MRI scan results.

[Bentleyboo]

Hi everyone, what a lovely day more heat treatment for my back. I haven't posted for a while as I've been feeling very low as my pain is unbearable.

After breaking down at the docs just before last Christmas, they agreed to sent me for a MRI scan which I have asked for for 15+years. I've now got a copy of my MRI results and will post them on this forum as well as framing them and putting them on the wall.

Sorry included on the photo are my latest blood results. My back pain hasn't been too bad lately as the Sun is out but my emphysema has been bad so I can't win.

Hopefully someone can tell me what the results mean

[Pippins2]

Hi could you repost your results the right way up I am having trouble trying to read them sideways x

[Bentleyboo in reply to Pippins2]

Hi Pippins2, sorry about it being sideways. I'll put it the right way. X

[earthwitch]

The difficulty with interpreting spine results is that a lot of people will show that level of degenerative damage on an MRI and not actually have treatable symptoms from those bits. If you notice, right at the end it says "clinical correlation recommended" - that means it needs a doctor to check that your symptoms exactly match what would be expected from nerve compression at the points they think they can see something. If you don't show the expected signs on a neurological screening examination, then it would likely all just be put down to normal degeneration. However if your neurological examination (reflexes, sensation in legs, etc) did match with what they would expect from damage to the specific nerves mentioned (S1, I think I read), then they might look a bit closer and see if it was bad enough, and the risks were low enough for something like referring you to neurosurgery.

It would be best if you could discuss this result with a specialist of some kind - probably either orthopaedic or neurosurgery, or a spinal surgeon, rather than a GP. In my experience, GPs tend to dismiss anything that even vaguely suggests degeneration.

[Bentleyboo in reply to earthwitch]

Thanks Earthwitch for your reply. I was diagnosed with scoliosis about 20+ years ago and more or less told there was nothing they could do so I look after my back by no carrying heavy stuff, no horse riding which I loved, no fun fair rides etc. Then as time went by, my back got worse. I had ordinary xrays which showed up wear and tear then a couple of years ago it started. My right side of my body would go numb and I would fall. Still nothing done then last year I started waking up paralysed from waist down, all the docs would say was that I needed physio. By now I had double scoliosis which 1 doc classed as severe as you could see the bottom curve also I lost 3 inches in height.

All along nothing was getting done then just before last Christmas I saw a different doc and broke down. She sent me for a MRI scan (I've been trying to get one for years but to no avail.) and this is my results as shown. She was apologetic for the treatment that I've had and I'm on the waiting list to see a specialist. She reckons that they might just give me injections as I've suffered for years and she thinks my spine will be rigid. I got the results in black and white so I can frame them and put on my wall and show to people that I've problems with my back.

Sorry for the waffling