Howard J. Luks, MD writes about the meaning of MRIs and viewing these without the proper training. Many clients look at these images, try to work what is occuring themselves and before you know it they are diagnosing themselves with the worst case scenario.
Howard J Luks has some interesting points:
"Can it be harmful to view your MRI report? Clearly the answer is yes. Maybe not for all of you… but certainly for a good number of you. I have seen many people significantly curtail their activities because of something they saw on an MRI report. The MRI report might have been discussing a normal “age-appropriate” finding, but you can’t get past the fact that something was listed as being “torn.” What’s the downstream cost of a self-imposed limited quality of life — the loss of something you enjoyed doing— and an associated decrease in your physical fitness?
“You cannot unsee your MRI report.”
Robert was a pleasant and very active 52-year-old. He coached soccer, and he was an accomplished trail runner. That’s how we met. He was super fast, and that helped me. He loved climbing hills as much as I did. These weekend runs together helped both of us more than we would ever know. I might be very winded while ascending a steep hill that didn’t appear to bother him. But I wasn’t going to stop :-).
Almost no one over 40 will have a “normal” MRI report of the shoulder, knee, spine, or hip. Many of the changes seen on an MRI are considered to be “age-appropriate” changes to some of the structures in these joints. Most of those changes can be ignored and will not impact on your activities.
This graphic shows the MRI findings of active people without joint pain.
87% of people without back pain have disc bulges
72% had a labral tear (SLAP tear) in their shoulder
Nearly 50% had knee meniscus findings.
69% had a labral tear in their hip.
shoulder MRI findings in people with no pain"
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