnostic puncture of the lymph node can also be performed. To verify the rheumatic cause of pain in the neck, blood is examined for rheumatoid factor, specific antibodies. The patient may need to consult an osteopath, an endocrinologist.
Thyroid ultrasound
The appearance of pain in the anterolateral cervical region is a sign of various diseases, therefore, to identify the immediate cause, a specialist consultation is required. Before verifying the diagnosis, with severe pain in the neck in the front, analgesics from the NSAID group are allowed to eliminate discomfort. It is undesirable to use warm compresses or other local effects on the cervical region without a doctor's prescription, as this can aggravate the symptoms. It is important to limit movements in the cervical spine as much as possible.
Drug treatment is primarily aimed at eliminating the underlying disease as the cause of pain, and symptomatic therapy is also required to relieve pain. For chronic pain, physiotherapy methods are indicated - electrophoresis with anti-inflammatory drugs and local anesthetics, laser therapy and UHF. In the acute period, physiotherapy is undesirable. It is necessary to provide maximum functional rest for the neck and head. Of the pharmaceutical preparations, the following groups are most often prescribed:
With unbearable pain in the neck, local anesthesia is performed in the form of novocaine blockades. When an abscess is formed in the pharyngeal space or in case of suppuration of the median cyst of the neck, it is necessary to promptly open the abscess and set up adequate drainage. After dissection of the abscess capsule, the cavity must be washed with solutions of antibiotics and antiseptics. When sialadenitis is complicated by strictures of the excretory duct, its bougienage is required, followed by the introduction of proteolytic enzymes.
In the case of proliferation of nodular goiter of the thyroid gland, which is accompanied by pain and compression syndrome, surgical interventions of various volumes are indicated. With the preserved function of the rest of the organ, the node is enucleated, with diffuse pathology - hemithyroidectomy or subtotal resection of the thyroid gland. In severe neck injuries with damage to internal organs, revision, removal of bone fragments and elimination of defects in hollow organs are performed.