X Rays and pain levels not related?

"The results of this study indicate that clinical symptoms such as pain level, headaches, shoulder referral and hand radiculopathy or numbness are not reliably correlated with radiographic findings (X Rays) of degenerative joint disease in the cervical spine" - No surprise to us, but it may be to many.

and.."Only age showed consistent statistical significance as a predictor for degree of disc degeneration". Once again, no surprise. One would imagine that as we age our discs show more signs of wear and tear.

I think the take home message is this. Many people think imaging will reveal the reason for their pain. That once they can "see" what is wrong, they will find a treatment. Unfortunately that is not usually the case. Often there are incidental findings noted on imaging such as the degeneration mentioned above. This can lead to unneeded procedures and even surgeries. So how do we figure out what's wrong, and a way to reduce our pain?

The saying I like the most is "the one thing that never lies is the clinical response". An image is just that, an image (such as an X Ray or MRI). it is just a static picture of your anatomy and yields not further information that that. In contrast, an exercise, posture correction, or movement that reduces someones pain will tell me a lot more about how to make them better. Where do you get that done, at www.IPTalaska.com. We use movement and loading strategies to understand why you have your pain. Then we can teach you how to self manage your problem and the associated pain. Call anytime (907) 561-1711.

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