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Suggest Treatment For Stiff Neck
Question: For what seems like almost a year now I have been suffering from a stiff neck. It hurts mostly when turning my head to the far right or left when riding my bicycle and checking for traffic. A few months ago I have noticed a hard, immovable lump, seemingly attached to my spine, just to the right of my vertebrae, just below the hairline. Its like a hard knot in the muscle that will not release even with intense massage and stretching. I was concerned it was some sort of tumor, but was told that a tumor wouldn't grow there so I assumed it would eventually loosen up. Well, now I'm beginning to have a constant ringing in both ears, and getting an occasional tingling in my trapezoidal muscles on my left shoulder. Its very strange and wondering what it could be. It's very annoying and I am constantly aware and very uncomfortable. Would an x-ray show anything... or do I need an MRI? What kind of specialist should I see? Neurologist?
Brief Answer:
You need an MRI not an X-Ray!!!
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for the consultation at my virtual clinic!
I have carefully worked through your case, and can well realize your health worries. Being your physician, I will take care all of your medical concerns today and will put my best efforts to get you out of this situation.
It seems that you have got some degenerative process in the cervical spinal vertebral joints and due to that there is limitation of the movements in full angle.
Facet joints are the joints in between adjacent vertebrae and at ages above 50 they are very commonly involved in osteoarthritic changes and lead to pain and limited mobility.
The lump you are talking about may be a lipoma (benign--not a carcinoma) or may be due to lymph nodal swelling that happens in case of infection in their draining areas.
The tingling in the Trapezius muscle may be due to the irritation of the nerve supplying the muscles. It is not a big issue if there is no viral infection of the nerve in that case it may take some time to get healed up. Your Orthopedist will deal with this issue too as it is also related to the cervical spine and nerves emerging from that region.
Ringing in ears have a wide variety of reasons and will best be handled by the Otorhinolaryngologist.
For your main issues of the neck mobility, you need to consult an Orthopedist and he is the personnel trained to deal with such issues with perfection. He will go for a thorough Physical examination and some diagnostic tests and will treat according to the MRI findings.
Hope I answered all of your questions. Let me know if you have further clinical concerns or doubts. I will be more than happy to get back to you with expert opinion. Please don't forget to give Five Star rating to help me assist my patients in a better way; and, please don't forget to 'Close This Discussion'.
For any disease you have, a timely follow-up is very necessary regarding the treatment efficacy and to see if there is a need to change the treatment options. So keep a follow up to see how you doing (Always write down my name in the start of your questions at this forum & I will be with you in no time).
Regards!
DR. XXXXXXX HANIF
USA
You need an MRI not an X-Ray!!!
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for the consultation at my virtual clinic!
I have carefully worked through your case, and can well realize your health worries. Being your physician, I will take care all of your medical concerns today and will put my best efforts to get you out of this situation.
It seems that you have got some degenerative process in the cervical spinal vertebral joints and due to that there is limitation of the movements in full angle.
Facet joints are the joints in between adjacent vertebrae and at ages above 50 they are very commonly involved in osteoarthritic changes and lead to pain and limited mobility.
The lump you are talking about may be a lipoma (benign--not a carcinoma) or may be due to lymph nodal swelling that happens in case of infection in their draining areas.
The tingling in the Trapezius muscle may be due to the irritation of the nerve supplying the muscles. It is not a big issue if there is no viral infection of the nerve in that case it may take some time to get healed up. Your Orthopedist will deal with this issue too as it is also related to the cervical spine and nerves emerging from that region.
Ringing in ears have a wide variety of reasons and will best be handled by the Otorhinolaryngologist.
For your main issues of the neck mobility, you need to consult an Orthopedist and he is the personnel trained to deal with such issues with perfection. He will go for a thorough Physical examination and some diagnostic tests and will treat according to the MRI findings.
Hope I answered all of your questions. Let me know if you have further clinical concerns or doubts. I will be more than happy to get back to you with expert opinion. Please don't forget to give Five Star rating to help me assist my patients in a better way; and, please don't forget to 'Close This Discussion'.
For any disease you have, a timely follow-up is very necessary regarding the treatment efficacy and to see if there is a need to change the treatment options. So keep a follow up to see how you doing (Always write down my name in the start of your questions at this forum & I will be with you in no time).
Regards!
DR. XXXXXXX HANIF
USA
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Sonia Raina
Answered by
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