Everyone Healthy Library
Neck Stiff
Sign or symptom reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
! Seek urgent medical care if warning signs appear
A symptom can have many possible causes. Some symptoms need urgent assessment, especially when they are severe, sudden or rapidly worsening.
Get urgent medical care now if there is any severe, sudden, rapidly worsening or worrying symptom, especially:
- chest pain, pressure or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- trouble breathing, blue lips, severe wheeze or choking
- stroke-like symptoms such as face drooping, arm weakness or speech trouble
- collapse, fainting, seizure, confusion or extreme drowsiness
- severe bleeding, black stools, vomiting blood or major injury
- severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face/throat or widespread rash with breathing trouble
- severe abdominal pain, severe headache, stiff neck or sudden vision change
- signs of severe dehydration, sepsis, high fever with worsening illness, or symptoms in a baby/young child that concern you
Full information
Neck Stiff
The person has a sore neck and may experience difficulty moving it, especially when trying to turn the head to the side. A stiff neck may also be accompanied by a headache, neck pain, shoulder pain, and/or arm pain. Common causes of neck stiffness include muscle strain or sprain.
Conditions linked to this sign/symptom
30- Acute Bacterial Meningitis
- Angiostrongyliasis
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Aseptic Meningitis
- Brain Abscess
- Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis
- Cervical Spondylosis
- Chronic Meningitis
- Ewings Tumor
- Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis
- Giant Cell Arteritis
- Headache
- Histoplasmosis
- Japanese Encephalitis
- Listeriosis
- Low Pressure Headache
- Lyme Disease
- Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis
- Menigitis
- Meningococcal Disease
- Neonatal Listeriosis
- Neurosyphilis
- Poliomyelitis
- Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis
- Retropharyngeal Abscess
- Spasmodic Torticollis
- Spondylotic Cervical Myelopathy
- Stiff Person Syndrome
- Tetanus
- Whiplash