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shanti
Mar 30, 2009 - 6:55PM
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How detailed is an MRI?
How detailed is an MRI? I had one about a year ago and was diagnosed with a bulging/herniated L5-S1 disc. It wasn't that bad at first but has gotten worse this last 3 months.It began with me having to lay down tempoarily through out the day, then in a 45 minute drive I'ld have to stop and walk around the car 2x during the drive. THEN it just went out. Debilitated me and leaving me in excruciating pain where I could ONLY lay prone with pillows under my hips, body would not move a millimeter with out severe pain, couldn't even roll over, laying on my back seemed impossible...it was debilatating completely for close to 2 weeks and all the pain meds in the world could not touch it. My right leg was burning and I couldn't even flex it. Misery, truly. I'm 32 and otherwise healthy and active.
So the acute pain started subsiding enough for me to consider traveling for help ( being driven around staying in prone position)at which point I started acupuncture and an aggresive treatment plan on a decompression table called VAX-D. My pain was never as bad as it had been since my first Vax-D treatment and I was very hopeful. It's been 3 months of the therapy now and I've plateaued. The pain jumps from one leg to the other all the way to my ankle. It mostly is my right side though. I still can't sit, can't stand for more than 5-10 minutes at a time til my legs are burning again. It has trapped me in my house and eliminated socializing. I am seeing a naturalpath so I'm on herbs and minerals, I take enzymes, I take all the stuff anyone has recommended (40 pills a day), drink ALOT of water, cut out caffeine, eat healthy and organic, do the recommended stretchs from the physical therapist, reading and doing the mind/body books and woirkbooks....feel like I'm trying from every angle to beat this thing. My concern is that I don't want to back slide, especially since my treatments on the decompression table have been cut to 1x/week instead of 4x...and I've felt a difference. My chiro w/ the table wants me to get another MRI. I'm wondering if this will show in detail what is going on with my body and if there is anything it will tell me that I can treat without surgery. What could be the worst thing it would show and if it did show up that my sciatic nerve looked like spagetti could I fix this on my own? With time can I heal back to 100% recovery? Scared to death of surgery...not an option unless I hear that this won't heal on it's own, that the problem is to big or beyond a normal "healing" with time. Thanks. Be well.
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Jeff
Mar 31, 2009 - 5:54PM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
I found they can be misleading and pick up things that appear to be there and are not or dont pick up things that are actually there....there not 100% thats for sure....then it depends on how it is set up and the person that reads it...........I had a MRA on my hip....where they inject contrast into the hip joint and then do the MRI ...supposed to be the gold standard to see if you have a labral tear.....report comes back in capital letters " THERE IS NO LABRAL TEAR".........a month later I bring it to another doc....he looks at it and says there is a small labral tear.......friend of mine had an MRI on his shoulder...showed a labral tear...but when they went in for the surgery he also had a ruptured biceps tendon...MRI never picked it up...or the person reading it didnt........Ive had Hip xrays that have said I had anywhere from mild to moderate to severe arthritis in my hip...so which is it...who knows.....MRI's always showed mild...so there the MRI may be more accurate then the xrays..........hard to hold your faith in some of these tests after all that.....How many times after surgery have you heard they either found more things or it wasnt as bad as what they thought........that tells me they jsut dont really know for sure until they open you up and see it before there eyes...just my 2 cents
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awaq
Apr 1, 2009 - 11:10PM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
IMHO, I like inversion better than any table:
http://www.losethebackpain.com/treatments/backpainandinversiontherapy.html
The lose the back pain program here has whole section in relieving sciatica.
My experience with MRI's is similar to Jeff's. Good sales pitch for surgery though and disbelievers who think you pain is not real and you are "faking it".
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Nancy
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:47AM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
What I've learned the hard way is that not all MRI's are the same. The imaging results vary from one machine to another. I had an MRI in NJ that showed a healthy spine, just a little arthritis. After 9 months of sometimes debilitating pain, lifestyle changes, endless PT, doctor appointments, I went to the Hospital of Special Surgery in NYC for another MRI. There is no comparison to the technology, equipment, and also the quality of the radiologist reading the reports. They are simply the best! Lesson learned, all care is not the same...that goes for physicians as well. The end result is a bulging disc at L5 S1 that showed up very clearly. I am on my way to recovery and getting back to life!
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shanti
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:42PM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
Thanks gang. Monday I'm off for another MRI. My fear is surgery. What is the worst case scenario where I would have no way of healing my back myself? Anybody know?
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yannick
Apr 5, 2009 - 6:47PM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
Will not show stretched or weak ligaments and tendons, that was my problem.
But if there is a hernia or DDD it will show it for sure
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awaq
Apr 5, 2009 - 8:09PM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
Ask the doc that for a chronic condition (not car accident) "If an X-ray or MRI were taken the day before and the day after a patient developed pain symptoms, what would you find?"
The answer is the two would look identical. So what does that tell you about the value of an MRI?
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awaq
Apr 5, 2009 - 8:19PM
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Re: How detailed is an MRI?
I had two side x-rays done. One leaning forward and one leaning back. My doc said there was no instability (weak ligaments) because all the vertebra stayed in place. he advised against prolotherapy.
You might want to give that a try.
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yannick
Apr 7, 2009 - 11:02AM
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Re: Re: How detailed is an MRI?
Prolotherapy is not for everyone, has i said, and this treatment is still misunderstood.
But for me it did amazing things like giving me my life back.
There are also trigger point injections that can help.
