“Throat and stomach hurt,” or what do you know about adenovirus

Neck pain: what is it like?

Neck pain is a common symptom. According to medical statistics, every third adult has ever experienced neck pain. Right now, one in ten people have neck pain.

As a rule, pain in the neck is constant and aching. Sometimes the pain is accompanied by dizziness, nausea, and tinnitus. In some cases, the pain radiates (spreads) to the arms. Along with pain in the neck, pain in the heart area may also be felt, especially with an uncomfortable position. Even with neck pain, there may be complaints of limited neck mobility or a crunch in the neck when turning the head.

Causes of headaches from cold

This type of headache occurs as a reaction to exposure to cold temperatures and can appear in the following situations:

• a significant decrease in air temperature;
• windy or frosty weather;
• swimming in cold water;
• cold (or contrast) shower;
• consuming cold foods and drinks that affect the palate and back of the throat (so-called “ice cream pain”).

Since the attack is caused by a change in vascular tone, it can be more protracted if you try to warm up with alcohol. Smoking also has a negative impact on the patient’s condition, provoking further development of headaches.

Why does my neck hurt?

The reasons why your neck may hurt are quite varied. Most often, neck pain is due to one of the following reasons:

• staying in an incorrect position for a long time, for example, sleeping in an uncomfortable position, or working in which you have to maintain the same head position for a long time. For office workers, quite often the cause of neck pain is the incorrect position of the monitor on the desktop;
• long-term physical activity;
• stress, depression, anxiety;
• injuries and sprains;
• incorrect posture;
• hypothermia of the neck muscles. People still say in this case: “I got a cold in my neck.” A draft - a steady flow of cold air - leads to a local deterioration in blood supply, resulting in aching pain in the neck.
• The most common cause of neck pain is osteochondrosis. This is a group of diseases characterized by deterioration of the properties of the cartilage tissue of the spine, mainly due to age-related changes in the body or traumatic consequences. Cervical osteochondrosis often causes not only neck pain, but also headaches. A serious complication of cervical osteochondrosis is the appearance of intervertebral hernias. An intervertebral hernia is a protrusion of part of the intervertebral disc. In this case, compression of the nerve fibers occurs, which causes increased pain during exercise or in a static position. With an intervertebral hernia of the cervical spine, the pain radiates to the arms. Your fingertips may become numb.

Neck pain can be caused by other reasons, including some serious diseases that require emergency treatment. For example, neck pain and limitation of head movements are observed with meningitis, vascular, infectious and oncological diseases, injuries of the cervical spine, immune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis with inflammatory bowel diseases), as well as various diseases of the internal organs.

Meningitis

Encephalitis

Fungus

Vomit

Rubella

Measles

29429 07 June

IMPORTANT!

The information in this section cannot be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment.
In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, diagnostic tests should be prescribed only by the attending physician. To make a diagnosis and properly prescribe treatment, you should contact your doctor. Meningitis: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment methods.

Definition

Meningitis is an infectious inflammation of the meninges of the brain and spinal cord, accompanied by intoxication, fever, increased intracranial pressure syndrome, meningeal syndrome, as well as inflammatory changes in the cerebrospinal fluid.

The meninges are connective tissue membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. There are dura mater, arachnoid and pia mater.

The dura mater of the brain has a dense consistency and thickness of 0.2-1 mm; in places it fuses with the bones of the skull. The arachnoid membrane is a thin, translucent, non-vascular connective tissue plate that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The soft shell is a thin connective tissue plate directly adjacent to the brain, corresponds to its relief and penetrates into all its recesses. In its thickness is the vascular network of the brain.

The most common inflammation is inflammation of the pia mater, and the term “meningitis” is used.

Causes of meningitis

The meninges can be involved in the inflammatory process primarily and secondary. Meningitis that occurs without a previous general infection or disease of some other organ is called primary. Secondary meningitis develops as a complication of an existing infectious process. Secondary ones include tuberculous, staphylococcal, pneumococcal meningitis. The primary ones are meningococcal, primary mumps, enteroviral meningitis and others.

The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets, household contact or nutrition.

Purulent inflammation of the meninges can be caused by various bacterial flora (meningococci, pneumococci, and less commonly, other pathogens). The cause of serous meningitis is viruses, bacteria, fungi.

According to the forecast, the most dangerous is tuberculous meningitis, which occurs when there is a tuberculous lesion in the body. The development of the disease occurs in two stages. At the first stage, the pathogen, through the bloodstream, infects the choroid plexuses of the ventricles of the brain with the formation of a specific granuloma in them. In the second, inflammation of the arachnoid and soft membranes is observed (as a rule, the membranes of the base of the brain are affected), which causes acute meningeal syndrome.

The development process of meningococcal meningitis also consists of several stages:

• contact of the pathogen with the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx;
• entry of meningococcus into the blood;
• penetration of the pathogen through the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, irritation of pia mater receptors by toxic factors and inflammation.

The course of the infectious process depends on the pathogenic properties of the pathogen (the ability to cause disease) and the state of the human immune system.

Previous viral diseases, sudden climate change, hypothermia, stress, concomitant diseases, therapy that suppresses the immune system can be significant for the occurrence and course of meningitis.

Classification of the disease
According to the type of pathogen:

1. Viral meningitis (influenza, parainfluenza, adenovirus, herpes, arbovirus (tick-borne), mumps, enterovirus ECHO and Coxsackie).
2. Bacterial meningitis (meningococcal, tuberculous, pneumococcal, staphylococcal, streptococcal, syphilitic, brucellosis, leptospirosis).
3. Fungal (cryptococcal, candidiasis, etc.).
4. Protozoal (toxoplasmosis, malaria).
5. Mixed.

According to the nature of inflammation:

1. Serous.
2. Purulent.

According to the mechanism of occurrence:

1. Primary.
2. Secondary.

With the flow:

1. Spicy.
2. Subacute.
3. Fulminant.
4. Chronic.

By severity:

1. Easy.
2. Medium-heavy.
3. Heavy.

According to the prevalence of the process:

1. Generalized.
2. Limited.

According to the presence of complications:

1. Complicated.
2. Uncomplicated.

Symptoms and syndromes of meningitis
There are a number of syndromes common to all meningitis:

• meningeal syndrome - manifested by rigidity (increased tone) of the neck muscles and long back muscles, hypersthesia (increased sensitivity) of the sensory organs, headache, vomiting, changes in the cerebrospinal fluid;
• cerebral syndrome - manifested by drowsiness, impaired consciousness, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, psychomotor agitation, hallucinations;
• asthenovegetative syndrome – manifested by weakness, decreased ability to work;
• convulsive syndrome;
• general infectious syndrome - manifested by chills and fever.

Meningococcal meningitis ranks first among purulent meningitis.
Its incubation period ranges from 1 to 10 days, with an average of 2-4 days. The disease usually begins acutely against the background of complete health or shortly after nasopharyngitis. Patients can indicate not only the day, but also the hour of illness; they are worried about chills, body temperature above 38℃, severe bursting headache, aggravated by any noise and movement of the head. Patients may experience pain in various parts of the body, and touching causes excruciating sensations. Vomiting is not associated with food intake and does not bring relief. Soon, stiffness of the neck and long back muscles sets in. Patients take a “meningeal” position. Infants cry constantly, they may experience bulging fontanelles and gastrointestinal disorders. Pneumococcal meningitis, as a rule, is observed in young children against the background of an existing pneumococcal process (pneumonia, sinusitis).

With streptococcal meningitis, hepatolienal syndrome (enlarged liver and spleen), renal failure, adrenal insufficiency, petechial rash (hemorrhages due to damage to the capillaries, as a result of which blood, spreading under the skin, forms round spots, the size of which does not exceed 2 mm).

Purulent meningitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungi are rare. The diagnosis is established only after additional laboratory tests.

Serous tuberculous meningitis is characterized by a gradual onset, although in rare cases it can manifest itself acutely. At the onset of the disease, patients complain of fatigue, weakness, irritability, and sleep disturbances. The temperature is usually no higher than 38℃, and there is an intermittent moderate headache. On the 5-6th day of illness, the temperature rises above 38℃, the headache intensifies, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness appear. Unconsciousness develops quickly. A divergent strabismus, a low position of the upper eyelid in relation to the eyeball, and pupil dilation may be observed.

When diagnosing mumps meningitis, it is important to identify recent contact with someone with mumps.

Clinical manifestations of damage to the meninges may develop even before the enlargement of the salivary glands.

Enteroviral meningitis is characterized by two- and three-wave fever with intervals between waves of 1-2 or more days. Other manifestations of enterovirus infection are almost always observed (muscle pain, skin rash, herpangina).

For the diagnosis of measles and rubella meningitis, an indication of contact with a patient with these diseases, as well as typical clinical symptoms of measles or rubella, is of great importance.

Diagnosis of meningitis

To confirm the diagnosis of meningitis, the doctor may prescribe a set of laboratory and instrumental studies:

• clinical blood test with determination of hemoglobin concentration, number of erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets, hematocrit and erythrocyte indices (MCV, RDW, MCH, MCHC), leukoformula and ESR (with microscopy of a blood smear in the presence of pathological changes);

Neck pain: what to do?

Neck pain caused by some mechanical cause may go away within a few days. If you are sure that the pain in your case is due to the fact that your neck was simply cold or you turned it sharply, try holding your neck in gentle warmth. It is also recommended to ensure a reduction in static load on the neck muscles and a comfortable head position during sleep. However, if the pain is prolonged or severe, you should consult a doctor. Self-medication will be ineffective, because before starting treatment, it is necessary to make a diagnosis. For neck pain, it is very important to undergo instrumental examination methods, in particular, radiography or, even better, computed tomography of the cervical spine. This will make it possible to distinguish “banal” osteochondrosis, for example, from tumor diseases.

Why do cold symptoms vary from person to person?

The manifestations of the disease depend on the combination of the above factors. As a rule, a person may initially have a sore throat, a runny nose and a fever. Most patients consider only a rise in temperature to be a more or less serious symptom, and in its absence, sore throat, runny nose and even cough are ready to endure on their feet. The idea that bronchitis and even pneumonia may be hidden behind a cough occurs to the average patient only at elevated temperatures. Why doesn’t the immune system respond by increasing it in all cases?

• The severity of the reaction is determined by the type of pathogen that has entered the body. Thus, the body almost always reacts to infection by strains of influenza and some other aggressive viruses with an elevated temperature.
• An increase in temperature means that the immune system has begun to do its job, producing antibodies. But in some patients with weakened immunity, an immune response is not formed, and there is no fever during ARVI. This may mean that the body is infected with a rather dangerous virus that it is not able to fight on its own.
• Modern “anti-cold” pharmaceutical drugs based on paracetamol, which people with colds like to prescribe to themselves, quickly relieve cold symptoms, especially quickly coping with elevated temperatures. But they do not destroy pathogenic viruses and do not strengthen the immune system, which means they do not help the body overcome ARVI.

Complications

It is worth understanding that a cold in the head is fraught with its consequences. “If a person catches meningococcus, he has a risk of getting meningitis. By the way, meningitis as a complication of a head cold can also develop from other conditions. For example, hypothermia of this part of the body leads to complications such as otitis media, inflammation of the nose, runny nose, inflammatory processes in the sinuses, and therefore the development of sinusitis. It may also carry risks of meningitis. This condition is dangerous when you have a cold, and because a secondary infection can occur,” says immunologist Anna Shulyaeva.

Also on the list of complications, doctors name conjunctivitis. Moreover, this pathology is among the most common. If it turns bacterial, then there is purulence from the eyes. The problem can also develop into inflammation of the facial and trigeminal nerves. Against this background, sensory and motor functions are blocked. Temporal arthritis, which develops against the background of irritation of the nerve roots, is also found in the list of complications from head colds. Your temple will hurt on the side where it actually blew. Lymph nodes may also be affected.

Treatment of eustachitis

For the treatment of eustacheitis in adults and children in the acute period, the following can be used:

1. Medicines to destroy infection (antiseptics, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory), relieve swelling (vasoconstrictors, antihistamines).

2. Physiotherapy to shorten the duration of the disease. UV irradiation, sessions on UHF devices, and electrical stimulation are prescribed.

3. Therapeutic manipulations - blowing out the ear (Politzer method), introducing medications directly into the ear canal through a catheter.

To eliminate allergic eustacheitis, or tubootitis, caused by pathology of the ENT organs, you should work with the root causes of the disease - allergies, deviated nasal septum, adenoid growths, etc.

At the multidisciplinary clinic "K+31", treatment of eustachitis in adults and young patients is carried out in the otolaryngology department. Specialists perform diagnostics, develop an action plan, monitor the progress of therapy and strive to prevent relapses of the disease.

Among the advantages of the medical center:

• qualified patient care on an outpatient basis or in a day hospital;
• a full range of necessary laboratory and hardware tests for diagnostics;
• drawing up a treatment regimen using drugs and physiotherapy, innovative techniques;
• if necessary, attracting doctors of other profiles;
• results in the form of recovery or attenuation of the chronic process.

For accurate diagnostics, expert-level equipment is used:

• special installation MODULA EUROPA Paris (Duo) HEINEMANN. It helps make a diagnosis and works as a device for therapeutic manipulations;
• audiometer-impedance meter for analyzing the hearing of young and adult patients.

Thanks to the professionalism of doctors and modern equipment of the department, diagnostics are performed quickly and accurately. After the first visit, the course of treatment begins.

In adults

Adult patients are characterized by left- or right-sided eustachitis affecting one side without fever, but with a complex of unpleasant symptoms. Patients suffer from:

• congestion in the ears, decreased hearing (low frequencies are almost not perceived);
• autophony (loud distorted perception of one’s own voice in the form of an echo);
• sensation of fluid in the ear;
• headaches or earaches.

Improvement occurs briefly when chewing or after swallowing saliva, food, or when tilting the head due to a short-term opening of the Eustachian tube and a change in fluid level.

Prevention

Of course, such unpleasant conditions can be avoided using fairly simple prevention methods. “You should not go outside without hats, especially in winter and in windy weather. It is also necessary to use scarves to avoid blowing through the neck and back of the head. You should also avoid hypothermia of various kinds by dressing appropriately for the weather. In addition, special attention should be paid to supporting the immune system - there are a lot of ways, and quite diverse. You can also use vitamin therapy to strengthen the body’s defenses, but it must first be agreed upon with your doctor in order to take exactly those microelements and nutrients that you need during this period of time,” notes the immunologist.

You shouldn’t let the disease take its course, and you shouldn’t count on the fact that your immune system is strong, so running down the street without a hat is no big deal. There are always risks. And it’s better to take care of your health in advance.

Break up with ARVI. How to properly recover from a cold? More details

There are contraindications, you should consult your doctor

Diagnosis of cold headaches

Diagnosis of this disease involves differentiating headaches associated with cold stimuli from other types of headaches. This diagnosis is established in the presence of the following symptoms:

• the pain is acute, non-pulsating and short-term;
• the effect of the cold stimulus was confirmed;
• pain occurs immediately and only under the influence of an irritant;
• the attack stops within a few minutes after the stimulus is removed.

It is also recommended to undergo examination by an allergist, who will conduct the necessary research to determine the presence or risk of an allergy to cold.

In children

The disease usually results from acute respiratory viral infections and upper respiratory tract infections. The younger the child, the more often bilateral eustachitis is diagnosed. Older children suffer from unilateral damage to the auditory tube. Without treatment, painful otitis media can quickly develop. The temperature is normal or slightly elevated, but the child gets tired quickly and eats poorly.

With inflammation of the Eustachian tube, children complain of:

• slight periodic congestion in one or both ears;
• mild pain;
• nausea, dizziness, noise;
• balance disorders;
• the feeling of an “echo” of your own voice in your head, its unusual volume;
• feeling as if water is pouring in the ear or ears.

Infants react to poor health with low-grade fever, tearfulness, refusal to eat, lethargy, poor sleep at night, and regurgitation.

How to treat?

Medications are often used to treat vasomotor rhinitis. For cold rhinitis, you first need to limit contact with the trigger (provoking factor): cold air, water or food. You should not wash your face or hands with cold water, take a contrast shower, or visit baths, saunas and other places with a sharp temperature change. Also avoid drafts and hypothermia 4. However, hardening will be useful to prevent cold rhinitis, so consult your doctor. Find out whether you can start hardening after treatment, and what hardening procedures are best to start with.

In the cold season, when it is impossible to completely avoid contact with cold air, treatment with medications is necessary.

To treat various forms of vasomotor rhinitis, 5 drugs are used:

• Intranasal glucocorticosteroids . The drugs have a wide spectrum of action and they cope with inflammation or hyperreactivity, and as a result make it easier to breathe through the nose and reduce swelling.
• Histamine receptor blockers . The drugs are used for allergic and vasomotor rhinitis, relieve swelling, reduce inflammation.
• Nasal sprays based on sea water . Irrigation therapy (or nasal rinsing) maintains the protective properties of the nasal mucosa and improves the discharge of mucous secretions.

For the treatment of any form of vasomotor rhinitis, it is not recommended to use vasoconstrictor drops. They cause rapid addiction (within 7-10 days), after which withdrawal syndrome is possible. With vasomotor rhinitis, when the autonomic nervous system of the nasal cavity is imbalanced, vasoconstrictor medications can only aggravate the disease and contribute to a longer course of the disease 5.