Back pain sufferers; why you should treat first and get an MRI only if your condition doesn’t respond.

Back pain sufferers; why you should treat first and get an MRI only if your condition doesn’t respond.

Back pain relief at the chiropractors office; usually a short term of treatment at a reasonable cost. MRI of the lower back; anywhere from $700 to $1000. In this day of higher deductibles, which is the better value?

Some people have developed a belief that the problem can be quite serious and requires immediate testing such as with an MRI. Many doctors test first, offer medication and then refer later on. Insurance companies, in their effort to reduce the use of these tests that often do not help resolve the problem and cannot show mechanical dysfunction, the most common reason for back pain have hired screening companies to make ordering these tests more cumbersome and difficult. The process is often called a precert and often, these same companies are there to simply stall or delay because many cases resolve or improve on their own.

Unfortunately, most MRI evaluations will never show you what is actually causing the pain, while treatment and a proper evaluation is infinitely more helpful in resolving your problem cost effectively and in many cases, quickly.

Often, when a person does not improve, it is not because they require surgery or injections (few people have a long term improvement from either of these interventions), but it is because their problem is being managed improperly or because they may have a disc problem where the pain can linger for months as the body heals itself.

Emotionally, we all want to get out of pain as soon as possible and we may fear the worst when we experience a problem such as back pain or leg pain. A friend or loved one may believe they understand your problem and believe you may need another specialist, even if you are improving.

The best advice we can offer is to find someone you know and trust and allow them to make your medical decisions for a problem such as back or leg pain. The best trained profession for this is your local chiropractor. While not all doctors are created equal, a highly skilled chiropractor will not only look at where you hurt, but try to find out why, especially if the problem has reoccurred over and over. Chronic lower back problems are usually just a problem that has never been properly diagnosed properly; often the source of the problem is not where you experience the pain and symptoms from that problem.

When experiencing back or leg pain, always evaluate well, treat first and test last. This simple advice will help you get better results faster and avoid unnecessary and ineffective interventions that can be both risky as well as expensive.