Some tips, if you suddenly sprained my neck

neck Sprain – an injury that is often accompanied by strong painful feelings. The consequences of such injuries can be very sad, so it is useful to know the basic causes, symptoms, methods of diagnosis and treatment of sprains, which can be dangerous.

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Main causes of injuries of the cervical spine

The Cervical spine consists of 7 vertebrae that protect the spinal cord from damage. Even a minor injury can guarantee the paralysis. Harmless any fall or sudden movement can cause stretching as the child and the adult.

  • sports (in the process of movement can inadvertently stretch the muscles)
  • Accident (this includes a bad fall, accidents)
  • bad posture during sleep;
  • Heavy physical load.

What are the symptoms

The first symptoms of tension – the appearance of a sharp or aching pain. This head turn is almost impossible – any attempts are accompanied by unpleasant painful sensations.

Typically, this is often the case in training or in the process of lifting weights (in a life often there are situations when a man takes upon the body load, which exceeds the permissible several times). This affects primarily the ligaments and muscles, but not eliminated, and the damage to the spine.

If you after exercise or the failure of the movement felt a sharp pain or found a lump, it is safe to say that you pulled a neck muscle or gotten a sprain. In this case it is better to consult a doctor who will do an exam and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

so, the main symptoms of sprain:

  • Pain in the neck
  • Loss of sensation (or decrease) in upper and lower extremities;
  • chronic headaches
  • Spasms in the upper limbs;
  • Loss of motion in the cervical spine.

Sprain of the neck muscles child is a special case requiring careful approach

If the victim is a child

Little kids are not always able to explain clearly what they have hurts or what's bothering them. Therefore, to determine the presence of a stretching of muscles or ligaments have mom (or any adult person caring for the baby).

The Symptoms of tension:

  • Lethargy
  • the Presence of a tumor in the neck;
  • unconsciousness (usually immediately after the trauma);
  • Loss of mobility;
  • Odd (unnatural) position of the head;
  • If the child is able to talk, he may complain of pain.

First of all – you need to see your doctor (before to reduce the pain, you can give your child paracetamol or ibuprofen according to age dosage). And after consultation with the doctor you can use a warm bath to relax the muscles and bed rest.

First aid

If a person has pulled a neck muscle or ligament, you should immediately to give him first aid. What to do in this case:

  • In the first place – to ensure complete rest to the affected area. An ideal variant – to take a horizontal position, tucked in tight neck cushion (you can twist it any towels). So the load on the spine is distributed evenly, and the cervical injury will not be so clearly affect health.
  • to Relieve the symptoms of sprains (pain and swelling) it is also possible with the help of a cold compress (dry or wet). Thus ice cannot be applied to the skin, you need to wrap it in a towel or napkin.
  • the Next step is the adoption of anti-inflammatory drugs that can be purchased freely in any drugstore. It will also help to manage the pain (also can be used pain ointment).
  • If the injury happened in an accident (traffic accident, fall), then you must immediately call the doctor.

Modern methods of diagnosis of sprains of the muscles and ligaments in the neck

Methods of diagnosis and treatment of sprains

The Stretched muscles and ligaments must be put in order (if not to do, on the surface of the muscle can form scars that prevent normal operation of the body).

survey Methods damaged areas:

  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • Palpation
  • X-ray
  • ultrasound.

As conservative methods of treatment are:

  • Overlay the neck bus (it helps to reduce the load of the cervical spine at the time of treatment, if the patient pulled muscle)
  • non-steroidal anti-Assignmentanti-inflammatory drugs;
  • exercise therapy (as a rule, all exercises are recommended after removal of the collar tires)
  • Waiver of intense physical exertion;
  • Massage
  • Acupuncture
  • Physiotherapy
  • Reflexology.

neck Sprain requires an integrated approach to treatment, so follow all doctor's recommendations.

Common mistakes in the treatment of

generally, if people have sprained my neck, he starts trying to "develop" – moving and hard not to notice the pain. This approach ensures the deterioration of health and the occurrence of complications.

Another is the wrong approach – the imposition of a warm compress. Heat relaxes muscles, this is true, but if together with stretching began the inflammatory process, exposure to heat contributes to the deterioration of the situation.

Also, there are cases when a young mother pulled the neck, but because of the inability to leave the child one stays at home with the hope of improving the situation. This is a fundamentally wrong approach, because the lack of adequate therapy can lead to complete loss of mobility.

the Conclusions

neck Sprain may cause much inconvenience to any person. If you've pulled a muscle, for a few days just out of the building and refuse almost everything.

we should not forget about the special physical exercises in the rehabilitation process. It is better to conduct them under the supervision of an experienced physician, and on his orders. If the doctor does not recommend these exercises – excessive independence can be fatal.

To avoid sprains in the neck before exercise warm up exercises not only back muscles but also the cervical spine. This is guaranteed to save you from sprains and other injuries.