Many of us are aware of how disturbing and annoying the condition neck tenderness is. Most people may have experienced pain and tenderness in their neck at some point in their life. They usually blame to improper sleeping posture or wrong posture while sitting.
Neck tenderness can be described as an unpleasant feeling or pain experienced when the neck is pressed or moved. Though there is a hair line difference between tenderness and pain many people consider them to be synonymous. Your neck can become tender and painful due to an injury or an infection or inflammation.
Person having tenderness in his neck finds difficulty in doing his daily work and he is unable to move about freely.
What Causes Tenderness In Neck Muscles?
Several causes can precipitate neck tenderness, but among them the commonest is wrong posture while sleeping or sitting. In the age of computerization, neck stiffness and tenderness is a common phenomenon. Sitting in front of computer for long hours with restricted neck movement will cause spasm and strain to the neck muscles.
Traumatic injury to the muscles and cervical spine can lead to tenderness and pain in the neck. In such cases there is associated stiffness which makes the neck movement difficult. Cervical vertebra injuries usually occur as a result of car accidents or hard and laborious work.
Arthritis is another chronic disorder that may cause neck stiffness and tenderness. In this illness the joints become swollen. In neck the joints of the cervical vertebra are affected.
Infections can also lead to neck tenderness. In fact in some cases, neck tenderness and stiffness are the symptoms that aid the doctor in diagnosing the disease, for example in case of meningitis. Other diseases such as streptococcal throat, parotitis can also cause inflammation and swelling of the neck region and tenderness.
Wearing ornaments or an insect bite in the neck region can cause inflammation. Such types of bruises are common among females who wear ornaments around their neck. Anyone can suffer from insect or mosquito bite.
Symptoms Of Neck Tenderness To Touch
The symptoms related to neck tenderness may be associated with the condition which causes tenderness in the neck.
- Pain in the neck is one of the commonest associated symptoms which go hand in hand with neck tenderness. With pain, patient may find difficulty in neck movement. There may be spasm of neck muscles. Usually neck muscle spasm is associated with wrong sleeping position or sitting in a wrong posture.
- There may be tingling and pain radiating in the arm and the forearm together with neck tenderness. It is a common symptom of cervical spondylosis.
- Damage to the cervical nerves can lead to involuntary bowel and urination and imbalance while walking. Neck tenderness is one of the symptoms.
- Fever, neck rigidity, neck tenderness, vomiting, nausea, blurred vision and toxic look are some of the symptoms of meningitis. This condition can become life threatening if not taken care of.
- The lymph nodes in the neck area become enlarged and tender when a person is suffering from streptococcal throat infection.
Tenderness In Neck Treatment
The treatment for neck tenderness depends on the underlying cause.
- Give rest to the neck if it is overused.
- Physical therapy and wearing cervical collar may be effective when the cause is related to cervical spine problems.
- If the underlying cause is simple sprain or improper sitting or sleeping posture, warm and cold compresses may be effective in relieving the spasm and thus reducing the tenderness.
- If the underlying cause is an infection, antibiotic therapy will be beneficial in relieving the disease and subsequently stiff and tender neck.
- In case of trauma or an injury, home remedy such as turmeric powder is said to be as effective as anti inflammatory drug. Take a pinch of turmeric powder in one teaspoon of honey. You can also mix pinch of turmeric powder in a glass of milk and consume it once or twice in a day for few days.