What is a Picture Worth?

Spinal Imaging

Over the last few years, study after study (this paper sums up all of them) have come out saying that symptoms and imaging don't match up. MRI's are known for there accuracy, but half of all "positive" MRI's are benign. This means that if you are a certain age, you will probably have a "positive" image even if you don't have any symptoms associated with that image! The older you get, the more likely your image is to read as "positive" for something.

What does that mean?

All that this means is that you are doing fine, and you don't need to spend your time and/or money on getting an MRI done. And this is great news too (I personally hate being in one of those machines). By not getting an image, you will save money and time in the long run. Due to the nature of imaging coming up "positive" the healthcare system will chase down the findings and spend lots of money trying to fix issues. This leads to a huge cascade of healthcare use in the "system." This article found that people that chased incidental findings on imaging had more health care costs, but did not achieve results that were satisfactory (here).

If I'm in Pain Should I Still get Imaging?

This question is difficulty to answer and comes down to a personal choice. I would caution anyone against imaging due to the increased likelihood of getting stuck in the system and leading down the road to avoidable injections and surgeries. But, if you are trying reasonable rehabilitation with supervision, and are not seeing results, or things are trending down, then it is time to get an MRI to see if there is anything severe going on. This is something you should talk with your healthcare provider about and make a decision together. You can always reach out to us at BodyFix PT to talk if you want (info@bodyfixpt.com).

What Should I do if I do have Pain/Symptoms?

Talk to someone. Physical Therapy is a great point of entry to healthcare. It has been associated with lower costs and decreased use of the system, decreased use of imaging, and decreased surgical interventions (here).

If you have a friend who has pain in their neck, back, or anywhere in their spine, send them this information. We believe that informed consumers make better decisions.

If you want to set up a conversation with us about your symptoms, we are happy to talk to you about what next steps should be for you.

email: info@bodyfixpt.com

phone: 425-202-5687