January 2, 2018

People with MRI findings of disc disease or disc herniation do not have more low back pain as they age. In a new study, 91 patients without low back pain had MRI's and were followed up after 10 years with another MRI. There was no difference in the amount of back pain between those whose MRI's showed more disc disease or herniation than those whose MRI's were unchanged.

3 takeaways:

1. Back pain is caused more by how your spine functions than how it appears on an MRI!
2. Never have a doctor, surgeon or therapist treat your back solely on your MRI findings!
3. Never give up hope of getting better just because your MRI shows disc degeneration or herniation!

In our office we treat people, not MRI or tests.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29141001/