Hi friends,

Imagine that you’re having shoulder pain that is limiting the things that you’re capable of doing. What are you going to do? Many would go to their physician and ask for imaging to see what is going on.

Imaging like X-rays and MRIs can be useful in serious cases, but sometimes they can make things worse.

There have been numerous studies on the correlation between pain and findings on imaging. There is little to no correlation between a person’s symptoms and what shows up on their scans. This is great news!

So, if you have shoulder pain and you want to get an MRI to see what’s causing it, you’ll likely find some abnormalities, but it doesn’t mean they’re causing your pain.

If you imaged people over the age of 30, odds are they’re going to have some degenerative changes somewhere in their body. But these changes should be considered a normal aspect of living and aging.

So what should you do if imaging isn’t going to fix, or even tell you what the problem is?

Physical therapy is a great place to start.

A good physical therapist can identify what’s causing your pain, and how to remedy it. The pain may be brought on by improper movement that a person has been doing over a long period of time. Think of it like bending a paper clip. If you bend it once, it’s okay, but if you repeatedly bend it, it’s going to break.

The problem is when people identify themselves with their X-rays or MRIs. I see it too often when a patient comes to see me in physical therapy and their mind is made up that their symptoms are coming from something found on their images. This is why more and more physicians are requiring a bout of physical therapy before sending for imaging.

Catastrophizing over what is found on your imaging can be detrimental to recovery. If you think, “I will never get better, I have arthritis in my knee,” you likely won’t get better. Your thoughts are powerful and can fundamentally affect how you experience pain.

Having positive thoughts can help lower pain and reduce disability. “I am not my imaging.” “I can get better.” And “Movement is beneficial” can all help improve your recovery.

So if you’ve been dealing with pain and have had an X-ray or MRI, don’t dwell on the findings, because they don’t correlate with your pain. Instead, find a good physical therapist and have an open mind on your ability to get better.

Until next week,

Kevin