NECK PAIN (CERVICALGIA)
Neck pain/cervicalgia is pain in or around the spine beneath the head. It is pain in the neck and shoulder that varies in intensity and may feel achy or like an electric shock from the neck to the arm. Neck pain is a common symptom of many different injuries and medical conditions.
Classification
- Neck pain with mobility deficits
- Neck pain with radiating pain (radicular)
- Neck pain with movement coordination impairments (WAD – Whiplash-Associated Disorders)
- Neck pain with headache (cervicogenic)
TYPES
- Axial neck pain
- Radicular pain
- Referred pain
- Myelopathic pain
Axial neck pain
- Axial pain is confined to a specific area of the neck and does not radiate elsewhere.
- Also called mechanical pain.
- It typically feels dull, achy, or throbbing but can also be sharp or stinging.
- Symptoms may increase with certain movements or poor posture.
- Neck muscle strains and/or ligament sprains are typical causes of axial neck pain. Other sources of axial neck pain include various mechanisms related to spinal degeneration or trauma, including cervical disc degeneration, facet joint dysfunction, or vertebral bone fracture.
Radicular pain
- Radicular pain radiates into the arms and shoulder along the path of the spinal nerve root.
- It can occur when a nerve root in the cervical spine becomes inflamed, causing pain to radiate along the nerve, down into the shoulder, arm, and/or hand.
- Radicular pain involves the nerve, and nerve pain can feel searing or electric shock-like. The pain can intensify with certain movements and posture.
- It is typically experienced on only one side of the body, but it can be on both.
Referred pain
- Neck problems may lead to referred pain, often causing headaches.
- When pain is experienced in a location other than its source and is not caused by nerve root irritation, it is called referred pain.
- It is usually experienced as a deep, achy, cramping, and/or throbbing sensation. The area of distribution is likely to be more diffuse, or spread out, than radiating pain, but these two types of pain can feel similar.
- Referred pain is typically felt on only one side of the body, but it can be on both.
- Pain can be referred to the neck in various ways, such as from the heart (during a heart attack) or jaw (temporomandibular joint).
Myelopathic pain
- Rarely, myelopathy in the neck may cause pain in the legs and feet.
- When the spinal cord in the neck becomes compressed, myelopathic pain may develop.
- While myelopathic pain may occur at the level of compression causing neck pain, symptoms are often located at a distance below the neck/compression site, such as in the legs and/or feet.
- This separation of symptoms and causal region may contribute to an increased risk for misdiagnosis and mismanagement.
CAUSES
- Injury (Neck sprain, whiplash-associated disorders, herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, muscle strain, neck fracture)
- Muscle strain
- Aging
- Mental stress
- Growths (Masses, including tumors, cysts, and bone spurs)
- Nerve compression
- Other health conditions, including meningitis and cancer.
SYMPTOMS
- Headache
- Stiffness in your neck, shoulders, and upper back
- Inability to turn your neck or tilt your head
- Dizziness
- Nausea (feeling sick)
- Pins and needles or numbness
- Weakness
- Changes to your vision or hearing
- Problems concentrating
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
