What should I do if my neck hurts?

Various back or side neck pains can occur suddenly and always cause considerable discomfort. Particular vigilance should be caused by a strong, constant painful feeling. Neck pain and upper back pain can also be accompanied by other clinical signs, such as heaviness at the back of the head, fatigue, fatigue, headache, and restricted mobility.

If the pain syndrome lasts for more than a week, and the treatment performed does not achieve the expected results, you should seek professional medical help. Don't deprive yourself of the opportunity to get rid of pain quickly and effectively.

the reason

Many people want to know why the neck hurts? As practical experience shows, there may be many reasons for this. Clarification of such issues should only be handled by specialists, because the correctness of treatment directly depends on this. The most common causes of frequent serious injuries to the back and sides of the neck:

1. Cervical pathology (various injuries, bruises, displacement, intervertebral hernia, osteochondrosis, spondylosis, etc. ).
2. Atrophy of neck muscles.
3. Great physical exercise.
4. Being in an uncomfortable position for a long time (for example, sleeping in a sitting position).
5. Cervical sciatica.
6. Muscle stretching (sudden head movement, improper movement).

It has been established that even ordinary scoliosis can cause pain.

Cervical pathology

If the patient complains that his neck and upper back are often severely injured, then the pathology of the cervical spine must be ruled out first.

Special attention should be paid to osteochondrosis and spondylopathy. Today, these are the two most common diseases of the spine. In addition to injuries and injuries, these injuries can also cause severe pain and discomfort in the neck and upper shoulder straps. Features of pain syndrome in cervical degenerative dystrophy pathology:

• Even if the patient tries to stay still, the pain can be seen at rest.
• Usually, it is difficult for them to choose a location where they will not feel obvious pain.
• Almost always noticed cervical spine movement limitation.
• The slight pressure on the cervical vertebrae can increase the pain.

Cervical muscular dystrophy

The pathological state accompanied by tight compression of muscle fibers with violation of local blood circulation is called myocoagulopathy. Generally, the motivating factors are:

• Hypothermia and freezing.
• The draft is blowing.
• An uncomfortable posture for a long time.
• Physical fatigue (excessive stress).

Most experts believe that after muscle inflammation, muscular dystrophy should be considered a complication. It should be noted that it not only manifests as pain, but also problems with muscle relaxation, increased tone and limited activity. In addition, the pain often extends to the upper back and shoulder straps. If inositol gel syndrome is not treated, you are at risk of worsening your health, because the disease tends to develop and become a chronic disease.

If you do not know the real cause of the neck injury, it is best to consult a specialist immediately.

Cervical sciatica

Pinching the nerve roots of the spinal cord at the level of the cervical spine can cause sciatica. According to clinical practice, in most cases, osteochondrosis is the cause of this pathological development. With sciatica, patients will notice neck injuries and burns, so it is impossible to touch it from behind or from the side. What are the clinical manifestations observed from cervical nerve root damage in the spinal cord:

• Seriously, constantly hurting the neck, shoulders, bones, and shoulder straps.
• Usually, the movement of the head, arms, and upper body will exacerbate the pain.
• The neck muscles are too tight.
• Violation of sensitivity in the hands (numbness, tingling, etc. ).
• Weakness of the upper limbs.
• dizziness.
• headache.
• Fatigue increased.

Creek

Although the pain syndrome is serious, compared with other diseases that cause neck and upper back pain, muscle strain is still considered to be one of the mildest pathologies and can be cured quickly. Injuries, poor athletic performance and increased stress can cause muscles to stretch. What complaints will the patient express at the same time:

• The neck, the back of the head and the upper shoulder straps are painfully painful.
• Excessive muscle tension limits the mobility of the head and cervical spine.
• Systemic diseases (physical discomfort, weakness, fatigue appearing).
• The neck hurts when you turn your head.

Diagnostic procedure

If the specific cause of the pain in the cervical region is not found, it is very difficult to completely eliminate this pathological symptom. If we only eliminate the painful feeling, instead of eliminating the cause of the pain, then we can only count on a temporary improvement in this situation. Modern diagnostic methods allow you to quickly narrow down the range of possible causes and hurt your neck from the back, side or both sides. Generally, the following tools are used for research:

1. Standard X-ray inspection.
2. Ultrasonography.
3. Electrocardiogram.
4. EMG.
5. Magnetic resonance imaging.

treatment

What should I do if my neck hurts? Even at home, you can take some remedies to relieve the pain. If you associate the pain with an injury or muscle strain, a cold compress is recommended within the first 48 hours.

A very effective remedy is to apply ice or cold objects to the neck every few hours for about 15 minutes. In order to avoid cold burns caused by contact with ice, it is necessary to exclude direct contact with the skin. To do this, put ice or extremely cold objects in a plastic bag, wrap it in a less dense cloth, and then apply it to the surface of the skin.

After two days, they switched to hot compresses. You can use regular plastic hot water bottles or rubber heating pads. The compress time should not exceed 20-30 minutes. This process can be repeated every 2 hours. In addition, let the sore muscles get adequate rest. For the first time after an injury or sprain, go to bed often and try to relax your neck muscles. When lying on your back, tension can be relieved to the greatest extent. In the acute phase, it can be useful to restrict yourself from participating in various sports activities. Take a break from exercise.

Don’t forget that resting for a long time helps weaken the muscles of the neck and shoulder straps. Once the normal rhythm is restored, it is easy to get a new stretch of the weakened muscles. Alternating a certain amount of physical activity and good rest is considered the best option, but only if there is no severe pain. The traditional methods of pain management are as follows:

1. medical treatement.
2. Local treatment.
3. Physiotherapy procedures.
4. Manual therapy.
5. massage
6. physiotherapy.

Discuss with your healthcare professional what to do if you have a neck injury.

medical treatement

Analgesics help quickly relieve neck pain of various intensities. Today, many of these drugs can be purchased in pharmacies without a doctor's prescription. However, it should be remembered that most of these drugs have considerable side effects and contraindications. Therefore, the intake of any medicine must be coordinated with experts. Most commonly, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used as analgesics.

Many clinical studies have shown that taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can cause many adverse reactions. Most problems are related to erosions and ulcerative damage of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, often accompanied by pain syndrome, the neck muscles are significantly tightened. In order to relieve muscle cramps, it is recommended to use muscle relaxants.

Local therapy

Local treatments have been shown to be beneficial in controlling pain in the neck and upper back. Generally, various medicinal ointments, gels and creams with obvious analgesic effects are used. Certain types of drugs are very popular as topical agents.

The mechanism of analgesia is different and depends on the active ingredients in the ointment, gel or cream. Only a qualified doctor can tell you which medicine is best for your situation. Accompanied by severe pain, it brings considerable discomfort, and sometimes novocaine blockers are prescribed. Medical dressings have also proven to be effective. The average time for this process is about 30 minutes. In order to obtain the desired result, a total of at least 7-8 processes must be performed.

If you are not sure what to do when your neck and upper back are injured, it is best to consult a specialist first.

physiotherapy

In most cases, actively participate in physical therapy, including various procedures, massage and physical therapy exercises. Years of experience has shown that the following physical therapies can effectively eliminate pain:

1. Electrophoresis.
2. Ultrasound treatment.
3. electrotherapy.
4. magnet.
5. laser.
6. acupuncture.

Exercise therapy and massage

For almost any disease or pathological condition, therapeutic exercise and massage are necessary components of complex therapy. However, many people forget that they can only be used after the acute period has passed. Severe pain syndrome is considered a contraindication to exercise therapy and massage. An example of a basic set of physical exercises to relax and strengthen the cervical muscles:

• You can stand or sit down. The most important thing is to keep your back straight. Hands should be relaxed and put down. Perform 10 head tilts, first tilting to one side, then tilting to the other side. Maintain a steady movement speed and do not move suddenly.
• The situation is similar. We tilted our head down and tried to touch the front surface of our chest with our chin. The number of repetitions is 10 times.
• The situation is similar. We imitated the duck to move its head back and forth. The number of repetitions in each direction is 10 times.
• The head moves slowly in a circular motion. If there is pain, we will stop exercising.
• We sit in chairs. Place the palm of your hand on your forehead. We leaned forward while trying to resist with our palms. Exercise helps strengthen the anterior neck muscles. You can also place your palms on the left, right and back and tilt your head to the appropriate side.
• Stand up straight. Relax your arms and place them on your body. We first tilt the head to one side, while lifting the shoulders, and then tilt to the other side. The number of repetitions is 10-12 times.

After a brief introduction by a physiotherapist or other expert, you can regularly perform treatment exercises and self-massage on the collar area at home without any problems.

National Science

Traditional medicine has firmly established a fact in our lives, which is hard to argue. However, if you are not sure where a particular folk remedy comes from, it is not recommended to use it in treatment. In clinical practice, many doctors have seen the serious consequences of abuse of non-traditional treatment methods more than once. In some cases, certain folk remedies can be used to get rid of pain only after consulting a doctor. Specifically for you, we introduce several traditional medicine recipes:

1. You can apply ordinary fresh cabbage leaves to the painful area. no time limit. Dressings made from cabbage leaves also have good results.
2. Rub honey. Massage honey is rubbed into the patient's most painful neck.
3. The mustard salt is compressed. When cooking, you need one kilogram of salt, one spoon of mustard powder and 100 milliliters of water. Pour all the ingredients into the pot and heat for 5 minutes. Then pour the mixture into a paper towel bag and place it on the painful neck area. To enhance the effect, you can wrap a warm cloth (such as a scarf) around your neck.

prevention

In many cases, it can prevent very unpleasant pain in the neck. For this reason, it is necessary to avoid all kinds of injuries, muscle strain and heavy physical labor. Freezing or too cold is very undesirable. It is also recommended that you do active exercise, but do not harm your health. Do not start chronic diseases, especially degenerative dystrophic pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. At least one comprehensive medical examination should be conducted every year.