An MRI Does Not Tell Us How to Treat Your Back Pain so Why Do We Need It?

​Whether or not to have an MRI is a discussion I have at least once every week.  The reason I talk about it is because the decision to do an MRI should not be one that we arrive at without an understanding of what is to be gained and lost.

Let’s identify some of the takeaways from doing an MRI for your back pain.

The MRI can often help us determine where your problem is.  We can also get a picture of the structures involved, but it will usually not tell us if you are a surgical candidate or not; that is determined by the surgeon based on his/her physical exam of the patient.  Though the MRI may show us a picture of what is going on, it still does not tell us which structures are causing the pain. 

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