How to check for neck stiffness

Clinically, neck stiffness often manifests as irritability and restlessness, and may even lead to impaired consciousness, mental atrophy, and may be accompanied by drowsiness and coma. Patients often experience headaches and projectile vomiting. Whether it occurs in infants or adults, it is very harmful. In terms of specific examination items, you should go to the hospital for diagnosis based on the symptoms of the disease. Each person needs to have different examination subjects, so don't be blind in the examination.

Common clinical manifestations include irritability and progressively worsening impaired consciousness, gradually developing from listlessness and drowsiness to stupor, coma, and deep coma. Increased intracranial pressure may cause headaches and projectile vomiting, while infants may have a full anterior fontanelle and an enlarged head circumference. The most common sign of meningeal irritation is neck stiffness.

The main types are divided into the following categories according to the different conditions of the disease :

The clinical characteristics of cervical spondylosis are stiff neck, pain in the neck, shoulders and occipital area, accompanied by corresponding tender points and stiff neck. Cervical spondylosis of the cervical type is extremely common clinically. It is the earliest type of cervical spondylosis and is also a common early manifestation of other types of cervical spondylosis. Because the symptoms are mainly in the neck, it is also called local type. Because the symptoms are mild, people are often not taken seriously enough, which leads to repeated attacks and worsening of the disease. Many patients with recurrent stiff neck belong to this type. In the past, many people did not recognize this type, so it was rarely mentioned in the literature. Cervical spondylosis, also known as ligament-joint capsule-type cervical spondylosis, is often commonly known as "stiff neck" during acute attacks. This type of cervical spondylosis is mostly caused by inappropriate pillow height or improper sleeping posture during sleep, the cervical spine rotates beyond its own movable limit, or because the cervical spine is bent for a long time, part of the intervertebral disc tissue gradually moves to the extension side, stimulating the nerve roots and causing pain. "Stiff neck" does not rule out non-cervical spine factors. If the neck and thigh muscles are exposed to cold and rheumatic myositis occurs, neck and back muscle strain, or the neck is suddenly twisted, it may also lead to "stiff neck"-like symptoms. This type is actually the early stage of various types of cervical spondylosis. Most of them are at the beginning of cervical vertebral degeneration, causing cervical symptoms through the sinus nerve reflex. However, if not handled properly, it can easily develop into other more serious types.

Neck stiffness Neck stiffness refers to tension, swelling, hardening, spasm (cramps) and other phenomena in the neck muscles, and inflexible neck movements. Common in fatigue and cervical spondylosis. Neck stiffness is caused by continuous excessive muscle contraction, which not only reduces the blood supply to the neck muscles, but also causes the accumulation of metabolites such as lactic acid, causing muscle ischemic pain. Pain in the back of the head or on the top of the head may be a tension headache caused by lesions in the head or cervical spine. Cervical spondylosis, also known as cervical spondylosis, is a general term for cervical osteoarthritis, hypertrophic cervical spondylitis, cervical radiculitis, and cervical disc herniation. It is a disease based on degenerative pathological changes. It is mainly caused by long-term strain of the cervical spine, bone hyperplasia, or herniated disc, ligament thickening, which leads to compression of the cervical spinal cord, nerve roots or vertebral arteries, resulting in a series of clinical syndromes of functional disorders. It manifests as a series of pathological changes of cervical disc degeneration itself and its secondary changes, such as vertebral instability and loosening; nucleus pulposus protrusion or extrusion; bone spur formation; ligament hypertrophy and secondary spinal canal stenosis, etc., which stimulate or compress the adjacent nerve roots, spinal cord, vertebral arteries and cervical sympathetic nerves and other tissues, and cause a syndrome of various symptoms and signs.

Neck stiffness and limited neck movement can be seen in cervical rib syndrome. Cervical rib syndrome is a complex clinical syndrome caused by compression of important blood vessels and nerves in the thoracic outlet area. It is also known as cervical thoracic outlet syndrome, anterior scalene muscle syndrome, pectoralis minor syndrome, costoclavicular syndrome, excessive abduction syndrome, etc. It refers to a series of upper limb vascular and neurological symptoms caused by compression of the brachial plexus and subclavian artery and vein at the upper outlet of the thorax due to some reason. The main clinical manifestations are pain and numbness in the shoulders, arms and hands, and even muscle atrophy and weakness, bluish and cold hands, and weakened radial artery pulse.

Based on the history of otitis media, signs of meningitis, and lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid testing, the diagnosis is generally not difficult. In recent years, due to the widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, acute symptoms have been mostly suppressed, and the cerebrospinal fluid chemistry has not changed much. The protein may increase slightly, sugar and oxides may be within the normal range, and the white blood cell count may increase slightly. Especially if not treated properly, it may develop into focal or persistent meningitis, which can easily be confused with mild tuberculous meningitis or epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis.