How do Lumbar X-Rays and MRI scans help?
When someone has been diagnosed with simple lower back pain, lower back pain investigations such as X-rays and MRI scans often show very little wrong – aside from the usual changes of age that are very common and are not always associated with pain. Here are some things we know about MRI scans and lower back pain: • The things most often seen are changes of age or degenerative changes; these are common findings even in quite young people. Disc bulges are another very common finding. • These findings are as common in people with no back pain as they are in people with back pain. • There is no relationship between the findings on MRI and either the likelihood that you will get back pain, the severity of your symptoms or the likely outcome following an episode of back pain. • MRI scans taken before someone had back pain and after they got it look exactly the same. • MRI can be helpful to identify problems that may need surgery e.g. disc bulges causing nerve root irritation. In most guidel
