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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Neck pain can result from a variety of causes, ranging from overuse injuries and whiplash to diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and meningitis.
Muscle strains
Overuse, such as too many hours hunched over a steering wheel, often triggers muscle strains. Neck muscles, particularly those in the back of your neck, become fatigued and eventually strained. When you overuse your neck muscles repeatedly, chronic pain can develop. Even such minor things as reading in bed or gritting your teeth can strain neck muscles.
Worn joints
Just like all the other joints in your body, your neck joints tend to experience wear and tear with age, which can cause osteoarthritis in your neck.
Nerve compression
A variety of problems in your neck's vertebrae can reduce the amount of space available for nerves to branch out from the spinal cord. Examples include:
- Stiffened disks. As you age, the cushioning disks between your vertebrae become dry and stiff, narrowing the spaces in your spinal column where the nerves exit.
- Herniated disks. This occurs when the inner gel-like material of a disk protrudes through the disk's tougher outer covering. The protrusion can press on nerves exiting the spinal column, causing arm pain or weakness, or on the spinal cord itself.
- Bone spurs. Arthritic joints in your neck can develop bony growths that may press on nerves.
Injuries
Rear-end collisions often result in whiplash injuries, which occur when the head is jerked forward and then backward, stretching the soft tissues of the neck beyond their limits.
Diseases
Neck pain can sometimes be caused by diseases, such as:
- Rheumatoid arthritis. After the joints in the hands and the feet, the joints in the neck are the next most commonly affected by rheumatoid arthritis.
- Meningitis. This infectious disease causes the lining of the brain and spinal cord to swell. One of the most common symptoms of meningitis is neck pain and stiffness.
- Cancer. Rarely, neck pain can be caused by cancerous tumors in the spine. The cancer may have traveled to the spine from other parts of your body.
- Devin C, et al. Neck pain. In: Firestein GS, et al. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders Co.; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/170975296-3/0/1807/271.html?tocnode=55731659&fromURL=271.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3285-4..10039-7_1122. Accessed Nov. 13, 2009.
- Isaac Z, et al. Evaluation of the patient with neck pain and cervical spine disorders. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 13, 2009.
- Meningitis and encephalitis fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/encephalitis_meningitis/detail_encephalitis_meningitis.htm. Accessed Nov. 13, 2009.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Nov. 17, 2009.
- Anderson BC, et al. Treatment of neck pain. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 17, 2009.
- Chiropractic: An introduction. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/chiropractic/. Accessed Nov. 17, 2009.
- Acupuncture for pain. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/acupuncture-for-pain.htm. Accessed Nov. 17, 2009.
- The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders. Executive summary. Spine. 2008;33:55.
- Bauer BA. Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2007:117.
- What a pain in the neck! American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. http://www.aapmr.org/condtreat/pain/necktips.htm. Accessed Nov. 17, 2009.
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