Aaron, How soon after your injury was the MRI done ?

What were you doing to hit your head so hard on the door frame ?

BDNF was not suffering any serious symptoms and had already had a clear CT Scan so an MRI was extremely unlikely to show anything related to his minor symptoms.

For those suffering more severe symptoms, an MRI may show an injury.

MRI's are not as good at showing a bleed as a CT Scan. Plus, bleeds can be dangerous but many concussion bleeds are not life threatening at all. A bleed that is life threatening will manifest as an intense head ache and/or loss of consciousness, motor control, slurred speech, blown pupils/asymmetrical pupils, etc. Most small asymptomatic bleeds are difficult to image with 72 hours the optimum time for a CT Scan image.

Regarding cost of an MRI, I just got a quote of $780 for a simple shoulder MRI at Medicare rates and double that for an MRI with contrast. Head MRI's are much more complex. My head MRI's cost $1400 to $2800 (MRI/MRA).

Over the years, I have had 4 MRI's and a few CT Scans and a SPECT Scan. My last neuro was suspecting a possible specific problem so there was extra scrutiny done. He did not say but my research suggests he was looking for a Chiari Malformation. Mine showed some other abnormalities too but no CM or anything related to a concussion or my symptoms. The doc said it is not uncommon. As others said, these can be a cause of anxiety. People live long lives with these abnormalities.

Many docs request CT Scans and MRI's to exclude rare but dangerous bleeds. My CT's and 2 MRI's were done just for the doc's protection.