For years, physicians and patients alike, have searched for solutions to back and neck pain and other internal dysfunction. When the x-ray was invented, it was a gigantic step forward. As time comes forward, there have been more amazing medical device inventions: ultrasound, MRIs, cat scans, and others. But, right now, there is a fairly new tool that has come forward that has the potential to give physicians the kind of information that can truly make a difference in their patient’s lives and treatment. That is the “positional MRI”.
Anyone who has ever had an MRI knows that you must lay quietly while a very large, and very noisy machine rotates around you to take a picture whatever body area needs attention This has some definite limitations in that if a condition is being caused by a misalignment or stress that can only been seen or felt when in a standing or sitting position – the traditional MRI will miss it. A positional MRU takes a different approach. When a patient comes in for a positional MRI scan, they are allowed to sit, stand, bend, or adopt whatever position the physician has ordered to gain more information about the problem the patient is experiencing. This allows the physician to get a far better “picture” of what is going on in the patient’s body during normal daily activities, and insight into what might be triggering the pain.
There are further advantages to a positional MRI. The first is that for the claustrophobic, it is decidedly more comfortable than a large noisy machine moving about you as you lay in a very enclosed space. It is a drug-free experience, which is always a plus. If children need an MRI for any reason, they can actually be scanned while they are sitting on Mom’s lap. Obviously, this has the potential make both Mom and baby much happier!
