Does Your Back Pain Really Call for an MRI? The Answer Might Surprise You
Do you suffer from low back pain? You are not alone. According to a recent report by The Washington Post, low back pain disables more people globally than pre-term birth complications, HIV, tuberculosis, road injuries, lung cancer, and COPD combined. Americans spent $86 billion treating low back pain in 2005 alone.
If you went to a primary care physician for low back pain treatment, there is a good chance he or she would send you for an MRI. But did you know that beginning your treatment with an MRI -- rather than heading straight for the physical therapist's office -- could cost you more in the long run, and bring no additional benefit?
MRI vs. Physical Therapy: A Question of Cost
It is true that an MRI can be useful for pinpointing certain spinal conditions that require further treatment beyond what a physical therapist can provide. But these conditions have specific symptoms. For the most part, MRIs for low back pain are not useful enough to justify their cost. When the first step of treatment is to get an MRI, rather than seeking physical therapy at a facility like The Beverly Hills Comprehensive Medical Group, patients ultimately spend an average of $4,793 more. The cost of the MRI itself accounts for $1,000 to $1,500 of that money, while the rest is typically spent on unnecessary injections or procedures.
MRIs may reveal normal spinal changes that may spur doctors and patients to seek surgical interventions that are not strictly necessary. Some conditions, like degenerative disc disease, sound scary, but are in fact the natural result of aging and usually cause no painful symptoms. In reality, physical therapy is often more than enough to treat low back pain. Patients who seek physical therapy spend an average of $1,871 on treatment. Physical therapist educate patients to be proactive in managing their back pain, an approach that may help more in the long run.
How have you benefited from physical therapy for low back pain? Tell us in the comments!