24 Mar Thinking that IF ONLY you were given an X-Ray, CT or MRI scan for your injury or pain, then you will have an answer and a cure
Thinking that IF ONLY you were given an X-Ray, CT or MRI scan for your injury or pain, then you will have an answer and a cure
Did you know that getting scans for every pain or injury, may not actually be helpful in your injury recovery journey and instead can have negative consequences
Here are the Top 3 negative consequences that scans can result in:
1. The nocebo effect: When you are told something about your body it can be positive (placebo), or negative (nocebo). For example, at My Favourite Physio, patients often report that they had a knee X-Ray and was told that they have worn cartilages in their knee. While this might be true, it may not be the most helpful thing to tell the patient as they think that they have severe arthritis in the knee which needs surgery, when in fact, the thin cartilage MAY NOT be the cause of their knee pain!
2. Incorrect Reporting in Scans.
In a 2010 study, researchers found that a lady with back and leg pain was sent to 10 different imaging centers over a week and among the 10 reports, there were 49 distinct findings, and not one was found common in all 10 reports! On average, each radiologist made about a dozen errors, seeing one or two things that weren’t there and missing about ten things that were!
3. Over prescription for surgery in conditions that do not require surgery. Research shows that MRI findings of disc bulging and degenerative changes are common in people who have no back pain and surgery is not required to “correct” these changes. A 2016 case study showed that an MRI finding of a large lumbar disc herniation and resolved after 5 months without surgery.
Seeing inside the body is amazing and under the right circumstances, it is very necessary. However, scans do not tell the whole story and what is seen does not equal to what is the cause. In many cases, Physiotherapy is the key to overcoming pain and injury to return to active living.
If you are experiencing pain or struggling with injury, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 to speak to one of our Expert Physiotherapists today.
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