Torticollis
In medicine, this is a broad term for a group of neck diseases known as neck dystonia. Torticollis features neck muscle tension, especially in the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles. It is characterized by difficulty moving your neck in one direction or the other. Usually, horizontal movements trigger the pain to one side and not the other.
Head tilt is characteristic in patients with torticollis because they can’t move their neck without triggering pain. It is usually caused by maintaining an awkward position while sleeping, but other causes include trauma, cervical adenitis, a cystic mass, or a fracture of the odontoid bone. We can also have congenital problems leading to muscular torticollis, which is very rare.
Acute torticollis is limited to a few hours or days. The pain can sometimes last for a few weeks, but no more than that. It only requires over-the-counter medications and resolves without much medical action. The pain may return and turn into chronic torticollis only after a traumatic accident and under particular conditions.
In most cases, patients with torticollis can’t locate the exact cause of their pain, and they do not require specialized tests to solve their problem. But sometimes, patients may need a magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical cord to rule out radiculopathies, spinal stenosis, and other causes in case of prolonged or recurrent symptoms.