Dr. Devarish Mandav

Neck pain is a common medical condition, which can be easily treated if proper care and medications are taken. It usually occurs due to strained neck muscles, often caused bad posture, though there might be other causes as well. Rarely, neck pain can be a symptom of a more serious problem as the condition is relatively mild in nature. The symptoms of a neck pain are very obvious which refers to any kind of discomfort in moving your neck on a daily basis. Along with this you might also have headache, stiffness of the head and muscle tightness.

Some of the most common causative factors of neck pain are listed below:

1. Muscle strains: A muscle strain generally happens when you exert too much pressure on your neck continuously for long periods. It also happens when you have your neck fixed in the same position for long hours of the day. Muscle strains in the neck may occur when you keep your neck bent in the wrong way while doing activities like reading a book, looking at your mobile phone or working over your laptop for extended hours.
2. Worn joints: Just like all the other bodily joints, the neck joint also tends to wither and degrade with age. This phenomena is known as the wear and tear of the joints. The bones of the neck joint tend to wither with time, thereby making your joint frail and exposing it to various pains and medical conditions.
3. Nerve compression: Nerve compression is a medical symptom whereby, there is excessive pressure put on one particular nerve in the body. Herniated discs or bone spurs in the vertebrae of your neck can press on the nerves branching out from the spinal cord, hence causing a long lasting neck pain. Damage caused from a nerve compression may be minor or severe depending on the pressure applied. It may cause temporary or long lasting problems depending on the degree of damage caused. The earlier you get a diagnosis and treatment for nerve compression, more quickly you will find relief.
4. Whiplash: Neck related injuries are common phases of pain and discomfort caused due to an external damage to the neck as a result of a tragic sports related or vehicular accident. A neck injury is also known as a whiplash and it refers to an injury due to forceful, rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck, like the cracking of a whip. Whiplash mostly occurs during accidents, physical abuse or other trauma. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Physiotherapist.

Kidney Angiomyolipoma is also known as AML of the kidney, renal angiomyolipoma or kidney AML. This is a benign tumor that can lead to hemorrhagic complications. A tumour can crop up in the medulla or the cortex of the kidney. A small proportion of this condition can happen in conjunction with tuberous sclerosis. The symptoms vary according to the size of a tumour. The treatment differs from case to case, for some patients, radical nephrectomy may work while for some, invasive wedge resection and partial nephrectomy may work better. The prognosis of this condition is excellent owing to its benign nature.

How is kidney angiomyolipoma medically dealt with?
The treatment option depends on the criticality of a tumour and the general health of the patient. A vast majority of the tumors that are asymptomatic in nature doesn’t require a surgical intervention. After the diagnosis is made, a doctor might want to take the wait and watch approach. If the tumor size is small, only medications can cure the condition. On the other hand, surgical intervention can cure the disease and limit any chances of recurrence. Some of the preferred surgical methods include complete or partial nephrectomy, endoscopic surgery, nephron-sparing surgery and tumor embolization. A nephrectomy is only considered when the tumor size is quite large. In case the kidney function is severely impaired, dialysis is necessary. If the tumor results in abdominal bleeding, emergency surgery should be considered.

Healthy lifestyle changes:
If a person has been diagnosed with kidney angiomyolipoma, it is important to follow a healthy lifestyle. Refraining from salt, potassium is a must. A stressed kidney, in general, is better off without foods such as potato, salt, fast food, processed food, various kind of meat etc. The dietary restriction gets waived off by the doctor once the patient is cured. Lifting heavy weight is a strict no in these circumstances. Adequate rest and enough hydration are necessary to be in shape. Timely consumption of medicine is equally important to get cured.

How can this disease be prevented?
Medical research has not fetched any result over the possible prevention method of renal AML. This condition is often connected with a genetic disorder. The following prevention method is necessary to mitigate the risk of this disease.

• A genetic test of the expecting parents or molecular testing of the fetus can help a doctor understand whether there is a risk involving the baby.
• If the disease runs in the family, a genetic counselling can help parents to understand to assess the risk before planning a child.
• Frequent medical checkups are also necessary for a person who has a family history of this disease.
• Aggressive medical research is being done to get a possible cure for this problem. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Nephrologist.