The neck is, first of all, 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 vertebrae and, for example, lumbar or thoracic vertebrae, it can be noticed that the former have a much thinner body. But it is in this department that all the load from holding the head and its movements falls. Due to such a natural "injustice", it is the cervical region that often suffers from diseases and injuries, leading to the fact that a person's neck hurts when he turns his head.
Neck pain has now become one of the most common problems. They appear in people regardless of age, occupation or physical ability. More and more, patients turn to doctors with such complaints: "I can't turn my head", "My neck hurts a lot", "My neck is stiff". There are many reasons for such symptoms, it is important to diagnose correctly. Otherwise, it will be impossible to get rid of the pain quickly.
Characteristics of pain
This condition, when it hurts to turn your head, is known to many people. This happens due to pathologies of the muscles, ligaments or spine in the cervical area. Moreover, the pain does not appear only in the neck, but also in the shoulders, even in the hands, it gives in the back of the head. Other symptoms may appear: numbness, tingling, weakness, darkening of the eyes. In this case, the head cannot be turned to the side, a person must turn with his whole body.
In most cases, neck stiffness and pain last from a few days to a week. They can vary in character: shooting, breaking, burning, encirclement, slaughter. Sometimes the pain is different and in intensity: from weak, painful - to sharp, very strong. If it is not accompanied by any pathology, but appeared due to overwork or stress, it will pass even without serious treatment, only by reducing the load and anesthetic ointments.
A visit to the doctor is necessary if the neck does not stop hurting within a week, as well as when other symptoms appear. This may include numbness, tingling or crawling sensations, headache, nausea, weakness or fever. It is important to seek medical attention also if the neck suddenly hurts for no apparent reason and the stiffness increases rapidly.
Causes
Neck pain can be caused by a number of factors. More often they are associated with muscle strain or with their increased tone. This happens after physical exercise, for example, when playing sports. When a person often tilts or turns his head, lifts weights or performs high-amplitude movements with his hands, lactic acid forms in the muscles and microtrauma of the fibers occurs. The damage can be localized in the neck or collar area. This leads to pain that gets worse every time you turn your head.
Athletes are not the only ones who suffer from this problem. It often reduces the neck of loaders, builders, workers, tailors, drivers - that is, those whose professional activities are accompanied by constant overloading of the hands and collar area.
Static loads are no less dangerous for the neck. Often, waking up, a person notices that he has rested his neck. This happens because of an uncomfortable position during sleep or because of the wrong choice of bed. For example, sleeping on a bed with very soft feathers, a large or firm pillow, a hanging sofa can cause pain in the collar area. A similar situation develops when a person spends a long time in an uncomfortable position, for example, sitting with his head tilted in front of a computer or talking on the phone, pressing it to his ear with his shoulder.
In addition to muscle strain, injuries are often the cause of pain. In most people, the neck muscles are quite weak, and the cervical spine has a more fragile structure than others. Because of this, any sudden movement, a blow to the neck, or even a fall of a person can lead to damage to this area.
Suffer from injuries mainly muscles and ligaments. Most often, the muscle that runs along the back of the neck and is responsible for moving the scapula is sprained. A common occurrence is also a fusion of vertebrae or a fracture. The consequences of all injuries are severe pain that makes any movement of the head impossible.
Muscular pathologies that cause neck stiffness and pain when turning or bending over also include myositis. This is an inflammation of the muscles that occurs due to hypothermia, an infectious disease, injury or overload. The inflammation is accompanied by edema, as a result of which the mobility of the head is greatly limited. The cause of this condition can also be severe stress, which leads to muscle spasms and limits any 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, every movement causes pain, numbness or tingling in the fingers, headache, it is very important to go to the doctor. After all, most likely, such pains are a symptom of a pathology that requires special treatment.
With severe pain that limits the mobility of the neck, it is better to seek the advice of a specialist.
Most often they occur in diseases of the cervical spine. Each person has different symptoms, but pain when turning the head almost always occurs. They are some of the most common pathologies.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is now becoming more common. This is due to a sedentary lifestyle, malnutrition, increased stress on the neck muscles while sitting at the computer. Usually, with osteochondrosis, the neck hurts on the right or left side, as its cause is the violation of nerve roots.
A herniated disc or a protrusion of the disc in the cervical region is common. After all, the muscles that hold the vertebrae in the right position are weak here, and the load on the neck is always great. Therefore, the discs suffer, which, due to improper nutrition, become very fragile. As a result, the vertebrae converge and touch the nerve roots. This, as well as muscle spasms, lead to pain when turning the head.
Osteoarthritis of the intervertebral joints is less common. The elderly are mainly susceptible to it, as it is a degenerative-dystrophic process. Often arthrosis is 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.
Scoliosis and bending are not considered by many serious pathologies, 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 also be other diseases: vascular disorders, neurological pathologies or infections. Of these, meningitis is the most dangerous. This is a very rare but dangerous disease. In addition to stiffness in the neck, with 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 area can be a symptom of scalene muscle syndrome, cervical sciatica, humeroscapular periarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, vertebral artery insufficiency, occipital neuralgia. Although the manifestations of these diseases may be similar, their treatment must be different, so it is very important to diagnose correctly.
Pain in children
This condition, when it is impossible to move the head, also appears in children. Some babies are born with a pathology such as torticollis. In this case, the child's head takes a forced position - tilted to one side. This is due to the spasm of the neck muscles.
Pain when turning the head can also occur in older children. Most often this is caused by infectious diseases. It can be lymphadenitis, mumps, purulent tonsils, meningitis. It is very important to recognize the disease in time and start treatment.
Treatment
In many cases, when overwork, hypothermia or stress become the cause of such an unhealthy condition, you can relieve the pain yourself. The main thing at the same time is not to limit yourself to taking painkillers. An integrated approach is needed: it is necessary to limit the mobility of the head with the help of orthopedic devices, massage is useful, special gymnastics, rubbing oils or applying compresses.
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.
Different therapeutic measures depend on the cause of the pain, but there are some that apply in every case:
- Medicines to relieve pain, inflammation, muscle spasms, to improve blood circulation and metabolic processes.
- Rest for a few days, immobilization of the neck with a Shants collar or a more rigid orthosis is sometimes indicated, which will help speed up the healing of damaged tissues.
- Cold or warm compresses.
- Massage, rubbing ointment.
- Physiotherapy.
The treatment of this pathology must be complex, necessarily including massage or manual therapy.
Medical therapy
Many people, when they do not know what to do to get rid of the pain when they turn their head, start drinking sedatives. Sometimes this helps if such a condition is not accompanied by a serious illness. But it is worth remembering that no analgesic or NSAID should be taken without consulting a doctor for more than 3-5 days. Therefore, if the pain does not go away during this time, it is better to consult a specialist.
Moreover, in many cases, only pain relief will not help to restore mobility in the neck, as it is still necessary to relieve muscle spasms, normalize blood circulation and relieve inflammation.
Therefore, in such cases, a complex of drugs is usually prescribed:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve pain and inflammation.
- Muscle relaxants to relieve muscle spasms.
- Chondroprotectors help to restore cartilage tissue, improve the mobility of the spine.
- Different ointments relieve pain, inflammation, warm and relax.
- Multivitamins compensate for vitamin deficiencies.
Physiotherapy treatment
In addition to medication, the treatment of neck pain necessarily includes other methods. Most often, massage is prescribed, which helps to relax the muscles, improves the mobility of the neck. Manual therapy is effective, but in this department it should be applied very carefully. In addition, spinal traction is sometimes indicated. This method helps well with nerve fiber damage, osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernia.
For any pathology, physiotherapy is effective. It can be electrophoresis, UHF, laser, magnetotherapy, paraffin applications, acupuncture. Useful mud applications, therapeutic baths. These procedures normalize muscle tone, improve blood circulation and metabolic processes and have a general strengthening effect.
And therapeutic exercises will help to consolidate the result of the treatment and restore the range of motion. Begin to perform special exercises after the pain and inflammation subside. 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 a pathology is treated at home. Therefore, many patients, in addition to the methods prescribed by the doctor, use various folk recipes.
- A bag of hot salt warms the neck well with muscle spasms.
- Pour boiling water over a sheet of horseradish, after it cools down, stick it to your neck and wrap it with a scarf. You can leave the compress overnight if there is no strong burning sensation.
- Similarly, a compress is made from burdock or cabbage leaves.
- Mix 50 g of honey and vodka, add 2 spoons of fine salt and some grated horseradish. When the mass becomes homogeneous, use it to rub the neck.
- An effective heating compress is made from 300 ml of alcohol, 10 ml of camphor and a vial of iodine.
- Mix yolk, camphor alcohol, vodka and mustard powder. Rub your neck before going to bed.
- If you mix crushed ginger root, some 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 well and calms down.
By itself, the neck will not stop hurting, its mobility will not be restored. Therefore, it is better to immediately consult a doctor and start the appropriate treatment than to constantly suffer from the inability to turn your head.