Neck pain can be from a banal overexertion, and maybe from serious diseases.
Neck problems are usually characterized by severe pain and difficulty when trying to turn the head to the side. Most often, the ailment is accompanied by a spasm in the head or shoulder. The most common neck pain problems are muscle tension or soft tissue sprains, but let’s take a closer look at this.
Muscle strain (myalgia) is the most common cause of neck pain, it can occur due to several factors:
– sleeping in the wrong position or on the wrong pillow (you can check this by sleeping a few nights without it or by replacing it with another one). The pillow should be from 10 to 14 centimeters high, and its shape is selected according to habits: if you sleep on your back, then the usual one will do, if on the back and stomach – with rollers, on the side – with a recess for the shoulder;
– a fall or injury in the neck and head. In this case, it is best to seek immediate help from doctors who will prescribe the correct treatment;
– overstrain of the neck muscles, for example, during crawl swimming, when you constantly move your head to the right and then to the left;
– stoop, which is a consequence of the incorrect position of the neck (it is directed forward) when working with a computer or telephone. “First of all, this applies to smartphones: at any free moment we are used to looking at the phone, and this is an extremely wrong position for the neck. A huge load on the vertebrae leads to pinching, which in turn affects neck pain, migraines, dizziness, ”explains Wu Shi Chen, Doctor of Chinese Medicine at the Beauty Time clinic.
Cervical osteochondrosis – this disease occurs when metabolic processes in the spine are disrupted, and this leads to the fact that the intervertebral discs are erased. Because of this, the vertebrae become very close to each other and pinch the nerves – this is the cause of the pain. The cause of the disease is constant stress, low physical activity, trauma, genetic predisposition. Cervical osteochondrosis is accompanied by pain in the neck, which worsens at rest; annoying and persistent headaches, nausea and vomiting, surges in blood pressure.
Disease of internal organs can sometimes be the result of neck pain. We all know that all our organs are interconnected, so a spasm in the neck can come from pain in the heart, brain, blood vessels and lungs. Only a specialist will help to find out about this.
“There are often cases when the neck begins to hurt not because of problems with it, but for example, due to an injury to the knee or another part of the body. Muscle tension can “give” exactly to the neck. This can be determined using an osteopathic test, which must be carried out by a doctor or masseur, ”comments Mikhail Tchaikovsky, body specialist of the Clinic of German Medical Technologies GMTClinic.
Neck and back disease, which become frequent companions of office workers, can develop into myofascial syndrome, which appears along with the development of spasm in the muscle. This spasm leads to the fact that the muscles become denser, become like bumps. It is very easy to determine that you have myofascinal syndrome – when you press on the sore area, a person literally cannot hold back screaming and tears.
Intervertebral hernia can be recognized if you have pain not only in your neck, but also in your entire upper back. It develops as a result of already acquired osteochondrosis. The point is that a thinned disc, sandwiched between two vertebrae, breaks, and all its contents bulge outward.
Frequent stress and hypothermia can also be the main cause of pain. Occipital neuralgia accompanied not only by pain in the neck, since this is where this nerve is located, but also by a headache.
Myositis – inflammation of muscle tissue, which can also occur due to drafts or long walks in the cold. It is literally impossible to turn your head in different directions with this disease, and pain can spread not only in the neck, but also in the forehead and temples.
If the pain in the neck has become a consequence of some disease, then it is necessary to undergo an examination, after which the doctor prescribes medications that will relieve pain, and, depending on the diagnosis, warm up the neck muscles. Another common method is ultrasound therapy, which relieves spasms by administering analgesics using phonophoresis.
For minor pain in the neck, which are the result of overstrain, massages help. “I prescribe osteopathic treatment to my patients, and according to ancient Chinese techniques, sometimes needles need to be connected. On average, it takes 5 to 10 sessions to fix the problem, ”comments Wu Shi Chen, Doctor of Chinese Medicine at the Beauty Time clinic.
Special exercises for the muscles of the neck can also help, with the help of which you can strengthen them and prevent the shift of the vertebrae.
Most Effective Exercises:
1. Elementary head bends back and forth. Lower your head so that your eyes are directed to the ceiling, then slowly lower your head down, trying to touch the collarbones. Repeat the exercise 3-5 times.
2. Turns the head left and right. With an exhalation, smoothly turn your head to the left, try to look as far as possible. Hold your breath for 5 seconds and remain in this position. Then repeat the same on the other side. Repeat 3-5 times.
3. Taking the neck back. This exercise will relieve tension and put the vertebrae in place: move your head back as far as possible (without throwing it back), you need to stretch your chin towards the neck, so you should get a double chin. Repeat 5-10 times.
4. Lower your chin down, trying to reach the collarbone, relax your neck muscles. Then move your chin to the right side, and then to the left, as if your head is a pendulum. Increase the amplitude each time. Do the exercise 7 times in each direction.
“Exercises like this will help relax the muscles in the neck so that muscle pain will go away as quickly as possible. If you repeat them every day, then there is a high probability that you will have neck problems much less often, ”advises Mikhail Tchaikovsky, body specialist at GMTClinic Clinic of German Medical Technologies.
Folk ways
Folk remedies will not cure neck pain, but they can relieve tension. Most often, our grandmothers made themselves compresses, for example, from cabbage leaves, coltsfoot and burdock. The listed herbs must be chopped, put on the place where it hurts, and wrapped in a warm scarf. It is necessary to make such a compress at night for a week.
Another recipe: put burdock or horseradish leaves on a steam bath, when they are warm, attach to the neck and secure with a handkerchief. You need to walk with such a compress for about an hour.
You can also make your own ointment. To do this, pour the red pepper pods with vegetable oil. After that, this mixture must be insisted for a week, and then rubbed into the skin.