Neck Pain
Neck pain is a very common complaint among people, the reason behind the pain may be the ligament, muscles or the bones. There are 7 bones in your neck called cervical spine and connect the skull to the thoracic spine.
There are many factors that can cause neck pain like wrong posture, and disease like osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. The most common reason behind neck pain is muscle stiffness.
Causes of pain in neck
- Wrong posture
- Long time desk work without changing the position
- Wrong posture of neck while sleep
- Muscle stiffness
- Jerk in the neck while exercises or high impact activities
- Any injury to the neck
- Any trauma like a car accident causes tears of ligament and muscles. Sometimes there is fracture of neck (cervical) bones called whiplash injury
- There are conditions like- Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, Heart attack, meningitis and spinal stenosis
- Neural compression
Symptoms
- Neck pain itself a symptom, but if it lasts for more than a week then you also have to observe if there are other symptoms also like
- Severe pain in neck, without any known cause
- Fever
- Visible or palpable lump in the neck
- Swelling of glands present in neck
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Radiating pain in the arms
- Reduced neck movement
- Pain increases with neck movement
- Muscular spasm of neck and shoulder muscle
- Tenderness and muscle stiffness
- You may experience difficulty in breathing and swallowing
Diagnosis
- Physical examination by your doctor and your medical history will help your doctor to make a proper diagnosis
- X-Ray is suggested to check the bones of the neck and their position. Fractures and any other bony problems like bone spurs are also visible in x-ray.
- MRI or CT scan can also suggested by your doctor to check the soft tissue injury and neural compression
- Sometimes blood investigations are also prescribe by your doctor to check any inflammation
Treatment
- How to get rid of neck pain?
- Ice and heat therapy to the muscles around your neck
- Medications like pain killers, muscle relaxant
- Neck support like cervical collar
- Traction to the neck bones
- If neck pain is due to any condition or disease than treat the underlying cause
- Steroids injections are given in some cases to reduce pain
- Surgery is rarely required
- Physical therapy for neck pain
- Exercises to improve the range of movement. Stretching exercises will also help with pain. Strengthening of neck muscles to improve the stability.
- Posture correction
