Cervicalgia - what is it? Cervicalgia: symptoms, treatment

Pain in the neck - today for many of us a habitual business. The reasons for this are varied: lack of movement, sedentary work, neglect of physical exercises and much more. Unpleasant soreness, localized in the neck, is called "cervicalgia." What is it, what are the causes and ways of treating this condition? Let's consider these questions in the article.

Causes

Why there are pains in the neck? The causes of cervicalgia are manifold. It can be various rheumatological, traumatological, neurological and other ailments.

Most often cervicalgia, the treatment of which will be described below, develops as a result of the following degenerative diseases:

• Spondylosis;

• Osteochondrosis;

• Hernia, protrusion of the intervertebral disc;

• Arthrosis of the facet joints;

• Dysfunction of arcuate joints;

• Myofascial syndrome and others.

The cervical region is often affected by rheumatological diseases, for example, ankylosing spondylitis (Bekhterev's disease). Injuries to the cervical spine (fractures, dislocations, sprains) can also cause pain in the neck. The causes of less common are osteomyelitis and oncological diseases.

The provoking factors of the appearance of painful sensations can be:

• Sedentary, "sofa" lifestyle;

• Wrong position of the body during sleep;

• Excessive physical activity;

• Weight lifting;

• Hypothermia;

• Violation of posture;

• Malnutrition;

• Obesity, metabolic disorders;

• bad habits;

• mental disorders;

• Frequent stress.

Often this phenomenon develops against the background of such a disease as osteochondrosis. Cervicalgia in this case provokes an excessive strain of the muscles of the neck. As a result, the mobility of this part of the body is greatly reduced. Also, cervicalgia syndrome is accompanied by autonomic dysfunction, dizziness, blurred vision.

Kinds

This ailment is of two types:

1. Vertebrogenic (or vertebral) cervicalgia. It occurs due to diseases of the cervical spine, such as the intervertebral hernia, spondylosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and others.

2. Nonvertebrogenic cervicalgia. What it is? This form of pain develops due to stretching of muscles and ligaments, myositis, fibromyalgia, neuralgia. In addition, such a condition can arise as a result of epidural abscess, meningitis, thrombosis, subarachnoid hemorrhage, zagrug abscess and the like.

Vertebral cervicalgia is divided into spondylogic and discogenic. Symptoms depend on the disease, which is the root cause. We will talk about them further.

Osteochondrosis

Cervical osteochondrosis is characterized by dull, often constant pain in the neck, radiating into the arm, shoulder, neck. Due to the degenerative process, the vertebral artery can be compressed, which leads to the development of vertebral artery syndrome. In this case, there will be a noise in the head, dizziness, flashing of "flies", sometimes severe headaches may appear.

With an awkward movement of the neck, there is pain, which increases the movement of the head. Muscles become "wooden", with palpation there is a sharp soreness. Sometimes the process can go to the hand, then the shoulder-scapular periarthritis develops.

Hernia and protrusion

As a result of the degenerative process in the cartilaginous tissue, a partial or complete destruction of the elastic membrane of the fibrous ring occurs. Partial destruction, characterized by displacement of the pulpous nucleus from the central position to the outside, is called protrusion, and the total destruction, at which the nucleus exits, is a disc herniation. And in one, and in the other case, immediate treatment is required.

Spondylosis

This is another ailment, the consequence of which is cervicalgia. Symptoms arise due to the fact that osteogenesis (formation of bone cells) is disturbed, and therefore osteophytes (growths) grow along the vertebral margin. When you move, you hear a crunch in the cervical region. When squeezing the vertebral arteries with osteophytes, dizziness and an unrestrained headache appear .

Spondylolisthesis

The displacement of the superior vertebra relative to the inferior vertebra develops as a result of pronounced destruction of the cartilaginous tissue. Due to the displacement, some instability of the spine appears. With an awkward movement, cervikago arises (spasm of neck muscles). Also often enough in the upper extremities there is a violation of sensitivity (paresthesia).

Osteomyelitis

This pathology is infrequent in the cervical region. Basically, the infection penetrates into the bone tissue by a hematogenous way (with blood flow). In addition to painful sensations, the body temperature rises above 38 ° C. The pain in this case has a pulsating character, puffiness and soreness of the surrounding tissues is noted. In some cases, osteomyelitis develops imperceptibly, and the only permanent sign will be cervicalgia. Symptoms of intoxication may be absent.

Ankylosing spondylitis

Bechterew's disease is the most common rheumatological pathology affecting the spine. This is a kind of arthritis, which is characterized by the defeat of small intervertebral joints. The disease is manifested with pain and stiffness when moving. With further destruction of the tissues a stable block is formed, in the affected joints the motion is completely absent.

Chronic pain

After traumas with chronic inflammation of the connective tissue, chronic pain develops, which is more like a discomfort in the neck that occurs in a state of rest and movement. In this case, the intensity and tenderness of muscles is noted. After sharp slopes of the head, manifestations intensify.

Oncological disease

Isolate cartilaginous and bone-forming tumors of the spine. They can be both malignant and benign. The growth of the tumor affects its appearance. In the initial stage, the tumor manifests as unstable localized or common pain. The syndrome of cervicalgia develops after a few years.

Cervicalgia with muscular-tonic syndrome

Muscular-tonic syndrome is characterized by the appearance of pain in the cervical spine. Also there is a restriction of mobility of the neck, tenderness and spasm of the muscles of the neck. In some cases, there may be a visual disturbance and dizziness. The disease develops most often all at once. More susceptible to such pathology adults, in childhood, the syndrome is rare. A characteristic symptom of this condition is aching pain, which can spread to large areas of the patient's body. Vertebrogenic cervicalgia with a muscular-tonic syndrome can cause the formation of a humeropathy periarthrosis. In this condition, the tissues surrounding the shoulder joint are affected.

Therapeutic events

It was explained above why cervicalgia arises, what it is and what symptoms it shows. Now let us examine the principles of treatment of the disease.

First of all, it is necessary to establish the true causes of this state. For the diagnosis, computer and magnetic resonance imaging is used. In addition, today in all medical centers there are conditions for carrying out a traditional X-ray study.

Treatment of cervicalgia in osteochondrosis consists of two stages. The first is pain relief, the second - self-medication.

An acute period of cervicalgia requires drug therapy, which includes the use of nonsteroidal drugs that have an anti-inflammatory effect. It is prescribed to take medications in the form of tablets (for example, "Aeralt"), local drugs (for example, "Nayz Gel"), injections (for example, "Instenon"). In addition, the specialist appoints corticosteroids, which should be taken in conjunction with an anesthetic.

To eliminate the myofilation of the spine, reflexotherapy is used. These procedures are complemented by a wellness massage and physiotherapy. Such treatment is carried out after the disease subsides. At the stage of remission, the painful syndrome can be helped by manual therapy, spinal traction, physiotherapeutic and other non-medicament methods.

Cervicalgia often develops against the background of osteochondrosis, so the cure of the latter will help get rid of neck pain. Naturally, if the treatment is constantly postponed, the pain will only become stronger, and the spine will gradually begin to deteriorate. With progressive disease, vertebrae can fuse, losing their mobility and elasticity. In this case, treatment will be much more difficult. Therefore, the appearance of the first symptoms is an occasion to call a specialist. After the examination and consultation it will be possible to perform the recommended exercises of therapeutic gymnastics.

Preventive measures

Prevention cervicalgia means regular exercise, massage, swimming. That is, it is necessary to ensure a good mobility of the spine and a reasonable load to the muscles. Avoid injuries and any hypothermia. Working in a sitting position, it is recommended to take a comfortable pose and regularly take breaks. For sleep use a low soft pillow - a cushion under the neck. Observe the above recommendations and you will not encounter painful sensations in the neck.

From this article you learned more about such a pathological condition as cervicalgia: what it is, what are the symptoms and methods of treatment. We hope that the information will be useful to you. Be healthy!