Myth Busters- A scan

Do MRI /CT scans always tell you what is wrong?

Sometimes they do but often they don’t. There are false positives and sometimes the problem is associated with movement or lack of it or the scan doesn’t show exactly where the pain is coming from.

In other cases the scan can be a perspective giver and a great relief. However, even people without backpain have changes in their spine so scans can cause fear that influences behaviour, making the problem worse.

Please bear in mind with an scan it can build up false hope of a cure when a great deal of time, money and effort is expended into getting the scan. It’s not a cure and when the result comes in, often the answer can be “some backs just behave like this.”

This was a very expensive answer I heard once when I was younger. Since then I have regained full health and only rarely declare to have a back history.

If you’d like help deciding whether your problem needs a scan.


If you’d like help to restore to your full health and discover whether your spinal problem can benefit from Physiotherapy, it’s many style of manual interventions, activity, and exercise. Call Brightwell Physiotherapy 01491 834622. Or email:

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s