09 Mar Technological Advances ???
Here at Openhealth Clinic, we have become more and more accustomed to organising MRI scans for patients. As such we have developed a relationship with Vista Diagnostics, an imaging centre right by Waterloo Station.
They offer a very good service, providing a written report within a day or two of the scan being performed. The scan is very competitively priced at approximately £200-225. Bearing in mind that could cost as much as £800 at your private hospital, it’s a relative bargain. Unlike a plain xray, an MRI scan enables us to see the soft tissues of the body as well as the bones. It is accepted that MRI is both safe and effective as a diagnostic aid.
Imagine my horror then, when I read an article in an Osteopathic Journal this month. Thirty six volunteers aged between 27 and 68 were scanned. (Admittedly a very small sample, however). The scans were examined by a Consultant Radiologist. He reported that 81% of the sample had disc bulges in their lumbar spines. 33% had minor prolapses (slips), but none had severe prolapses. Also 56% had minor tears to the outer fibres of a disc. Those findings aren’t that shocking, except for the fact these thirty six volunteers had one thing in common:
THEY HAD NO LOWER BACK OR LEG PAIN!!!! – in other words they had no symptoms.
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