you are saying you have your MRI? you got them back on your own? I had spinal fusion surgery 4 months ago and I can tell you that I never got my own MRI results. my Surgeon did.. every time I have had an MRI the results went to my doctor.. who ordered the MRI.
so you want to know what the MRI means?

No offense but I find this very strange. I have never heard of an MRI being released to a patient... only to the doctor who ordered it.. and that is the person you would talk to about the findings.

MRI, and all test results, are legally required to be available to patients. The reports should either be handed to you, or sent via mail. Even the actual pictures are available either via film, or better yet, on a CD. I have a file cabinet full of reports and CDs and I scan and save all paper reports to several backup storage places (cloud, external hard drive, etc.). You should never ever have test done without receiving at least the paper report.

Yes, YOUR insurance pays for them, and you pay for your insurance. I have the results of all of my MRIs...and I have had a lot of them.

In lay person terms, think of the your results like this:

"Thoracic: Minor dextroconvex lateral curvature of the thoracic spine from the T2-T10 levels." You have a change in the alignment of your mid back. In a healthy spine, the spinal vertebrae (bones) should be centered when looking at it from a front view and follow a slight "s" line curve when viewed from the side. This term implies that a portion of your mid back has curves to the left or right when viewed from the front.

"Lumbar: Mild degenerative disk changes at L2-L3 through L5-S1. Shows slight desiccation without significant disc space narrowing." Some of the disc in your lower back are showing signs of wear and dehydration. However, they are providing adequate space between the spine vertebrae.

I think your friend has overreacted a little bit because doctors don't rush people to surgery anymore. From my experience, a surgeon wouldn't even touch your lower back because there is nothing to cut out at the moment. Fixing the type of curve present in your mid back is more complex then dealing with a bad disc. I would suspect a surgeon wouldn't recommend surgery for a minor curve, and physical therapy my be able to correct.

My experience with this comes from being an EMT and ER tech for over twelve years, and a spine patient. I'd be interested in hearing back from you regarding your doctor's final say. I hope this helps though.

I want to apologize for my earlier reply.. it didn't sound very good i know.. I think I was more surprised that you had the results before a doctor had seen them and discussed them with you.

I do have my old x-rays ( before they were put on discs) and know that I have complete rights to my most recent MRI's and x-rays. I just haven't asked for them because I am still post op and seeing my surgeon regularly and haven't even thought about asking for them.

again, sorry that my reply may have come across as offensive.

Wishing you all the best.

LMT

LuvMyTitans...I was not offended at all. I just hope you know that you can always get your results.

KidRobot...thank you for your reassurance. I do have pain in my butt that goes down my leg and there is a heavy feeling when I walk on the right side, making it difficult to walk distances. This has been going on for a month and physical therapy is helping some. I am very relieved that this might just be me getting old and needing to lose weight to help with the pressure. Thank you!!

The report itself doesnt seem like anything exciting, however the report reveals only small amount of information and the actual disc needs to be viewed by a person trained to look at spine images.
I work for a neurosurgeon.. The report looks normal.
We all have disc space narrowing and disc damage with age.
It is only a problem when there is limb weakness and nerve damage.

Thanks everyone. Neurosurgeon says everything is benign and looks good so no herniation or anything like that. They then sent me for a doppler test to check for blood clots in my legs...everything looked good. I guess I am just getting old and out of shape and need to lose weight. I am continuing physical therapy for four more weeks.

I'm glad that its non-surgical, and that you have a plan of attack! Congrats!

I'm so glad the subject of obtaining one's MRI was brought up. I just had an MRI done last month, and I forgot to ask for a copy. I would like to see another back specialist to get another opinion. Thanks!

I would say when I read " mild " and "minor" that isn't coming under the extreme need of surgery

I have had a lot of MRIs, and I always ask for a copy of the report and the disks. All of the imaging places I've dealt with will give you a copy only after your doctor has seen the report. It is a good idea to keep records of all your MRIs, X Rays, etc. If you want another doctor to see the results you can ask the imaging place to give you a copy that you can take with you.

Hope you continue to improve.

A word of advice to all. I was first injured in 1997 but I didn't have back surgery until 2002. In 2003 I applied for Social Security Disability and was approved three days after I dropped of my application. I know, I was stunned too. So here is my advice. Every time that I have gone to a doctor, P/T or any other treatment, I ask for and receive a copy of the visit. I have a filing cabinet full of medical records. So when I applied for SSDI I added them to my application, yes it was a box full. I was told later that it was the first time that case worker had encountered such a thing so it was really a simple matter of looking through my paperwork. She only needed three days to make her decision. So make sure that you get those copies and keep em in a safe place. They just might come in handy.