Musculoskeletal pain can be something that is quite frightening, especially when the source of our symptoms are unknown or begin out of nowhere. Common practice for our society is to head to our General Practitioner for advice, which can quickly lead to being sent off for a scan. Receiving scan results can lead to more confusion or sometimes more anxiety and worry about our pain.

Many things we see on our scans can often be unrelated to an episode of pain. Educating clients around pain is important prior to being referred for scans. Asymptomatic individuals can see very normal age-related changes on scans that can include meniscal tears, rotator cuff pathologies and disc abnormalities.

Some interesting data

- Up to 76% of lumbar disc abnormalities have been detected in asymptomatic populations via MRI (1).

- In a study where pro basketball and collegiate football players had their knees scanned prior to the season, it was found that 50% of athletes had meniscus abnormalities that could significantly influence interpretation in the context of an acute injury (2).

- Rotator cuff pathology was identified in 34% of scanned asymptomatic shoulders (3).

Do I need a scan?

So, if some abnormalities can be found on scans without the presence of pain, when should I go for one?

Consulting with an allied health professional prior to getting scans would be a good starting point. Most experiences of musculoskeletal pain can resolve within 3 months without the need of scans. In fact, studies have shown that symptoms of back pain can last up to 120 days longer when comparing people who had an MRI on their back with those who did not (4). If something more sinister has been identified within subjective questioning during your initial assessment, a referral for scanning will occur.

Things to be mindful of

If you have received imaging results, please discuss them with your health professional. This can help ease your mind as receiving results can contain some scary language including ‘degeneration’, ‘full thickness’, and ‘nerve compression’. Be mindful that Dr Google may not be the best source to refer to when trying to understand your scans. Imaging results do not always dictate our ability to move or load our body. We are here to help with understanding your pain and imaging results to help create a plan to get back to the things you love doing.

If you are needing further assistance with managing yourpain, understanding your scans, or getting back into movement post injury, feelfree to contact us on 1300 920 520 or info@thebiomechancis.com.au.

References

1. Boos,N., Semmer, N., Elfering, A., Schade, V., Gal, I., Zanetti, M., Kissling, R.,Buchegger, N., Hodler, J. and Main, C., 2000. Natural History of IndividualsWith Asymptomatic Disc Abnormalities in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Spine,25(12), pp.1484-1492.

2. Brunner,M., Flower, S., Evancho, A., Allman, F., Apple, D. and Fajman, W., 1989. MRI of the Athletic Knee Findings in Asymptomatic Professional Basketball andCollegiate Football Players. Investigative Radiology, 24(1),pp.72-75.

3. Gill, T., Shanahan, E., Allison, D., Alcorn, D. andHill, C., 2014. Prevalence of abnormalities on shoulder MRI in symptomatic and asymptomatic older adults. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases,17(8), pp.863-871.

4. Shraim, B., Shraim, M., Ibrahim, A., Elgamal, M.,Al-Omari, B. and Shraim, M., 2021. The association between early MRI and length of disability in acute lower back pain: a systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 22(1).

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