What is A Spine MRI? Why Do Doctors Recommend It?

ByJanta X-Ray Clinic

Whenever your doctor asks you to get an MRI scan, many questions come to your mind, like what has happened? How severe is your injury or the disease etc? So let us help you to understand MRI scan and their benefits. This article will give you a complete overview of the process of MRI. It is a prevalent form of medical imaging technique.

The other name of the MRI test is the Magnetic Resonance imaging technique. It uses a powerful magnetic field coupled with radio waves to get an exact image of the inside of your body. The MRI scanner has the shape of a large tube. It has potent magnets on the inside of the body. A patient must lie inside the tube over a bench during the scanning process. An MRI is a versatile process. Doctors conduct it on various parts of the body. It helps to understand the function or occurrence of any abnormal tissue growth, like a tumour or even the extent of an injury.

 

Body Parts Where Doctors Can Recommend MRI

  • Brain & spinal cord MRI, which is the most common and most used 
  • The examiner conducts an MRI on bones and joints. It examines any injury and its depth, to understand the health. It detects the reason for pain or chronic issues
  • One can also examine the heart and blood vessels to understand the function of to understand any abnormalities
  • MRI in the breast is also relatively standard as it helps to detect tumours
  • On various parts of our internal organs like the liver, prostate glands, and liver or stomach.

With the result of an MRI, a doctor can quickly assess a problem and chalk out a treatment plan. Sometimes, the doctor also performs it within an ongoing treatment to understand or view the effectiveness of the treatment.

The cost of an MRI scan is a bit on the higher side. Almost all medical diagnostic centres with advanced equipment have this facility. So if you are looking for one, consider Janta X Ray Clinic Pvt Ltd. They are one of the most renowned medical diagnostic centres in Delhi, providing some of the best facilities to the students. You can consider this centre for the following reason.

  • They provide accurate results as they have the most advanced medical devices in the clinic.
  • The tests are pretty affordable as they provide the most competitive rates. 
  • They have the most skilled staff who are experienced and updated to handle any modern tool effectively. Furthermore, they are helpful and well-spoken so that you can feel comfortable in their presence.
  • The results, or, more precisely, the test reports, can be provided within the same day or earlier by the next day.
  • Last but not least is the location. The clinic is located in the busiest part of Delhi, so accessibility is easy.

 

What Is Spine MRI?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the Spine utilizes a strong magnetic field, radio waves, and a computer. It generates clear, precise pictures of the Spine and tissues and blood vessels surrounding it. It produces every minor detail related to the Spine so your health care professional can easily detect any issue or damage. 

In addition, Spine MRI does not use any amount of radiation. So it is safer than any other imaging procedure. Still, it may require an injection of gadolinium contrast material to get a more detailed picture. Gadolinium is a safe and harmless contrasting agent that is less likely to cause an allergic reaction. It is even better than iodine contrast material.

Possible Contradictions

It would be best to inform your doctor about any health concerns, such as drug allergies or recent surgeries. Also, tell him if you are pregnant or planning for one. Although the magnetic field used in MRI is not harmful, it may cause some medical devices to malfunction in some rare cases. It is always advisable to tell your doctor about any implant, although most orthopaedic implants pose no risk. 

But, if you have metallic devices or metal in your body, it might cause severe issues due to the magnetic field. Your health care advisor will provide guidelines about eating and drinking before your test. It may vary between facilities or person to person depending on the concern. You can continue taking your daily medications unless your doctor advises you to stop them before the test. 

The MRI test also requires removing all your jewellery or any metal accessories, so it is better to leave all the jewellery at home. If you feel claustrophobic, tell the technician about it; he can give you a mild dose of sedative to conduct the test. Similarly, if you can’t tolerate the huge banging noise that usually takes place during the scanning process, it is better to pluck in an earphone. The examiner sometimes administers sedatives to the kids as they can lay still for 20 to 30 minutes or get scared of the large banging noise.

The Reason For A Spine MRI

MRI imaging evaluates or detects a variety of conditions, some of which are mentioned as follows:

  • To understand the anatomy of the Spine and its alignment.
  • Some rare congenital disabilities in the vertebrae or spinal cord.
  • To detect the severity of traumatic injury to the bone, Disc, ligament, or spinal cord.
  • Evaluate Disc and joint disease, which is very common among humans and females or people of advanced age. 
  • To understand the causes of frequent or chronic back pain or pain in the lower leg
  • To identify the presence of compression or occurrence of inflammation of the spinal cord and nerves.
  • Presence of any infection or rare disease in the bone, joint, Disc, ligament, or the spinal cord
  • Presence of abnormal tissue growth or tumour within the spinal cord, bone, or Disc.

Spine MRI is a valuable procedure used to assist in planning operations such as spinal fusion, steroid injections, or even decompression of a pinched nerve. Spine MRI also helps to detect various other possible causes of back pain, such as fractures, bone swelling, or slipped discs. The diagnosis procedure is also used to monitor changes in the Spine after an operation, or as an infection. However, the Spine MRI cost is comparatively high. It is between Rs. 7000 to Rs. 9000, considering the part of the Spine that needs to be diagnosed. 

Beside Spine, a general MRI is indeed costly as it is an advanced method that uses two different technologies to produce a better image that is radiation-free. Therefore MRI cost is always more than any other imaging process. 

However, although an MRI has several limitations, it is still better than an X-ray or USG, as it produces more precise and detailed images that assist the doctor and health care professionals in evaluating any issue. Furthermore, an X-ray or CT scan produces harmful ionizing radiation but an MRI is devoid of any such radiation and that is why can be used without any further worries. But it is advisable to get the test done from a reputed and advanced clinic to get an accurate report.

For more details on the MRI process and its after effects, you can connect with the team of Janta X Ray Clinic Pvt Ltd

Janta X-Ray is a well-renowned diagnostic center and path lab in Delhi NCR offering MRI, CT Scan, PET Scan, Ultrasound, X-Ray, DEXA, Mammogram, Blood tests, etc in the entire Delhi NCR.