Having once felt a pain in the neck when turning the head, a person is in no hurry to see a doctor, preferring to consider this a manifestation of osteochondrosis, which is very common and even in young people.
In fact, many diseases can cause neck pain. How to get rid of this ailment? A qualified specialist will help to establish the causes of the disease, eliminate discomfort, and choose the best treatment method.
Causes
Pain in the neck when turning the head can be triggered by a variety of health problems, and they do not always relate to this particular part of the body.
Injuries
Injured intervertebral discs and joints, vertebrae, ligaments and muscles - all this can cause pain. For effective treatment, you need to contact a traumatologist who will determine the nature of the injury and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Immune System Disorders
Diseases such as spondylitis, arthritis, and rheumatic diseases can also cause neck pain when turning the head. Self-medication in such cases is unacceptable, therefore, specialist advice is necessary.
Spinal diseases
Constant pain in the neck can be felt with diseases such as osteochondrosis, osteoarthrosis. The main cause of osteochondrosis is considered a sedentary lifestyle. In addition, there is an opinion that such a disease occurs due to the natural aging of the body, as the spine begins to lose its mobility and ossifies over time.
But there are several factors that can accelerate this process. This is smoking, obesity, excessive physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle, poor posture. Special exercises will help alleviate the symptoms, but only the doctor must determine what kind of physical activity will be useful. Sometimes before starting classes it is necessary to undergo a course of treatment.
Infectious diseases
Soreness in the neck is the result of osteomyelitis, tuberculosis, polio, tetanus, meningitis and other infectious diseases. In this case, a visit to a doctor is simply necessary, and sometimes hospitalization may be necessary.
Tumors
Severe pain in the right side of the neck, which is given to the right shoulder, can cause tumors of the cervical spine. In addition, oncological diseases of the mammary glands, lungs, kidneys and thyroid gland give metastases to the spine, and this provokes the occurrence of pain in the neck. Timely diagnosis in such cases is simply necessary.
Other causes of neck pain
And, finally, neck pain on the left side, as well as on the right and behind, can be felt after a long stay in an uncomfortable position, sleep in the wrong position, from hypothermia, muscle strain. Such pains usually go away on their own. To speed up this process, it is necessary to perform simple physical exercises, working at the computer, take breaks. If possible, try not to be in the drafts and not sit under the air conditioner.
Types of neck pain
The pain in this part of the body is different:
- Acute pain in the neck and shoulders, inability to turn the head. Unpleasant sensations persist in any position of the body.
- Pain between the neck and the head. Most often, pain is felt only on one side, and becomes more intense when turning or raising the head up.
- Pain in the neck that radiates to the back.
Often a person feels numbness and pulling pains in the neck.
Front pain
Such a symptom may indicate diseases of the upper respiratory tract and throat, thyroid gland. In diseases of the throat, in addition to pain when swallowing, an increase in temperature is observed. An enlarged thyroid gland or other signs of its disease is an occasion to visit an endocrinologist.
If painful sensations intensify when turning the neck, radiating to the collarbone, when palpating, muscle soreness is felt - you need to contact a vertebrologist.
Back pain
In this case, most likely, there is a problem with the back or nervous system. It is important to accurately determine the source of pain, because on the back of the neck there is a large number of nerve fibers, muscles and ligaments.
Pain on the sides of the neck can be given to the arms, shoulders, collarbones or shoulder blades. In addition to painful sensations, a person can feel numbness and tension, stiffness in the neck, pain when trying to turn or tilt his head. When discomfort is given in the ear, dizziness and hearing problems occur - an ENT consultation is necessary.
Muscle pains occur after physical overload, hypothermia. Too severe prolonged pain requires medical attention.
Crunch and neck pain are symptoms that should alert you. This may indicate spinal problems. Such a symptom may be accompanied by swelling of the neck, headaches, etc.
Pain in a child is an occasion for immediate medical attention. If you do not start treatment in a timely manner, this can result in a deformation of the head and trunk, muscle shortening and other serious problems.
What are cervicalgia and cervicago?
Fuzzy and mild pain is called cervicalgia. Basically, it is chronic. It is difficult for a person to move, he quickly gets tired and cannot sleep normally. Cervicago is an acute neck pain that is characterized by intensity and appears suddenly. It is also called “lumbago”.
Diagnostics
An accurate description of the symptoms and nature of the pain will help the doctor in choosing research methods and making an accurate diagnosis. The age of the patient does not matter, since osteochondrosis, autoimmune and infectious diseases can occur in a person of any age.
Starting the examination, the doctor must first find out what symptoms are observed in the person and how long they appeared, under what circumstances intensify, then carefully feel the affected area.
If a person has constant pain in the neck, first of all, it is necessary to exclude thyroid gland pathologies, various tumors. For this, in addition to clinical and biochemical analyzes, it is necessary to conduct tests to determine the level of hormones and the main tumor markers.
X-ray examination will help to detect osteochondrosis and osteoarthrosis, spondylopathy, displacement of the vertebrae. If, in addition to pain in the neck, a person has dizziness, tinnitus, problems with vision and hearing, then a study using computer and magnetic resonance imaging, as well as ultrasound of the blood flow in the main vessels of the neck, angiography is necessary.
Treatment
The first question of a person who has encountered such an unpleasant symptom as neck pain: how to treat and how to get rid of the problem? In most cases, with pain in the neck, a medication is enough, which is based on painkillers. To relieve inflammation and edema, additional drugs of other groups are prescribed. You will also need courses of physiotherapy, reflexology, exercise therapy, massage. Surgical intervention is performed only in especially severe cases.
To quickly get rid of pain, local anesthetics, analgesics, hormonal drugs in the form of tablets, injections, plasters and ointments are used. In some cases, antidepressants and anticonvulsants are needed. After injuries and operations on the neck, a special collar is prescribed.
A good effect is exerted by the influence of electric current on the cervical spine, especially with the simultaneous administration of pain medications. Acupuncture also perfectly restores muscle mobility and tone.
Phonophoresis - the introduction of pain medications into the painful area using ultrasound waves - is a good way to alleviate a person’s condition.
Good results in the treatment of neck pain are given by manual therapy, which helps to relax the muscles, relieve swelling and tension in them.
Periodic aching neck pain can be a sign of weak muscles. If they are not strengthened, the problem will not disappear. In this case, physiotherapy exercises will be useful. First of all, you need to accustom yourself to do exercises in the morning. Before getting out of bed, stretch yourself well, stretching each muscle. Having risen, make rotational movements of the head, several inclinations in different directions. Exercises must be done every day, some of them can be repeated during the working day.
It is important not to stop taking care of your neck even after the end of treatment and the disappearance of pain. If your posture during work is incorrect, and you will not take breaks in work and forget about physical exercises - aching neck pain will not keep you waiting.
Surgical treatment
With a hernia of the intervertebral disc, myelopathy, radiculopathy, surgical intervention is necessary. This removes the areas of the vertebrae that are the cause of trauma to the spinal cord. Surgical intervention is rarely resorted to, since there is a high probability of complications and accidents, although the cause of pain with this method of treatment is really eliminated.
Folk methods
If the pain is not a symptom of a dangerous disease, you can use the recipes of traditional medicine to relieve pain in the neck. What to treat in this case?
Compresses from plants such as burdock, cabbage, alder, coltsfoot help relieve pain. The procedure is performed daily at night.
A decoction of willow bark of willow helps to relax muscles, relieve inflammation and pain. A similar effect is exerted by valerian.
Inside, it is useful to use an infusion of burdock root. For its preparation, it is necessary to chop the young burdock root (1 tbsp. L.), Pour 200 ml of boiling water. Insist a few hours. They drink the infusion for two weeks, half a glass three times a day.
Sometimes drawing pains in the neck is associated with a cold, in which case a compress from the cabbage leaf will help. You need to take two leaves of cabbage, grate one with laundry soap, sprinkle with baking soda and cover with a second. Then a compress is applied to the neck at night, wrapping a scarf on top.
You can make a healing ointment. To prepare it, take the yolk of one egg, a teaspoon of turpentine, a tablespoon of vinegar. The ointment is rubbed on the neck and wrapped in a warm scarf.
Potato perfectly relieves pain. You need to take a few potatoes and boil them in a peel, knead a little, attach to a sore spot and wrap a scarf on top. In order not to get burned, potatoes are applied through a tissue folded several times. It is better to do such a compress at night. After the procedure is completed, the neck is rubbed with cologne and wrapped in heat. In the morning you will feel much better.
Often in the treatment of pain, paraffin is used, which must be applied to the affected area in hot form in two layers, covered with oilcloth and wrapped. Compress hold no more than half an hour.
Prevention
In order to prevent neck pain, try to more often change the position of the body during work, get rid of bad habits and excess weight, do not forget about exercise in the morning, visit the pool, gym.
When doing physical exercises, do not overdo it, in this case, instead of a positive effect, you can get the opposite. Physical activity should be dosed, and they need to be increased gradually.
When working at a computer, you need to take care of the proper organization of the workplace. The back, neck and arms should be in a comfortable position. Make sure the monitor is parallel to the eyes. Do not forget to take a break every hour, which can be used for a small charge.
Pay attention to the pose in which you fall asleep and wake up. If you like to sleep on your stomach, then you should not be surprised that in the morning you are tormented by pain in the cervical spine. Learn to wake up and fall asleep on your back. The mattress should be hard. Also try not to be in the drafts and not to be cold.
Pain in the neck when turning the head just does not occur. Often it is caused by serious reasons, and the sooner treatment begins, the better. But the uncontrolled use of drugs that relieve pain can only do harm. Therefore, first of all, you need to see a doctor to determine the cause of pain and treatment methods.