What's The Deal with all these MRIs?

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Maybe it's me but it seems everyone is getting an MRI. My daughter just had one and I hear abut all these kids getting them. Is their an increase of these...are kids just getting injured more?

My daughter got hurt by some kids fooling around and falling into her. Didn't think nothing about it and she was going to her annual physical and sick it was bothering her we asked about it. Ended up being potentially worse and her being a future college athlete the doctor sent her to a sports orthopedic and then he sent to an MRI. And PT.

I also know several kids from 12 on up that have had MRIs. I never heard of them when I was a kid.

It appears to be a sprain...but they are doing an MRI. I just remember wrapping it, icing it and raising it. Why all this stuff?

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Type: Question • Score: 10 • Views: 3,038 • Replies: 54

Xray don't pick up everything. Two years ago when I broke my back, xray in the ER showed no injury. The MRI showed compression fractures in 3 vertebrae and a dislocated pelvis.

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Also, worry re missing stuff, for, natch, financial reasons, but also for good reason, as butrynet mentioned.

Tricky. I was in Presbyterian for a bunch of days some years ago now. All that was for what I considered it in the first place, my blood pressure pill at the time. All to be sure..

and safe from law suit.

Then there was the ******* ambulance demand. If not demand, it seemed like it.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

Is their an increase of these...are kids just getting injured more?

yes

particularly girls

sozobe had a thread about it many years ago

http://able2know.org/topic/116382-1

the article she starts with is long and still available online

___

a shorter version is at

http://www.nursingcenter.com/static?pageid=1016645

Quote:

Many women today never had the sports-related opportunities their daughters and nieces now have because when they were growing up, sports were for boys.

That changed in 1972 when Title IX, a federal law that mandated equal opportunity in sports, passed. Since then, girls’ participation in high school sports has soared nearly 80 percent. Unfortunately, so have athletic-related injuries in girls.

Quote:

But the reality, she notes, is that “any time a kid is active they are at risk of injury.”

And, it appears, girls who are active in organized sports have a far higher risk of severe injuries than boys playing the same sports. For instance, Dr. Comstock’s work shows that high school girl basketball players are 43 percent more likely to be injured than their male counterparts. All together, girls who play soccer, basketball or baseball/softball are 28 percent more likely overall to become injured compared to boys who play the same sports. While boys are more likely to sustain injuries resulting from player-to-player contact, like concussions, girls are more likely to become injured without any contact.

more research in the area since soz's original thread (funnily enough (?), a lot of the research is being done at OSU)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150624090726.htm

http://www.king5.com/story/news/health/2015/07/06/new-study-finds-girls-at-higher-risk-for-overuse-sports-injuries/29762713/

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@ehBeth,

Well I guess my girls are the oddballs (not surprising) - they were both injured via contact. One was pushed in a basketball game resulting in her hand moving when trying to receive a pass resulting in the finger break - the girl did get a foul called on her, and my daughter continued to play not wanting to be pulled from the game by complaining of her finger hurting - she made the basket to tie the game and then made the winning shot to win it. Never said a peep about her finger until a while after she came home and told me her finger hurt - I didn't think it was anything but figured to be safe as it was a bit swollen I'd bring her to be looked --- good thing I did.

The other was hit by another girl falling into her (not in sport at a pep rally) and her knee went back - she too just complained a little about it and went on playing and working out.

funny how these kids ignore and play through the pain. I think the lack of injury my girls get in overuse is we do have them in their off seasons go to sports performance training. It helps them develop overall and works on their athletic ability throughout their bodies.

I have seen alot of their peers doing way too much - we limited where they can only play one sport on a club level and then they choose one other that is more for strictly enjoyment. The funny thing is their competitive and enjoyment sports are the same ones, but opposite.

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@ossobuco,

Yeah I think her doctor was worried when I mentioned she was looking to play college ball. She wanted to be cautious and recommended us to sports doctor who recommended the MRI and Physical Therapy.

All these co-pays are adding up.

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@Butrflynet,

How new are MRIs? I just remember when we were kids if we got a sprain - they sent us home with an ace bandaid and instructions to raise our sprain and stay off it. With a break we got a cast and was told not to get it wet. No one got MRIs.

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@Linkat,

MRI's aren't terribly new, but they are much more affordable and more accessible than they were 10 - 15 years ago.

They've been in clinical use just about 35 years.

Quote:

During the 1970s a team led by John Mallard built the first full body MRI scanner at the University of Aberdeen.[107] On 28 August 1980 they used this machine to obtain the first clinically useful image of a patient's internal tissues using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging

I can recall waiting lists of over a year when I first saw requests for them. Now you can get them within a week.

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@ehBeth,

Oh yeah we got ours within a week and at 6pm - they had weekend hours too.

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@Linkat,

in the early days, I would try to get people appointments in the middle of the night - you could get appointments at 3 or 4 a.m. within a few months instead of having to wait a year+. The costs have also dropped substantially - in the 90's they were $15,000 - $20,000 - and some insurers considered them experimental so they didn't cover them.

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A few months ago I felt a strange pop in my arm. No big deal, it didn't really hurt much or anything. A few days later I noticed a strange lump on my arm so I called the doctor. X-rays showed nothing, I was told to use heat packs.

A few weeks later it was still really weird looking so I called the doctor again. My doc wasn't in so they sent me to a sub -- someone who, it turns out, has a lot of experience with limb problems.

She flipped out and sent me for an MRI. I thought it was kind of excessive because my arm was just kind of annoying, not painful or anything.

They found a big tumor in my arm.

So I say hurrah for MRIs.

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@boomerang,

So glad someone sent you for an MRI.

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@ehBeth,

Now if my insurance company would just decide I was worth spending the money on to send me to one of the two doctors in town who can actually do anything about it.

They've sent me to three other doctors, including one to do a needle biopsy who simply flat out refused to do it, fearing he could do more harm than good.

At least now I have four doctors banding together to file an appeal with the insurance company.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

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@boomerang,

My word of advice would be to have at least one of those doctors reach out to the insurance company's ombudsman/ombudsperson - most jurisdictions require their contact info to be easily accessible - either through the company itself or through a state website.

That's when you often see some action.

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@ehBeth,

Good advice! Thank you!

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@boomerang,

dang girl - how do things like that just pop up - best of luck - we are fortunate where we live we have alot of good hospitals and resources.

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@Linkat,

Thanks!

They don't think the pop caused it but that it just drew my attention to the area so I noticed it, or that the pop was just something shifting that exposed it better.

I need to see an orthopedic oncologist. Apparently that a pretty esoteric field.

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@boomerang,

Are you telling us that you still dont know if it is cancer? What was the date of the MRI?

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@boomerang,

Geez Louise!!!!!!

I know well that you know how to stick up for yourself. You go, Girl!

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@hawkeye10,

The MRI was mid-September; the person who read it recommended an orthopedic oncologist.

Insurance said "Nope".

They sent me to an orthopedic surgeon who said I need an orthopedic oncologist.

Insurance said "Nope".

They sent me to an oncologist who said I need to see an orthopedic oncologist.

Insurance said "Nope".

They sent me in for a biopsy. That doctor refused to do it. He said I need an orthopedic oncologist.

Those three doctors, along with my regular doctor have filed an appeal but we're still waiting to hear.

I do have an upcoming appointment with the orthopedic oncologist but I really need the insurance to help pay for it.

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What's The Deal with all these MRIs?

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