Neck myositis

Myositis of the neck is an inflammatory process in the muscle tissues of the cervical region, characterized by pain in the affected area of the muscles, weakness and limited mobility of the neck.

This disease is so common that in most cases, patients endure the disease on their own without seeking medical help. How serious is this disease and how to treat it, we will try to understand in this article.

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Causes of neck myositis

Absolutely anyone can get myositis of the neck. The pathology can arise as a response to a stressful situation, hypothermia, sleeping on an uncomfortable pillow, an unfortunate turn of the head, etc.

Neck muscle pain may appear after an infectious disease (ARI, ARI, tonsillitis, etc.), metabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes), as an occupational pathology in people who have to work in an uncomfortable position for a long time. The disease may be the result of neck injuries, cooling, physical exertion.

Thus, the main causes of myositis can be called:

• traumatic neck injuries;
• cooling, drafts;
• uncomfortable neck position;
• convulsive states;
• metabolic disorders;
• infections;
• autoimmune pathologies.

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Symptoms of neck myositis

Myositis may cause aching pain in the neck muscles. Sometimes you can feel muscle seals in the affected area. If an infection occurs, which happens due to open tissue trauma, purulent myositis may develop. This complication occurs with high temperature, fever, swelling and pain in the affected muscle.

Acute myositis of the neck develops instantly, within minutes after exposure to a draft, muscle strain, awkward neck movement, or injury.

Chronic myositis of the neck is often a consequence of acute or occurs after prolonged exposure to an infectious agent.

Signs of myositis include local pain that gradually increases, especially when trying to turn the neck. Pain is also felt when palpating the affected muscles. Less often, swelling and redness of the skin of the neck appear. There is a limitation of head mobility, it becomes impossible to turn around, look back or to the side. Pain can radiate to the head, occipital region.

The disease most often manifests itself in the morning after waking up: inflamed muscle fibers spasm, swelling appears, and aching pain increases. The pain progresses along one of the lateral surfaces of the neck from the occipital region to the shoulder joint and even lower.

In mild cases of myositis, the pain may subside on its own within a few days, but without treatment, the disease may linger and recur. The pain may subside, but the inflammatory process is not relieved, which can provoke a "skew" of the neck and displacement of the cervical vertebrae by spasmodic muscles.

A rare but common form of the disease is parasitic inflammation, which occurs when parasites (Trichinella, Cysticercus) penetrate into muscle tissue. This course is characterized by a feverish condition, pain not only in the muscles of the neck, but also in the shoulder and chest girdle.

Myositis of the neck in a child

The incidence of myositis in children is no less than in adults. One of the main causes of myositis of the neck in a child is hypothermia: it can easily happen when the child is near an air conditioner or in a draft. Also, the causes can be an excessively high and hard pillow for sleeping, a too soft or short bed.

Often parents do not know about the development of myositis in a child, since the baby cannot explain what is bothering him. In such cases, it is recommended to observe how the child behaves, assess the degree of his motor activity, the amplitude of movements, detect the moment when the baby begins to hurt and starts to cry.

You should not wait for your child's myositis to go away on its own or self-medicate. Children require an extremely careful and individual approach, precision in dosages of both internal and external medications.

By contacting a doctor, you will ease your baby’s suffering and cope with the disease quickly and without consequences.

Diagnosis of neck myositis

Diagnosis of myositis is based primarily on the determination of characteristic symptoms of the disease: visible damage to the neck muscles, their soreness, compaction. The doctor necessarily conducts an external examination and palpation examination.

A blood test may be prescribed, which will show a picture of the presence of an inflammatory process in the body.

Among the special studies, electromyography can be distinguished, which can confirm damage to muscle fibers. This will be determined by the presence of fibrillation potentials, positive sharp waves, polyphasia, and a decrease in units of movement.

In cases of extreme necessity, it is possible to conduct a morphological examination of muscle areas – tissue biopsy.

On the radiograph, you can see signs of ossifying myositis: along the damaged muscle fibers, darkening of an irregular coral-shaped configuration will be determined. X-ray examination allows you to differentiate myositis from manifestations of osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae.

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Treatment of neck myositis

The general principles of treatment procedures for myositis are as follows:

• ensuring peace for the patient;
• following an anti-inflammatory diet - eating a lot of fiber, vitamins, excluding sweets, alcohol, and too salty and spicy foods;
• in case of parasitic etiology of the disease, anthelmintic drugs are used;
• in case of infectious etiology, antibiotics or special serums are prescribed;
• purulent myositis is a reason for surgical opening;
• anti-inflammatory therapy;
• vasoactive treatment;
• warming ointments and compresses;
• manual therapy;
• Physical therapy.

Treatment of neck myositis with medications is mainly reduced to the removal of the inflammatory process. Only in the case of infectious etiology of the disease can broad-spectrum antibiotics be prescribed - sumamed, flumucil, gentamicin.

In almost all cases, painkillers ketorolac, nimesulide, metamizole are prescribed. They relieve acute pain, thereby significantly alleviating the patient's condition.

Anti-inflammatory drugs for neck myositis are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Such medications are capable of not only stopping the inflammatory process in tissues, but also reducing temperature and relieving pain. They are actively used in medicine for both acute and chronic neck myositis. Such anti-inflammatory drugs include aspirin, analgin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, piroxicam, amizon, celecoxib, reopyrin, etc. What do you need to know about these drugs?

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should not be taken for a long time due to side effects (negative effects on the digestive system, liver);
• These drugs for internal use are not used for peptic ulcers, gastritis, enterocolitis, pyelonephritis;
• Non-steroidal drugs should be taken exclusively with water (at least a glass), since milk, tea and coffee can affect the drug’s properties;
• the drug should be taken only of one type, a combination of non-steroidal drugs can be too much of a burden on the digestive organs and liver;
• During the treatment period, it is highly recommended not to drink alcoholic beverages.

Fortunately, new generation non-steroidal drugs have fewer side effects and are safer for the body.

These drugs include:

• movalis (meloxicam) is an anti-inflammatory drug, available in the form of capsules, injection solutions and suppositories. The recommended dosage of the drug is 7.5 or 15 mg once a day;
• Celecoxib is an excellent anti-inflammatory drug, prescribed at a dose of 200 mg per day, divided into two doses;
• Etoricoxib (Arcoxia) is an oral medication with a recommended dosage of 60 to 90 mg once daily;
• Xefocam - used 2-3 times a day, daily dosage from 8 to 16 mg.

The analgesic effect of such drugs lasts for at least 12 hours, which allows you to take pills less often.

Massage plays a major role in the treatment of cervical myositis: it helps relieve inflammation and congestion, and alleviates pain. A combination of massage and reflexology is especially effective.

The use of superficial massage can be combined with the application of warming compresses (mainly alcohol). It is useful to rub the neck with fir oil or purified turpentine.

Within 2 hours after the massage, you can do therapeutic exercises, gradually increasing the load. The duration of such exercises is about 20 minutes.

Treatment of neck myositis in children is carried out exclusively under the supervision of a doctor. The main emphasis in treatment is on physiotherapy, manual therapy, and exercise therapy. The child should limit activity and be put to bed. It is recommended to use dry heat and warming compresses. If the disease is caused by an infectious or parasitic agent, treatment is redirected to the underlying cause of the pathology. You should not treat the child yourself. Dosage errors and incorrect prescription of drugs can have a detrimental effect on the baby's health.

Treatment of neck myositis with folk remedies

Compresses are considered very useful for cervical myositis. To prepare a compress, you need to wet a piece of cloth with vodka or an alcohol solution, apply it to the painful area, put oilcloth on top of the cloth and wrap your neck with a scarf or shawl. It is best to do this procedure at night.

You can make an ointment from melted lard. It should be mixed with dried and ground horsetail, at a rate of 40 g of lard per 10 g of grass powder. This ointment is rubbed into the sore spot until complete recovery. If lard is not available, butter can be used instead.

To get rid of neck pain, you can make a compress from fresh white cabbage leaves: apply the leaf to the sore spot and fix it with a warm scarf. The same effect can be achieved by applying fresh burdock leaves.

A mixture of egg yolk, tsp. turpentine and tbsp. apple cider vinegar is good for relieving neck pain. Grind all ingredients to the consistency of sour cream and use for rubbing.

You can boil several potatoes in their skins, wrap them in a towel and apply to the sore neck. Keep until the potatoes cool completely, then rub the neck with an alcohol solution and wrap it up.

A positive effect is observed from applying the so-called "iodine grid" to the affected area. Using a cotton swab with iodine, draw stripes in the form of a grid on the affected area. A grid drawn at night, as a rule, gives an effect the next morning.

In addition to external folk remedies, do not forget about supporting the immune system: drink herbal teas with echinacea, currants, and viburnum. It is also recommended to consume honey and other bee products. For example, tea with honey and linden is an excellent anti-inflammatory agent.

Treatment of neck myositis with ointments

In complex therapy of myositis it is difficult to do without the use of ointments and gels. Such drugs improve blood and lymph flow, relax spasmodic muscles, increase tissue elasticity, accelerate local metabolism, remove residual metabolic products from muscles and reduce pain.

The therapeutic effect of ointments is determined by the characteristics of the components of the drugs. Some drugs help warm up the muscles, others relieve swelling and relieve inflammation.

For cervical myositis, the following external medications can be used:

• apizartron - a drug based on the action of bee venom. Effectively relieves inflammation and warms tissues. The ointment is applied to the painful area and rubbed in by massage;
• Virapin is an ointment similar in characteristics to Apizartron;
• viprosal - a preparation prepared on the basis of snake venom. It is rubbed onto the skin at the site of the lesion 2 times a day;
• vipratox – an analogue of viprosal;
• Sanitas - a preparation of methyl salicylate, supplemented with essential oils, turpentine, camphor. Used for rubbing;
• gymnastogall - warming ointment. The complex composition of the ointment only enhances the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and distracting properties of the drug. 1.5-2 g of the product is enough for a light massage;
• heparin ointment - an absorbable, vasodilatory ointment, usually applied under a bandage;
• Gevkamen is a pain-relieving and distracting ointment that contains menthol, essential oils, and paraffin;
• efkamon - an analgesic ointment with a warming effect. Use up to 3 cm of ointment for massage;
• Nikoflex is a medicine for athletes. It relieves pain, cramps, muscle spasms;
• richtofit - a plant-based ointment that actively relieves inflammation and restores damaged tissue;
• finalgon is an excellent warming ointment. It is used only on intact skin areas, avoiding contact with mucous tissues. When applying the ointment, it is necessary to use a special applicator, which is included in the kit;
• venoruton is a herbal remedy that activates blood circulation in the affected area of tissue, thereby reducing pain and muscle tension;
• turpentine ointment - locally irritating, analgesic and bactericidal ointment. Accelerates muscle tissue recovery, relieves signs of inflammation;
• menovazin is a pain-relieving ointment that contains menthol, anesthesin, novocaine and alcohol. The product is used for rubbing up to 3 times a day.

All of the listed ointments do not contain non-steroidal agents, do not have a toxic effect on the body and are absolutely safe. The side effects of such drugs are limited to the patient's individual hypersensitivity to any component.

Prevention of neck myositis

Prevention of inflammatory processes in the neck muscles is based on the following recommendations:

• Avoid excessive muscle tension, avoid dangerous situations, hypothermia, including professional activities in cold conditions;
• maintain an active lifestyle, promptly treat any pathologies in the body, especially those associated with infection or colds;
• to harden;
• eat properly, with balanced, nutritious food, and maintain the body’s immune defenses;
• relax properly (in nature, with active outdoor games, sports competitions);
• dress according to the weather, protect your neck from drafts;
• avoid sudden movements of the neck;
• If you have a long sedentary job, allow yourself five minutes of warm-up every hour, during which you try to move more, warming up your muscles and reducing blood stagnation in them.

It is recommended to periodically attend professional massage sessions: this will increase blood circulation and improve the trophism of the muscle tissues of the neck.

The prognosis for neck myositis is favorable. The disease usually resolves within three to four days.

Myositis of the neck is not such a terrible disease, but it causes a lot of discomfort and unpleasant sensations. By following the recommendations for disease prevention, you will forget about neck pain and other symptoms of myositis for a long time.