getting an mri tomorrow - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

mnm2577 · 03-19-2009, 05:37 PM

I am getting an mri tomorrow of the cervical spine. I have tingly throbbing achy feelings in both my arms. My back feels like it is in constent muscle spasms my upper back feels hot when i lean against something but not hot to the touch. I take pain meds that help my back but they are prescribed due to my lower back problems. The pain meds do help with some of the pain in my upper back but still get the tingly achy feelings in my arms and hands especially at night or after working with my hands (writing, holding a phone, etc.) and bending. I would like to know if i should take the MRI without pain meds or just take them as prescribed. I don't know if it will show what is actually going on with my upper back better if not on pain meds or does it really make a difference. I done research on my symptoms with my upper back and what i can find out is that i might have either thoracic outlet syndrome or herniation of the cervical area or neither. I just want the test to be as acurate as possible. Will a cervical MRI show thoracic outlet syndrome? Is an MRI good at finding pinched or damaged nerves or is their a differant test specifaclly for this?
Thank you for any suggestions

marshrose · 03-20-2009, 05:25 AM

It depends what pain meds you are on, if it is something like vicoden, that is mixed with tylenol, it won't do much but fix your pain, its the anti inflammatories that are mixed in with pain meds, like asprin, ibuprophin, prednisilone, etc, that can cause your inflammation to go down and thus not be AS present on your MRI, not that those drugs work that wonderful when it comes to the spine but- you catch my drift.

I do not know about the syndrome you're taking about, but when reading your post I was thinking about your cervical morso than throacic area with the arms and hands, and also carpal tunnel crossed my mind quickly as well as it's when you're working etc.

Best of luck with your MRI today. Hope you feel well and take your pain meds, no need for extensive pain when we don't haveto be in it.

BackHelper · 03-20-2009, 08:27 AM

If the tingly's are down the arms, it's not carpal tunnel (Or at least not ONLY carpal tunnel

Carpal tunnel effects the thumb and possibly the 1st finger of the hand. It's painful, not so much tingly.

MRIs are GREAT tests. They can help rule out soft tissue injury of just about any kind. This includes injuries to discs, nerves, tendons, muscles, etc. The symptoms you've given indicate something that is compressing the nerves as they exit your cervical spine or possibly in the shoulder region.

Odds are either something like a disc injury or a pinched nerve is the cause (very common for those symptoms). I'd be interested in hearing the results.

mnm2577 · 03-20-2009, 09:41 PM

well i went for the mri today. My fiance was in the room with me. When i was done with the test my fiance told me, while i was doing the test the tech brought two people in the room (that the tech. was in) and was pointing to the screen and talking to them. My fiance couldn't hear what they were saying but he just thought it was odd. While i was in the dressing room my fiance asked the tech did they find anything he said he couldn't say anything. Then my fiance asked "will the results be in by tuesday? The tech said, he was putting a rush on it and will be in on monday (i got done with the test at almost 5pm) My fiance replied, so i guess we found the problem and without thinking about it the tech. said yes and then quickly shutup. But, they did give me my mri pictures on a disk. I don't know if i could post them here to let anyone comment on them. But, to me they kind of looked wierd the spinal cord itself looked like it was mixed with the spinal fluid. Nothing ran evenly down like a spinal cord should but was mixed with splotches of white and gray. somtimes the white was in the middle and sometimes the gray was i the middle. I have been looking all over the web to find an mri picture that looks like mine but i can't. Hopefully i can get the results in by moday because wanting to know is stressfull enough. And just knowing that the tech brought to other people in to look at the images on the screen is stressfull. i've had mri's before and i don't recall them doing this.
I will let you know what it is when i do. Does anyone know how to look at these? To me i don't see any herniations or nerve damage but i also don't know how to read them. So, if anyone can help please do. I forgot to mention the tech even redid the test becuase he thought i moved. He said the test didn't come out right and clear. But, the test did.

Nicole74 · 03-21-2009, 05:49 AM

I couldn't see any disc herniations when I got home and looked at my own disc.lol Come to find out I had 3 disc herniations and my C5-C6 was pressing against my spinal cord. I also had bone spurs that were noted on the MRI scan.

Take a deep breath and relax. You will find out sooner then later. If it was an emergency, they would of notified you right away. I had results very quickly after my MRI.