Rigidity of the occipital muscles. Possible causes of

Any muscle disease often has a connection with the defeat of the most important system in the human body - the central nervous system. Rigidity of the muscles is a pathological condition that arises from excessive sending of impulses from the brain, which increases their tone and a condition of stiffness or stiffness. In addition to stiffness, there are other types of muscle damage, whether it is an atony - a condition in which normal muscle tone is lost , hypertension - a marked decrease in muscle tone, hypertonus - muscle tone increase. All this indicates the presence of certain diseases, most often the nervous system. For example, stiff neck muscles in most cases indicate the presence of meningitis or other lesions of the central nervous system.

CNS lesions are not the only cause of this pathology. For example, stiff neck may develop in connection with an inflammatory disease of the muscle tissue, but more often such conditions have the form of hypotension. The definition of rigidity is very often used as a method of diagnosing diseases in children. To do this, ask to tilt your head and try to reach your chin to the chest (if it concerns small children, the doctor himself tilts the baby's head). In the case where stiff neck is noted, additional research should be prescribed to carefully differentiate the possible disease.

The main cause of rigidity in the muscles of the neck and occiput is meningococcal infection. It can be of different types.

Purulent meningitis is a group of diseases of the nervous system that is characterized by the emergence of general cerebral, general infectious, meningeal syndromes and changes in the inflammatory character in the cerebral fluid with the presence of pus in it. Purulent meningitis in children is about 20-30% of all cases, and 90% of the cause of the disease is pneumococcus, meningococcus or hemophilic rod. Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Escherichia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria, Klebsiella and other bacteria are more rare in the development of the disease.

Meningococcal meningitis

The causative agent of this bacterial disease is Gram-negative meningococcus Neisseria meningitides. The source of infection can be any patient. The infection is transmitted by airborne droplets. The onset of the disease is characterized by a rise in temperature, chills, severe symptoms of intoxication (lethargy, refusal of food and drink, adynamia, headaches). Later, children become restless, the headache becomes stronger (increases due to sound or light stimuli). There is vomiting, which is not associated with meals and does not bring any relief. Patients are pale, there is a tachycardia. There is a strong stiff neck.

Pneumococcal meningitis

The causative agent of pneumococcal meningitis is Streptococcus pneumonie. Source of infection - any patients with various forms of pneumococcal infection, as well as carriers of pneumococcus. The transmission path is airborne. For the disease is characterized by an acute onset: a sharp (more often in the first hour) rise in temperature to 39-40 ° C, rapidly growing signs of intoxication. Then there are symptoms resembling a meningococcal infection. By the second-third day, meningeal symptoms clearly manifest themselves , in particular, the stiffness of the occipital muscles. If the treatment is timely and adequate, then the improvement in the condition can be observed after the first week. Quite often there is a relapsing or protracted course of the disease, which greatly complicates the treatment.

Thus, the rigidity of the occipital muscles serves as a good reason to immediately consult a doctor to exclude the presence of meningococcal infection.