Have Cold And Neck Pain After Sneezing. Cause Of Concern?

Posted on Mon, 7 Jan 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 7 Jan 2013 Answered on

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a cold and when I sneeze I get a searing unbearable pain in the back of my neck radiating outwards. It's unbearable for 10 -15 seconds. What is the underlying reason for this? I havent had any back injuries or so on in the past

Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (3 hours later)

Hi,

Thank you for your query.

1. The most common causes for this would include:
a. Muscle spasms pressinfg on nerve roots or causing nerve entrapment
b. Cervical spondylosis
c. Raised intra-cranial tension.

2. Get your Cervical Spine X-rays done. Get a Neurologist's opinion to identify the exact dermatome (area). This will help identify the nerve supply involved.

3. Anti-histamines will help reduce the sneezing while the investigations are going on.

4. Does this also happen while coughing?

8. Avoid coughing hard, sneeze with the mouth open and use a thinner pillow.

I hope that I have answered your queries. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.

Regards.

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