Diagram
Neck torment is a typical grievance. Neck muscles can be stressed from poor stance — whether it's hanging over your PC or slouching over your workbench. Osteoarthritis additionally is a typical reason for neck torment.
Once in a while, neck agony can be an indication of a more major issue. Look for medicinal care if your neck torment is joined by deadness or loss of quality in your arms or hands or on the off chance that you have shooting torment into your shoulder or down your arm.
Side effects
Signs and side effects include:
Agony that is regularly exacerbated by holding your head in one place for long stretches, for example, when driving or working at a PC
Muscle snugness and fits
Diminished capacity to move your head
Cerebral pain
At the point when to see a specialist
Most neck torment enhances slowly with home treatment. If not, see your specialist.
Look for prompt care if extreme neck torment comes about because of damage, for example, an engine vehicle mishap, jumping mischance or fall.
Contact a specialist if your neck torment:
Is serious
Holds on for a few days without help
Spreads down arms or legs
Is joined by migraine, deadness, shortcoming or shivering
Demand an Appointment at Mayo Clinic
Causes
Your neck is adaptable and bolsters the heaviness of your head, so it can be powerless against wounds and conditions that reason torment and confine movement. Neck torment causes include:
Muscle strains. Abuse, for example, an excessive number of hours slouched over your PC or cell phone, regularly triggers muscle strains. Indeed, even minor things, for example, perusing in bed or gritting your teeth, can strain neck muscles.
Worn joints. Much the same as alternate joints in your body, your neck joints tend to wear out with age. Osteoarthritis causes the pads (ligament) between your bones (vertebrae) to weaken. Your body at that point frames bone goads that influence joint movement and cause torment.
Nerve pressure. Herniated circles or bone goads in the vertebrae of your neck can push on the nerves stretching out from the spinal line.
Wounds. Backside car accidents frequently result in whiplash damage, which happens when the head is yanked in reverse and afterward forward, stressing the delicate tissues of the neck.
Maladies. Certain ailments, for example, rheumatoid joint pain, meningitis or malignancy, can cause neck torment.
Counteractive action
Most neck torment is related with poor stance joined with age-related wear and tear. To help counteract neck torment, keep your head focused over your spine. Some basic changes in your day by day routine may help. Consider attempting to:
Utilize great stance. When standing and sitting, make sure your shoulders are in a straight line over your hips and your ears are straightforwardly finished your shoulders.
Take visit breaks. On the off chance that you travel long separations or work extended periods at your PC, get up, move around and extend your neck and shoulders.
Modify your work area, seat and PC with the goal that the screen is at eye level. Knees ought to be somewhat lower than hips. Utilize your seat's armrests.
Abstain from tucking the telephone between your ear and shoulder when you talk. Utilize a headset or speakerphone.
On the off chance that you smoke, quit. Smoking can put you at higher take an enormous risk torment.
Abstain from conveying overwhelming sacks with ties behind you. The weight can strain your neck.
Rest in a decent position. Your head and neck ought to be lined up with your body. Utilize a little pad under your neck. Take a stab at mulling over your back with your thighs raised on pads, which will straighten your spinal muscles.
Diagnosis
Your doctor will take a medical history and do an exam. He or she will check for tenderness, numbness and muscle weakness, as well as see how far you can move your head forward, backward and side to side.
Imaging tests
Your doctor might order imaging tests to get a better picture of the cause of your neck pain. Examples include:
- X-rays. X-rays can reveal areas in your neck where your nerves or spinal cord might be pinched by bone spurs or other degenerative changes.
- CT scan. CT scans combine X-ray images taken from many different directions to produce detailed cross-sectional views of the internal structures of your neck.
- MRI. MRI uses radio waves and a strong magnetic field to create detailed images of bones and soft tissues, including the spinal cord and the nerves coming from the spinal cord.
It's possible to have X-ray or MRI evidence of structural problems in your neck without having symptoms. Imaging studies are best used as an adjunct to a careful history and physical exam to determine the cause of your pain.
Other tests
- Electromyography (EMG). If your doctor suspects your neck pain might be related to a pinched nerve, he or she might suggest an EMG. It involves inserting fine needles through your skin into a muscle and performing tests to measure the speed of nerve conduction to determine whether specific nerves are functioning properly.
- Blood tests. Blood tests can sometimes provide evidence of inflammatory or infectious conditions that might be causing or contributing to your neck pain.
Treatment
The most common types of mild to moderate neck pain usually respond well to self-care within two or three weeks. If neck pain persists, your doctor might recommend other treatments.
Medications
Your doctor might prescribe stronger pain medicine than what you can get over-the-counter, as well as muscle relaxants and tricyclic antidepressants for pain relief.
Therapy
- Physical therapy. A physical therapist can teach you correct posture, alignment and neck-strengthening exercises, and can use heat, ice, electrical stimulation and other measures to help ease your pain and prevent a recurrence.
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). Electrodes placed on your skin near the painful areas deliver tiny electrical impulses that may relieve pain.
- Traction. Traction uses weights, pulleys or an air bladder to gently stretch your neck. This therapy, under supervision of a medical professional and physical therapist, may provide relief of some neck pain, especially pain related to nerve root irritation.
- Short-term immobilization. A soft collar that supports your neck may help relieve pain by taking pressure off the structures in your neck. However, if used for more than three hours at a time or for more than one to two weeks, a collar might do more harm than good.
Surgical and other procedures
- Steroid injections. Your doctor might inject corticosteroid medications near the nerve roots, into the small facet joints in the bones of the cervical spine or into the muscles in your neck to help with pain. Numbing medications, such as lidocaine, also can be injected to relieve your neck pain.
- Surgery. Rarely needed for neck pain, surgery might be an option for relieving nerve root or spinal cord compression.
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