With neck pain, each person encountered more than once in his life. If the back of the neck hurts, the cause, in most cases, is in the cervical spine. Let's take a look at each disease.
myositis
With hypothermia and a cold, myositis of the neck develops - acute inflammation of the muscles. A person begins to have severe pain in the neck and shoulder, a slight temperature rises. On palpation of the painful area, the skin above the muscle is swollen, swollen, warm to the touch. When you try to turn your head to the affected side, there is sharp pain and tension in your neck muscles.
Myositis can manifest against the background of a respiratory or viral illness. Then there is a pain in the throat, neck, swollen lymph nodes.
Treatment
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs will help stop inflammation quickly and effectively. Various ointments and gels can be used locally. Here it is necessary to add an important fact about the finalgone - you need to smear it with a thin layer and it cannot be washed with water under any circumstances.
You can use alcohol-free and warming compresses - with vodka, diluted alcohol or dimexide. Folk remedies also help well: boiled potatoes, rubbing with honey, applying crushed cabbage leaves.
In addition to the treatment of myositis, colds are treated - antiviral or antibacterial drugs, vitamins, nose and throat sprays. For quick relief from a sore throat, a spray is a great help - a powerful antibacterial and antifungal medication, the effect of which can be felt 20-30 minutes after starting treatment.
cervical osteochondrosis
Everyone has heard about the disease, but the reasons for its development are still a mystery.
The predisposing factors are injuries, prolonged forced position, microtraumas of muscles and tendons during intense physical work, dystrophic processes in the spine, advanced age, menopause.
With protrusion, instability, hernia in the cervical spine, compression of the nerve roots occurs, blood flow in the vertebral artery is disturbed, which leads to cerebral ischemia.
All symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis are divided into:
- reflection;
- radicular and vascular compression;
- spinal.
More:
- Reflex symptoms occur with prolonged irritation of tissue receptors in the pathological spine. Nerve impulses from the affected vertebra enter the spinal cord, causing changes in the surrounding muscles and tissues. The muscles on the healthy side take over all functions, forming a pathological stereotype of movement. And the muscles on the affected side fix the displaced vertebra in a certain position, preventing its further curvature. But they also do not give the opportunity to assume a physiological position. If at this time a person does not go to a doctor and a chiropractor, muscle atrophy occurs, degenerative changes in the tissues of the vertebrae, cervical osteochondrosis is formed. In the future, the progression of the disease causes inflammation and fibrosis of the muscles of the shoulder girdle, forming inflammation of the periarticular bursa. Reflex symptoms:
- pain along the spinous processes - palpation of the neck will cause discomfort, pain, shooting in the vertebrae;
- tension and pain in the muscles at the back of the neck, made worse by trying to turn the head or probe;
- neck pain - sharp pain or pain in the neck, it may periodically subside, giving the person a break. But with loads, a long stay in the sitting position (for example, during flights, long journeys by bus or car), the pain will not be long in coming. With neck pain, a person may periodically hear a crunching in the neck, feel discomfort and numbness in the skin;
- cervicocranialgia - heaviness and pain in the neck that spreads to the head. Most often, the back of the head suffers - there is heaviness, a feeling of "throbbing", numbness, a person wants to support his head with his hand or lean on a hard surface. Periodically there are "hot flashes" - it feels like the back of the head and neck is burning or freezing. Sleep also suffers - it is intermittent, superficial, the patient wakes up in the morning lazy, listless, tired. Pain can spread throughout the head - photophobia appears, constricting pains in the temples, neck, eyes, increased blood pressure, nausea and vomiting often occur;
- cervicobrachialgia - pain in the cervical region spreads to the shoulder and arm. There is pain and spasm of the shoulder muscles, stiffness, pain in the shoulder joint, grinding, difficulty trying to lift or withdraw the arm.
- Compression of spinal cord roots and vessels is manifested by vertebral artery syndrome. This is a large complex of various manifestations of vertebral vessel compression. There are 3 groups of symptoms that directly indicate the disease:
- throbbing, painful headache of a persistent or paroxysmal, burning, unbearable nature. Increases with prolonged uncomfortable position, spreads from occiput to forehead;
- cochleovestibular changes - dizziness, instability when walking, various noises in the ears (clicking, tinnitus, tinnitus). Dizziness in a patient is constant or paroxysmal, worsening a person's quality of life;
- pathology of vision - darkening and "flies" before the eyes, discomfort and "sand" sensation, burning, decreased vision.
There are several types of manifestations of vertebral artery syndrome:
Barre-Lieu syndrome - there is pain in the posterior cervical and occipital region, which passes into the anterior sections of the head - "removing the helmet". It intensifies at night and after sleep, especially if the person has slept on an uncomfortable pillow. When turning the head, dizziness and tinnitus appear, darkening the eyes.
Basilar migraine - before a migraine attack, darkness appears in the eyes, black dots blinking, photophobia. The attack starts with severe dizziness, tinnitus, impaired articulation of the tongue (a person has difficulty pronouncing words). The violent pain in the back of the neck, makes the person take immobility to lessen the attack. At the height of the headache, vomiting appears, in severe cases - fainting.
Cochleovestibular Symptom - Painful pain in the back of the neck, crunching when tilting and turning the head, dizziness, hearing loss and impaired speech intelligibility. Patients are often unable to distinguish between whispered speech.
Ophthalmic syndrome - against the background of cervical osteochondrosis, vision is impaired. A person develops rapid eye strain when reading, loss of visual fields, redness of the conjunctiva, and lacrimation.
spondylarthrosis
The disease is characterized by "wear and tear" of cartilage with bony growths along the edge of the joint surface. The disease occurs at any age, but most often begins in the elderly. Trauma, inflammation, congenital changes in joints can cause spondylarthrosis to develop.
Symptoms
The patient is disturbed by a painful pain in the cervical spine, which is aggravated by turning and tilting the head. Often a person is unable to turn their head completely to the side, an attempt to increase the range of motion causes back pain. In the supine position, the pain subsides. In addition to the neck, the spinal region, the knee and hip joints are involved in the process.
As the disease progresses, narrowing of the intervertebral canal occurs in the cervical and lumbar regions. Spondylogenic myelopathy develops - a chronic disease of the spine with weakened muscle tone and dysfunction of internal organs. Myelopathy causes an increase in pain in a person, reduces the speed of blood flow in the vessels of the neck and head.
spondyloarthritis
Prolonged pain in the back of the neck, inability to fully bring the head to the chest - symptoms can also speak of rheumatoid arthritis of the spine. The disease develops against the background of polyarthritis - multiple joint injuries.
Symptoms
Pain occurs in the back of the neck, spreads to the back of the head, intensifies when the head is tilted forward and backward, turning left and right. A person cannot fully move his head, the neck muscles are tense and sore. In severe cases, a life-threatening complication - bulbar syndrome - develops. Its manifestations are diverse and depend on the degree of impingement of the medulla during atlas subluxation. The patient's speech is disturbed - it is slurred, sluggish, and the person quickly gets tired of talking. Swallowing is also disturbed, especially liquid foods. A person chokes, fluid flows through the nose or the corners of the mouth. Cardiac activity is disturbed - arrhythmia, tachycardia occur.
In children, cervical spondyloarthritis develops as a complication of acute sinusitis - inflammation of the sinuses. The disease is called Grisel's torticollis after a French doctor. The disease is formed with a defect in the joint of the atlas and the tooth of the axial vertebra.
The symptom of the disease is specific and allows you to make a diagnosis quickly: the child's head tilts towards the source of inflammation and is slightly turned to the healthy side.
Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis and spondyloarthritis is the same. The patient needs consultation and treatment with a manual therapist. The specialist will place the vertebrae quickly and painlessly, eliminating the need for expensive treatment at the clinic. If necessary, every six months or a year, a neurologist at the clinic prescribes a course of drugs: these are injections given intramuscularly or intravenously and pills.
Well helps in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis massage of the collar zone, acupuncture. You can use self-massage - rub your neck muscles from the back of your head to your shoulders in gentle circular motions. You can't massage the neck muscles forcefully - you can provoke an increase in blood pressure and intracranial pressure.
Patients often use the applicator - the punctual effect of the needles reduces muscle tension, stimulates blood circulation. It is necessary to use applicators only after consulting a doctor and making an accurate diagnosis - needles are contraindicated in the oncological process, as they stimulate tumor growth.
In case of vertebral artery syndrome and cerebral ischemia, nootropic therapy is mandatory: intravenous injections of drugs that stimulate vascular circulation, increase cerebral oxygenation, reduce attacks of dizziness and tinnitus.
spine tuberculosis
As tuberculosis spreads to bones and joints, it is the spine that is most often affected. The danger of illness lies in a long period of silence. Tuberculosis does not manifest itself at all for 2-4 years. As the disease progresses and the vertebral bodies are destroyed, heaviness appears in the neck and shoulders, vague pains in the spine without a clear location.
A person is not able to keep his head alone for a long time, he constantly tries to support it with his hand. Due to the severe pain in the neck, the patient avoids turning and tilting his head. As the vertebra is destroyed, the process spreads to the surrounding tissues, an abscess is formed - an abscess in the capsule. A swelling appears on the back of the neck, densely elastic in consistency, slowly increasing in size. An abscess can spread to the pharynx, coughing, difficulty swallowing, and a sore throat.
Treatment of the tuberculosis process is carried out in a specialized tuberculosis dispensary. Treatment is difficult and time consuming, with many side effects. Powerful bactericidal preparations of synthetic production are used. Course doses with 2-3 drugs are prescribed. In the process of treatment, monthly blood and urine tests are carried out, examination for mycobacterium tuberculosis. Once every two months, the patient undergoes an X-ray examination.
cervical spine cancer
The tumor can occur at any age. A neoplasm can grow from cartilage, bone, and nerve tissue. The tumor can be an independent disease or be a metastatic focus of another organ. Most often, metastases in the cervical region give cancer of the breast, prostate, lungs and stomach.
Symptoms will increase as the tumor spreads: a person has neck pain constantly, difficulties appear when tilting and turning the head. There is weakness, sweating, fatigue. Tumor growth and compression of the roots and blood vessels will lead to tremors and weakness of the arms and shoulder girdle, constant headaches, dizziness.
Treatment
To apply:
- surgical intervention - complete radical excision of the tumor in healthy tissues;
- chemotherapy - cytotoxic drugs that slow the division of tumor cells and prevent their development;
- radiation therapy - the effect on tumor cells with ionizing radiation;
- symptomatic treatment - pain relievers in the later stages of cancer, narcotic pain relievers are most used.
Spine cancer is an extremely dangerous disease, the manifestations of which are often attributed to osteochondrosis and treatment is delayed. Therefore, when cervical spine pain occurs, it is necessary to have an X-ray or MRI. This will allow you to quickly diagnose and start the proper treatment.
In the polyclinic, MRI is very rarely prescribed for financial reasons - but this examination is carried out for a fee in many private centers. It is better to pay several thousand rubles and protect yourself than to treat the disease for a long time, not knowing what the source of the problem is.