Neck pain (cervicalgia) is a pain sensation of a different nature and intensity that occurs in the cervical region. The symptom is accompanied by dizziness, numbness of the neck or arm, local redness and swelling of the skin. The neck can hurt with infectious and inflammatory diseases of this area, injuries and degenerative processes in the spine, after a long stay in a forced uncomfortable position. To determine the cause of pain in the neck, CT, MRI, ultrasound, and laboratory tests are prescribed. To stop the symptom, analgesics, NSAIDs, and physiotherapy methods are used.
The neck periodically hurts in 70% of the adult population. These sensations can have different intensity and duration: from short-term discomfort to the strongest pain syndrome that makes daily activities difficult. More often, neck pain is localized in the cervical spine or along the anterolateral surfaces. Usually, patients feel a sudden "backache", which is replaced by a persistent pain syndrome. The pains have a different character - pulsating, tingling, squeezing. They can give to the shoulder, shoulder blade, occipital region.
Unpleasant sensations are aggravated by turning and tilting the head, so the person is forced to turn the whole body. Often, the neck begins to hurt after a long stay in an uncomfortable position: patients note that discomfort appeared after a working day at a computer or sewing machine. Many patients associate the development of cervicalgia with hypothermia, the action of drafts. If the neck hurts a lot, or the pains are combined with dizziness, numbness in the back of the head, tinnitus, you should seek qualified medical help as soon as possible.
Depending on the duration of pain in the neck, there is an acute form lasting up to 1 day, and chronic cervicalgia, which can be permanent or recurrent. In accordance with the etiopathogenetic classification, two forms of cervicalgia are distinguished:
By localization, pain syndrome is distinguished in front or in the lateral sections of the neck, in the region of the spinal column. Separately allocate pain in the throat. Cervicalgia, which radiates to neighboring anatomical regions, is divided into cervicocranialgia (spread of pain to the occipital region) and cervicobrachialgia (cervicobrachial syndrome).
Feeling of itching, scratching in the throat is associated with colds, but discomfort can often be caused by other reasons (excessively dry air in the room, exposure to atmospheric pollutants). Sometimes the pain syndrome is felt so strongly that it seems to patients that their entire neck hurts. With pain in the throat, conditions such as:
Discomfort can be localized directly under the chin, in a limited area, but more often severe diffuse pain bothers. Soreness is aggravated by swallowing, turning the head, squeezing the neck with a shirt collar. Neck pain is caused by:
Patients complain of pain in the neck that occurs along its back surface. Painful sensations are intense, due to the constant "lumbago" a person is forced to keep the head and shoulder girdle immobile. Pain in the cervical spine can be a symptom of the following pathological conditions:
Intense pain along the side of the neck usually radiates to the shoulder or ear. A person may feel tingling, burning, throbbing in this area. With severe discomfort, a secondary torticollis is formed, in which the head is constantly tilted towards the diseased side, and the chin is turned towards the healthy one. The most common reasons why there is pain in the side of the neck:
A person with neck pain most often turns to an osteopath or a neurologist. The examination is long and complex, for the correct diagnosis it is necessary to exclude many causes that cause pain in the neck. Diagnostic search involves the use of laboratory and instrumental methods aimed at visualizing the affected area and searching for signs of concomitant diseases. The most informative are:
If the patient has pain not only in the neck, but also in the throat, an examination by an otolaryngologist is necessary. With intense pain syndrome, especially in elderly patients or with a history of heart disease, an ECG is recorded to exclude atypical forms of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. In case of serious spinal injuries, accompanied by sensory disturbances or paresis, myelography is performed to assess the condition of the spinal canal.
If your neck begins to hurt, you should not delay a visit to the doctor. Cervicalgia requires a thorough diagnosis in order to establish the causes of unpleasant symptoms. It is necessary to avoid sudden movements in the cervical region, drafts and hypothermia. Before the diagnosis is verified, neck pain is relieved with warming procedures (wrapping the neck area with a woolen scarf). If the pain is severe, it is allowed to take analgesics from the NSAID group. But these drugs should not be taken for a long time without a doctor's prescription, as they can cause ulcers and bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract.
Taping for neck pain
Medical tactics for cervicalgia depends on the cause of the development of the disease and the intensity of pain. Isolated drug treatment is rarely used; its combinations with modern physiotherapeutic methods are more effective. To relieve pain in the neck and eliminate the underlying pathology that caused cervicalgia, the following groups of drugs are used:
To eliminate muscle tension, due to which the neck hurts, use the Shants collar, which is recommended to be worn for 2-3 weeks. The neck hurts less after local thermal procedures - mud baths and compresses, electrophoresis with anesthetics. To restore the anatomical position of the vertebrae and discs, manual therapy techniques are useful. Magnetic therapy, acupuncture helps to reduce chronic pain in the neck. After the acute pain subsides, massage sessions begin, while physiotherapy must be supplemented with exercise therapy methods.
With pain in the neck, due to the pathology of the spinal column, surgical intervention is necessary. To reduce pressure on the nerve roots, discectomy, foraminotomy, and laminectomy are used. If hernias are detected, appropriate operations are performed, if neoplasms are found in the cervical part of the body, they are surgically removed. Severe degenerative lesions of the spine are an indication for spinal fusion. If the pain in the neck is caused by abscesses or cysts, it is necessary to open and drain them, wash the resulting cavity with antibacterial solutions.