Rheumatoid neck disorders can be a cause of mechanical neck pain.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that most typically affects the small joints in your hands and feet. Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of the joints, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body's tissues. In addition to causing joint problems, rheumatoid arthritis can also affect your whole body with fevers and fatigue, which would be one of the causes of neck pain that you should seek a health care professional.

Rheumatoid arthritis is 2 to 3 times more common in women than in men and generally occurs between the ages of 40 and 60. While there's no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, treatment options have expanded greatly in the past few decades.

Rheumatoid arthritis can destroy joints in the neck and cause severe stiffness and pain and typically occurs in the upper neck area

Neck pain on motion and occipital headache are common manifestations of cervical spine involvement as in mechanical neck pain. Most patients with neck involvement have a history of the disease for more than 10 years. Early signs, similar to mechanical neck pain are primarily neck stiffness that is felt throughout the entire range of motion. The atlantoaxial joint (first 2 neck bones) is susceptible to the same instability seen in the hands. Patients with severe destruction in the hands are very likely to have neck abnormalities, as are those patients taking significant amounts of corticosteroids for control of rheumatoid arthritis. You can find out more about rheumatoid arthritis of the neck.

The next part focuses on shoulder problems, which can often be mistaken for mechanical neck pain.