Above all, the neck is the most mobile part of the spine, which is responsible for the movements and turns of the head. But if we compare the structure of cervical and, for example, lumbar or thoracic vertebrae, it can be concluded that the former have much thinner bodies. But all the burden of maintaining the head and movements falls on this class. Due to such natural "unfairness", the neck region often suffers from diseases and injuries, which leads to the fact that a person's neck hurts when he turns his head.
Neck pain is one of the most common problems today. They occur in people regardless of age, occupation or physical fitness. More and more often, patients come to the doctor with such complaints: "I can't turn my head", "My neck hurts a lot", "My neck is cramping". There are many reasons for such symptoms, the correct diagnosis is important. Otherwise, it is impossible to get rid of the pain quickly.
Characteristics of pain
This condition, when it hurts to turn your head, is familiar to many. This occurs due to pathologies of the muscles, ligaments or spine in the cervical collar zone. Moreover, the pain appears not only in the neck, but also in the shoulders, even in the hands, at the back of the head. Other symptoms may also appear: numbness, tingling, weakness, darkening of the eyes. In such cases, the head cannot be turned to the side, the person must turn with his whole body.
In most cases, neck stiffness and pain last from a few days to a week. They can be different in nature: shooting, breaking, burning, fencing, stabbing. Sometimes the pain varies in intensity: weak, aching - sharp, very strong. If it is not associated with any pathology, but appeared due to overload or stress, it will go away without serious treatment, just by reducing the load and using anesthetic ointments.
A doctor's visit is necessary if the neck does not go away within a week and also if other symptoms appear. This may include numbness, tingling or crawling sensations, headache, nausea, weakness, or fever. It is also important to see a doctor if the neck suddenly hurts for no apparent reason and stiffness builds up quickly.
Cause
Neck pain can be caused by many factors. They are most often associated with muscle tension or increased tone. This happens after physical exertion, for example during sports. When a person often tilts or turns his head, lifts weights or makes large-amplitude movements with his hands, lactic acid is formed in the muscles and microtrauma of the fibers occurs. The damage can be localized in the neck or collar. This leads to pain that gets worse every time you turn your head.
It is not only athletes who suffer from this problem. It often reduces the necks of loaders, builders, workers, seamstresses, drivers - that is, those whose professional activities involve constant overloading of the hands and collar zone.
Static load is no less dangerous for the neck. Often, upon waking up, you notice that you have rested your neck. This occurs due to an uncomfortable position during sleep or incorrect selection of bedding. For example, sleeping on a feather bed that is too soft, a large or hard pillow, or a sagged couch can cause pain in the collar area. A similar situation arises if a person spends a long time in an uncomfortable position, for example sitting hunched in front of the computer or talking on the phone, pressing his shoulder against his ear.
In addition to muscle strain, pain is often caused by injuries. In most people, the muscles of the neck are quite weak, and the structure of the cervical spine is more vulnerable than others. For this reason, any sudden movement, a blow to the neck or even a fall can cause injury in this area.
They mainly suffer from injuries to muscles and ligaments. Most often, the muscle that runs on the back of the neck and is responsible for the movement of the scapula is twitched. A common occurrence is a mixture or fracture of the vertebrae. Any injury results in severe pain that makes any movement of the head impossible.
Muscle pathologies that cause stiffness in the neck and pain when turning or tilting include myositis. This is an inflammation of the muscles that develops as a result of hypothermia, infectious disease, injury or overuse. The inflammation is accompanied by edema, as a result of which the mobility of the head is severely limited. The cause of this condition can even be severe stress, which leads to muscle spasms and restricts the movement of the head.
What diseases appear
There are more serious reasons for this problem. If the pain does not go away after a few days, any movement causes pain, numbness or tingling in the fingers, headache, it is very important to see a doctor. After all, such pains are probably a symptom of a pathology that requires special treatment.
In case of severe pain that limits the mobility of the neck, it is better to seek the advice of a specialist.
They most often occur in diseases of the cervical spine. Everyone has different symptoms, but pain is almost always present when turning the head. There are the most common pathologies.
Today, osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is becoming more and more common. The reason for this is a sedentary lifestyle, malnutrition, increased strain on the neck muscles while sitting in front of the computer. Usually, with osteochondrosis, the neck hurts on the right or left side, as this is due to damage to the nerve roots.
Disc herniation or disc protrusion in the neck region is common. After all, the muscles that keep the vertebrae in the right position are weak here, and the load on the neck is always high. Therefore, the discs suffer, which become very fragile due to improper nutrition. As a result, the vertebrae fuse together and damage the nerve roots. This, along with muscle spasms, causes pain when turning the head.
Arthrosis of the intervertebral joints is less common. The elderly are mostly susceptible to it, as it is a degenerative-dystrophic process. Arthrosis is often accompanied by a narrowing of the spinal canal and the appearance of bone growths near the vertebrae. Because of this, some patients cannot move their head at all.
Many people do not consider scoliosis and stooping to be a serious pathology, but they can also cause pain and stiffness. Due to the incorrect position of the spine, the increased load falls on one side of the neck. As a result, the pain appears only on the right or left side.
The cause of this condition can be other diseases: vascular disorders, neurological pathologies or infections. Of these, meningitis is the most dangerous. This is a fairly rare disease, but it is dangerous. In addition to neck stiffness, in the case of meningitis, a person has a headache, nausea, weakness, and the temperature may rise. One such disease is meningococcal disease.
Pain and stiffness in the neck-collar zone can be symptoms of psoriasis syndrome, cervical sciatica, humeroscapular periarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, vertebral artery insufficiency, neuralgia of the occipital nerve. Although the manifestations of these diseases may be similar, their treatment must be different, so correct diagnosis is very important.
Pain in children
This condition, when it is impossible to move the head, occurs even in children. Some babies are born with a pathology such as torticollis. In this case, the child's head is in a forced position - tilted to the side. This is caused by a spasm of the neck muscles.
Pain when turning the head can also occur in older children. This is most often caused by infectious diseases. It can be lymphangitis, mumps, purulent tonsillitis, meningitis. It is very important to recognize the disease in time and start treatment.
Treatment
In many cases, when such an unhealthy condition is caused by overwork, hypothermia or stress, you can relieve the pain yourself. However, the main thing is not to limit yourself to taking painkillers. An integrated approach is necessary: the mobility of the head must be limited with the help of orthopedic devices, massage, special exercises, rubbing in ointments or poultices are useful.
But if such pains are a symptom of any disease, only a doctor can determine how to treat them correctly. After all, it is very important not only to carry out symptomatic therapy, but also to treat the underlying pathology.
Various therapeutic measures depend on the cause of the pain, but there are some that apply in all cases:
- Medicines that relieve pain, inflammation, muscle spasms, and improve blood circulation and metabolic processes.
- Rest for several days, sometimes immobilization of the neck with a Shants collar or a more rigid orthosis is recommended, which helps to speed up the healing of damaged tissues.
- Cold or warm poultice.
- Massage, rubbing ointments.
- Physiotherapy.
The treatment of this pathology must be complex, necessarily involving massage or manual therapy.
Medical therapy
Many people, when they don't know what to do to get rid of the pain when they turn their heads, start drinking painkillers. Sometimes this helps if such a condition is not accompanied by a serious illness. But it must not be forgotten that no pain reliever or NSAID should be taken for more than 3-5 days without consulting a doctor. Therefore, if the pain does not go away during this time, it is better to consult a specialist.
In addition, in many cases, pain relief alone does not help to restore neck mobility, as it is still necessary to relieve muscle spasms, normalize blood circulation, and reduce inflammation.
Therefore, in such cases, a drug complex is usually prescribed:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve pain and inflammation.
- Muscle relaxants to relieve muscle spasms.
- Chondroprotectors help to restore the cartilage tissue and improve the mobility of the spine.
- Various ointments relieve pain, inflammation, warm and relax.
- Multivitamins replace vitamin deficiencies.
Physiotherapy treatment
Treatment of neck pain necessarily includes other methods in addition to drugs. Massage is most often prescribed, which helps relax the muscles and improves the mobility of the neck. Manual therapy is effective but should be used very carefully in this department. In addition, traction of the spine can sometimes be indicated. This method helps well with damage to nerve fibers, osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernia.
Physiotherapy is effective for any pathology. It can be electrophoresis, UHF, laser, magnetotherapy, paraffin applications, acupuncture. Useful mud applications, spas. These procedures normalize muscle tone, improve blood circulation and metabolic processes, and have a general strengthening effect.
And the therapeutic exercises help consolidate the results of the treatment and restore the range of motion. After the pain and inflammation subside, start doing special exercises. They strengthen muscles, increase mobility and prevent muscle spasms. All exercises are performed slowly, without sudden movements, avoiding the appearance of pain.
Folk remedies
Such pathology is treated at home. Therefore, many patients use various folk recipes in addition to the methods prescribed by the doctor.
- A bag of heated salt is good for warming the neck from muscle spasms.
- Pour boiling water over a sheet of horseradish, after cooling, fasten it to the neck and wrap it with a scarf. If there is no strong burning sensation, you can leave the poultice overnight.
- In a similar way, poultices are made from burdock or cabbage leaves.
- Mix 50 g of honey and vodka, add 2 tablespoons of fine salt and a little grated horseradish. When the mass becomes homogeneous, rub the neck with it.
- An effective warming poultice is made from 300 ml of alcohol, 10 ml of camphor and a vial of iodine.
- Mix the yolk, camphor alcohol, vodka and mustard powder. Rub your neck before going to bed.
- If you mix crushed ginger root, a little garlic and butter, this ointment will help you get rid of cramps quickly.
- A drink of aloe juice and black radish, mixed with honey, relaxes and calms you down.
By itself, the neck does not stop the pain, its mobility is not restored. Therefore, it is better to see a doctor immediately and start the appropriate treatment than to suffer constantly from not being able to turn your head.