Suggest Treatment For Pain And Stiffness In The Neck

Posted on Wed, 22 Feb 2017

Question: I woke early this morning with a very painful stiff neck, it is also causing a headache especially when I move my head forward

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
investigation is required

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

sudden severe headache with stiff neck can be related to serious events like subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding inside the skull), usually caused by recent injury. Sometimes it's only pain of musculoskeletal origin due to cervical spine problems.

In any case immediate clinical assessment is required. Your doctor may detect signs of serious disease with clinical examination. In some cases radiological investigation is also indicated (CT scan of the brain).

I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (25 hours later)

The pain seemed to abate as the day went on but was back as severe by 4am, would this be more likely to be muscular?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
yes

Detailed Answer:
The more serious alternatives are usually either stable in intensity or progressively worse, so the answer is yes, it's more likely to be 'innocent' in etiology but nothing can be excluded...

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar