Causes
Neck pain and tension of the neck muscles can have various causes, which on the one hand lie in the immediate neck structures, but on the other hand can also occur concomitantly to diseases of neighbouring areas. The most common, harmless trigger for a stiff neck is simple muscle tension due to chronic strain. Long periods of sitting in everyday life, unnatural holding positions and the frequent carrying of heavy loads can lead to an overloaded permanent strain on the neck muscles.
Over time, this long-lasting additional tension of the muscle fibers causes the small blood vessels that run in the muscles to supply them with blood and oxygen to be compressed. This results in a relative lack of blood flow in the affected muscle and an oxygen deficiency, which leads to an acidosis of the muscle milieu. As a reaction, the muscle hardens and tenses up.
In addition to the compression of the vessels, pressure can also occur on the nerves in the affected muscle area, which can lead to nerve irritation (tingling, numbness with radiation into the shoulder/arm) and pain symptoms. But it is not only incorrect strain in everyday life, but also unfavorable sleeping positions or cooling of the neck muscles due to draught can cause neck stiffness. In the latter case, the tension is caused by the permanent effect of cold air, to which the muscles react with tension to produce heat and tense up as it progresses.
But also psychological stress situations, in which fear, stress and tension are the main factors, can be reflected in incorrect postures (raised shoulder, bowed head) and lead to a stiff neck. Furthermore, a stiff neck can also occur in the course of a cold and is then, like the classic limb, head and muscle pain, to be regarded as an accompanying symptom. In the same way, simple strains of the neck muscles can also lead to pain and compensatory hardening.
Among the somewhat more complicated causes of neck stiffness are all wear and tear diseases of the cervical spine. For example, a herniated disc of the cervical spine in the area of the neck can lead to nerve root compression, which causes pain in the area supplied by the respective nerve and also causes reflex muscle tension.Similarly, arthrosis in the vertebral body area, spinal fusion (spondylodesis), vertebral body blockages, narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal canal stenosis) and osteoporosis with muscle hardening can also manifest themselves. In addition, injuries in the head/neck area can always be another cause, so that whiplash trauma after a rear-end collision, for example, can lead to muscle strain and hardening (and in the worst case to vertebral body fractures) in the neck area.
But also inflammatory, infectious and tumorous diseases can cause neck pain and acute neck muscle tension. Meningococcal meningitis, a life-threatening bacterial meningitis, is characterized by fever, loss of consciousness, headache, nausea, neck stiffness and pain in the neck. Similarly, purulent abscesses in the throat/neck area can lead to a stiff neck, as can tumors of the thyroid gland or metastases of the vertebrae. Rheumatic diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis or rheumatoid arthritis, can, like Scheuermann’s disease and existing scoliosis, lead to poor posture in the spinal column and the resulting permanent incorrect loading of the neck muscles. Furthermore, the so-called chronic fibre-muscle pain (fibromyalgia) can cause a frequently recurring, stiff neck.
