Painful neck can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'worrying' to 'critical'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose painful neck, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
A Subarachnoid Hemorrhage | 92% | Confirm |
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis | 23% | Unlikely |
Meningitis | 23% | Unlikely |
Rheumatoid Arthritis | 3% | Ruled out |
Encephalitis | 3% | Ruled out |
Torticollis | 0% | Ruled out |
Cervical Arthritis | 0% | Ruled out |
If you have neck pain, for how long have you had it?
Possible responses:
→ Don't know / not applicable→ Over 1 year → 1 to 12 months → 1 week to 1 month → Less than 1 week |