Orthopedics-Online

Lumbago in the neck

What to do with lumbago in the neck

"Lumbago" is not a diagnosis, but the description of a violent, mostly sharp pain in the spine with the surrounding muscles and can occur either in the lumbar or neck area. Lumbago in the neck is also known as cervicalgia, cervicobrachialgia, neck shot or torticollis.

Cause of a lumbago

Lumbago occurs when nerves that supply the spine and the corresponding muscles are pinched, damaged or irritated and cause pain as a result. Aside from the pain, sufferers complain of a stiff neck. The range of motion of the head in all directions can be either moderately to severely restricted, only with extreme aggravation of pain, or even completely impossible. Lumbago is particularly common due to sudden contortions or rotating movements.

This can happen in the neck area, for example, when you jerk your head to the side. A fall or acute overload, such as lifting an object that is too heavy, can also cause lumbago.

In addition to these rather banal reasons, there are also worse diseases that go hand in hand with lumbago. These include tumors or herniated discs in the neck area. Factors that promote lumbago in the neck are:

Obesity (because of the additional stress on the spine),
Lack of exercise,
Bad posture,
Cramps,
Leg length difference or
Stress.

If you counteract these risks, you also reduce the risk of lumbago.

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Causes of lumbago

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Symptoms

The characteristic symptoms of lumbago in the neck is the acute, enormous pain in the neck area along the spine.

Typically, there is also a restriction of movement. This often happens after a sudden, unusual movement in this area of the spine. Affected people then feel stiffness in the neck and cannot move the neck out of a certain position. In most cases this has no dangerous cause and subsides significantly within 2 days.

However, there are also some sudden symptoms that are incompatible with simple lumbago and should alert the person to seek medical help immediately: numbness around the buttocks or genitals, difficulty holding urine or stool, and urinary problems to leave, high temperature, chest pain, vomiting, loss of consciousness, swelling or deformation above the pain point, or appearance of discomfort after an accident.

therapy

Treatment of simple lumbago can usually be done by the patient himself. The neck should be spared, i.e. moved as little as possible. In addition, warmth is felt to be pain-relieving. There are also healing clay packs that can be placed on the neck and that can improve symptoms. In addition, depending on the severity, you can use classic pain relievers such as aspirin or ibuprofen.

Usually the symptoms subside after a few days after a lumbago in the neck. If they persist, it is advisable to consult a doctor, as this will rule out more serious underlying diseases.

Exercises for treatment

Basically, it is very important that in the event of lumbago, you do not further promote your relieving posture by omitting any physical movement. Even if it causes pain or is uncomfortable, you should try to continue to be active and thus bring about an improvement in the course of the disease. Keeping to bed rest is definitely not advisable in the case of lumbago and can worsen the symptoms through one-sided stress.

Light sporting exercises such as walking or jogging for well-trained people are perceived as pleasant by many patients. In order to loosen the muscle area around the pain, it is recommended to do stretching exercises for the affected areas. If there is any uncertainty about the physical exercise, do not hesitate to ask a doctor or physical therapist. Pain medication such as ibuprofen, aspirin or paracetamol can be effective for a good healing process to support this and also as a therapy. Pain also triggers persistence in relieving posture. But of course physical activities can only be carried out up to a certain tolerance limit and should not be forced with extreme pain.

Kinesio tape

Kinesiotape is based on the understanding that muscles heal faster when they are moved and have a good blood supply. By gently lifting the skin and the connective tissue over the muscle with the kinesio tape, there is more space for blood and other body fluids to flow in and around the muscle. This can also help reduce pain and relax muscles. Thus, further steps on the way to healing can be achieved without great effort.

Massage for lumbago

For lumbago, massage may be advisable and may help loosen and relax the hard muscle tissue around the pain point. However, it is very important here that strong, pressure-intensive massages should be avoided, especially directly at the pain maximum.

It is also advisable to have the massages carried out by a physiotherapist. Furthermore, bed rest should not be observed and the loosened muscle tissue should be used for physical activity after the massage.

Syringe for therapy

Syringes can be used to relieve the symptoms against severe, limiting back pain.

These are applied locally near the pain point and have a pain-reducing effect there. The pain reduction ensures that the patient is less relieved and the muscles can then be released more from their tension. Most doctors use syringes with fast-acting pain relievers. Cortisone, which has an anti-inflammatory effect, can also be added to these syringes. However, studies have not proven any benefit from injecting cortisone in such cases.

Home remedies

There are of course some home remedies to relieve the symptoms and be more flexible again. Each person has to find out individually which of them will help them best.

Some sufferers appreciate warmth on the painful areas, which can be achieved with a hot water bottle, warming plaster or cherry stone pillow. A warm bath can also help. Another option is to apply warm locust oil to the affected areas. The vinegar and potato cure is recommended by some people - the back is first rubbed with warm vinegar and then lightly massaged with warm mashed potatoes.

Other patients prefer the cold and find relief from cooling pads or quark compresses.

diagnosis

The term lumbago describes a violently painful, sudden pain in the spinal column with restricted mobility and possibly restrictions in sensation. However, this pain event does not constitute a diagnosis in itself, but rather is recognized as a harmless phenomenon on the basis of the clinical symptoms or determined after excluding other possible diagnoses.

When visiting a doctor, it is particularly important to present the symptoms precisely with their occurrence, type, course and special features in the patient's history. If the physical exam is ambiguous, imaging tests may need to be used to further establish the diagnosis.

Duration of lumbago in the neck

The duration of lumbago in the neck, also called cervicalgia, varies from person to person in its severity.As a rough guideline, however, a time window of two days can be set, beyond which the stabbing pain with the characteristic immobility should not go beyond.

For the next 48 hours, the affected person can still complain of severe pain in the neck, but the course of the symptoms should be overall decreasing. In a complicated lumbago, the pain can persist for a few weeks.

Basically, the duration of recovery and the intensity of the pain depend on many factors such as other secondary diseases and the overall condition of the person. In the event of uncertainty and prolonged symptoms, a doctor should be consulted so that warning symptoms or complications can be recognized early enough. Sometimes, however, it also happens that the symptoms last longer than usual and drag on without dangerous causes. In summary, it can be said about the duration of a lumbago in the neck that extreme pain with restricted mobility occurs for a maximum of two days, then the pain continues to subside for a maximum of a few days and in a complicated case can still cause discomfort for a few weeks.

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