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Is It Necessary To Have MRI For Soreness In Neck Post Injury?
Question: hi I have been on here before..in relation to scans...I am wondering if somebody could advise as to whether it is necessary for me to have an another mri in light of the fact that I have been in a road accident which caused a tough impact on my neck..it is very sore and I have pins and needles.. do I need to put all of my material again..I have sent them already
Brief Answer:
No you don't necessarily need MRI
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I reviewed those MRI images that you sent, thank you about that.
The MRI images are fairly recent so they give a good panorama of the situation of your spine with the degenerative changes which you have already discussed with my other colleagues.
I understand that you must be scared after the car accident. Some degree of neck soreness is common after a trauma of that kind due to the sudden stretching of your ligaments and muscles. However if you have no other signs which could indicate a compression of spinal cord or nerve roots like weakness of the limbs or pain shooting from the neck to the upper limb in the distribution of the nerve, I don't believe another MRI to be necessary, at least not before performing a simple xray of the neck to check the vertebrae for fractures and dislocations. If xray is normal (no changes apart from the old degenerative ones) I don't think it necessary.
I remain at your disposal for further questions.
No you don't necessarily need MRI
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I reviewed those MRI images that you sent, thank you about that.
The MRI images are fairly recent so they give a good panorama of the situation of your spine with the degenerative changes which you have already discussed with my other colleagues.
I understand that you must be scared after the car accident. Some degree of neck soreness is common after a trauma of that kind due to the sudden stretching of your ligaments and muscles. However if you have no other signs which could indicate a compression of spinal cord or nerve roots like weakness of the limbs or pain shooting from the neck to the upper limb in the distribution of the nerve, I don't believe another MRI to be necessary, at least not before performing a simple xray of the neck to check the vertebrae for fractures and dislocations. If xray is normal (no changes apart from the old degenerative ones) I don't think it necessary.
I remain at your disposal for further questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
thanks. I have been to the clinic and they are organising an mri of the cervical spine..for safety..hopefully all will be ok..
do you think my neck scan recent is dangerous...I have very tight muscles in my arms
do you think my neck scan recent is dangerous...I have very tight muscles in my arms
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Since they say they are doing MRI for safety they probably haven't found any abnormalities in your clinical exam and they are doing it just to be sure and put their/your mind at rest, so hopefully no consequences due to the car crash will turn out.
I am not sure what do you mean by asking if I think your recent scan is dangerous, do you mean whether there are any side effects from too many exams like from radiation...if that is the case then no there is no harm with MRI, no harmful radiation.
If you meant about my opinion in general about your last scan, it is not dangerous in the sense of threatening your life or threatening to leave you paralyzed, but there is the danger with the passing of the years for degenerative changes to advance as you get older and cause bothersome symptoms. The best prevention for that is physical therapy, of course you can take pain killers for your symptoms but they are only to alleviate symptoms the best protection is physical therapy. For muscle tightness muscle relaxants like cyclobenzaprine or tiocolchicoside may be helpful as well.
I hope to have been of help.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Since they say they are doing MRI for safety they probably haven't found any abnormalities in your clinical exam and they are doing it just to be sure and put their/your mind at rest, so hopefully no consequences due to the car crash will turn out.
I am not sure what do you mean by asking if I think your recent scan is dangerous, do you mean whether there are any side effects from too many exams like from radiation...if that is the case then no there is no harm with MRI, no harmful radiation.
If you meant about my opinion in general about your last scan, it is not dangerous in the sense of threatening your life or threatening to leave you paralyzed, but there is the danger with the passing of the years for degenerative changes to advance as you get older and cause bothersome symptoms. The best prevention for that is physical therapy, of course you can take pain killers for your symptoms but they are only to alleviate symptoms the best protection is physical therapy. For muscle tightness muscle relaxants like cyclobenzaprine or tiocolchicoside may be helpful as well.
I hope to have been of help.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
My physiotheraptist thought it was best to hold off on my MRI until for at least six weeks..so I am in agreement with her.. she states that it is too early to tell as yet if the accident has caused an impact on my condition..she said there is mild whiplash.can this go.. I am still very sore. also do those airbags cause any danger at all
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Well as my initial opinion was that you didn't need MRI I can't say that I disagree with you not having it.
The mild whiplash term she has used refers to the soreness and pain I mentioned to come due to the sudden stretching of your ligaments and muscles. As your neck was already sore, of course it is predisposed to suffer this complication. It usually improves with physiotherapy and pain killers but it does over several weeks and the combined effect of the already known degenerative changes and the accident related whiplash, does make for a slower improvement.
As for the airbags related question, of course the sudden initiation and then abrupt interruption of the movement by the airbags is what causes that sudden stretching of the ligaments and muscles, but without the airbags might have been worse, they had a protective effect by dampening the shock.
I hope you will be feeling better soon.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Well as my initial opinion was that you didn't need MRI I can't say that I disagree with you not having it.
The mild whiplash term she has used refers to the soreness and pain I mentioned to come due to the sudden stretching of your ligaments and muscles. As your neck was already sore, of course it is predisposed to suffer this complication. It usually improves with physiotherapy and pain killers but it does over several weeks and the combined effect of the already known degenerative changes and the accident related whiplash, does make for a slower improvement.
As for the airbags related question, of course the sudden initiation and then abrupt interruption of the movement by the airbags is what causes that sudden stretching of the ligaments and muscles, but without the airbags might have been worse, they had a protective effect by dampening the shock.
I hope you will be feeling better soon.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
range of movement is pretty good and I am getting on with it..
also do you think that it will be necessary to get an mri at all?
would you consider my neck situation to get worse as a result of this incident.. also I did not get a chest xray done or blood tests as I went to a local clinic..or a brain scan..do you think that reading the two neck scans that they have disapproved.. hence comparing both that I attached..also can that tightness in the arm muscle s go..and do you think that this will ever need surgery. my biggest concern is the impingement on the spinal cord.thanks
also do you think that it will be necessary to get an mri at all?
would you consider my neck situation to get worse as a result of this incident.. also I did not get a chest xray done or blood tests as I went to a local clinic..or a brain scan..do you think that reading the two neck scans that they have disapproved.. hence comparing both that I attached..also can that tightness in the arm muscle s go..and do you think that this will ever need surgery. my biggest concern is the impingement on the spinal cord.thanks
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
The necessity of a MRI will depend on your condition. If you are improving I don't think it is necessary at all, while if you feel no improvement at all or are getting worse, then considering also your accident MRI should be performed after 6 weeks.
It's hard to exactly assess whether the accident will play any negative role without being able to examine you, but since your physiotherapist has and thinks it to be only mild whiplash then probably there won't be major effects. The fact that you state the range of movement to be good reinforces that.
I don't think it was necessary to have any chest x-ray or brain scan if there was no sign of direct trauma, certainly brain ct is not necessary now even if there was any doubt at first since the first 24 hours when complications occur have passed. Blood test is not necessary either.
I am not sure what you mean by "do you think that reading the two neck scans that they have disapproved.. hence comparing both that I attached". If you want my opinion on those two scans I think there isn't any major difference between the two, both show similar degenerative changes and disc bulges. Fluctuations in your symptoms can happen due to transitory inflammatory changes and muscle spasms.
I don't think you need surgery now. Will you ever need it...well that is a possibility as with the passing of age our spines do undergo degeneration, the best way to avoid or postpone that is physiotherapy.
I hope to have been able to answer your questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
The necessity of a MRI will depend on your condition. If you are improving I don't think it is necessary at all, while if you feel no improvement at all or are getting worse, then considering also your accident MRI should be performed after 6 weeks.
It's hard to exactly assess whether the accident will play any negative role without being able to examine you, but since your physiotherapist has and thinks it to be only mild whiplash then probably there won't be major effects. The fact that you state the range of movement to be good reinforces that.
I don't think it was necessary to have any chest x-ray or brain scan if there was no sign of direct trauma, certainly brain ct is not necessary now even if there was any doubt at first since the first 24 hours when complications occur have passed. Blood test is not necessary either.
I am not sure what you mean by "do you think that reading the two neck scans that they have disapproved.. hence comparing both that I attached". If you want my opinion on those two scans I think there isn't any major difference between the two, both show similar degenerative changes and disc bulges. Fluctuations in your symptoms can happen due to transitory inflammatory changes and muscle spasms.
I don't think you need surgery now. Will you ever need it...well that is a possibility as with the passing of age our spines do undergo degeneration, the best way to avoid or postpone that is physiotherapy.
I hope to have been able to answer your questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
thanks very much for all this information..can whiplash get worse and would you be absolutely alarmed by the scans of my neck. have you seen a lot worse than these.thank you for reassuring me
Brief Answer:
I have seen worse.
Detailed Answer:
No, whiplash doesn't get worse, different people recover at different speeds but there is no reason for it to get worse.
Regarding the second question, yes I have seen spines in worse condition than that which have improved without surgery. However you have to accept the fact that this is a chronic age related condition though, you can't live in fear all the time. It is not a life threatening issue but it is a bothersome one and chances are (whether you'll ever need surgery or not), that it will bug you from time to time, but you should try to relax and control your anxiety as it doesn't help with your pain either.
I hope you'll feel better soon.
I have seen worse.
Detailed Answer:
No, whiplash doesn't get worse, different people recover at different speeds but there is no reason for it to get worse.
Regarding the second question, yes I have seen spines in worse condition than that which have improved without surgery. However you have to accept the fact that this is a chronic age related condition though, you can't live in fear all the time. It is not a life threatening issue but it is a bothersome one and chances are (whether you'll ever need surgery or not), that it will bug you from time to time, but you should try to relax and control your anxiety as it doesn't help with your pain either.
I hope you'll feel better soon.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Will surgery help and will injection so help
Brief Answer:
Yes they help.
Detailed Answer:
Yes they do help a lot in the majority of cases, but aren't attempted first because we try always the less invasive approach as the first step before attempting others.
Surgery is more helpful when the symptoms are related to compression in a certain point which is what surgery will relieve. So before it is tried it is made sure that the clinical signs (signs of cord or nerve root compression) correspond to the point of compression on MRI, only if that is the case is surgery considered. If the signs correspond only to the general inflammation and spasm then conservative measures are continued.
Yes they help.
Detailed Answer:
Yes they do help a lot in the majority of cases, but aren't attempted first because we try always the less invasive approach as the first step before attempting others.
Surgery is more helpful when the symptoms are related to compression in a certain point which is what surgery will relieve. So before it is tried it is made sure that the clinical signs (signs of cord or nerve root compression) correspond to the point of compression on MRI, only if that is the case is surgery considered. If the signs correspond only to the general inflammation and spasm then conservative measures are continued.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
do I have spinal cord or nerve root compression that fact that my muscles in the arms are very tight
Also is it normal to have headaches with whip last
Also is it normal to have headaches with whip last
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Root compression doesn't cause arm tightness, it can be either due to tension and muscle spasms or due to spinal cord compression. Judging by the MRI the disc protrusion at C5-C6 is very close to the cord, impinging on the fluid filled space which surrounds it but there doesn't seem to be any suffering of the cord itself.
To be sure as I said before it is necessary to correlate with the neurological examination as well, because cord compression would have other changes in the reflexes apart from the muscle spasticity, can't be assessed only virtually.
Whiplash can cause headache which resolves very gradually can last for weeks at times. I hope you'll have a quick recovery.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
Root compression doesn't cause arm tightness, it can be either due to tension and muscle spasms or due to spinal cord compression. Judging by the MRI the disc protrusion at C5-C6 is very close to the cord, impinging on the fluid filled space which surrounds it but there doesn't seem to be any suffering of the cord itself.
To be sure as I said before it is necessary to correlate with the neurological examination as well, because cord compression would have other changes in the reflexes apart from the muscle spasticity, can't be assessed only virtually.
Whiplash can cause headache which resolves very gradually can last for weeks at times. I hope you'll have a quick recovery.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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