So I was wondering something will a mri show what kind of arhtritus in your spine,c-spine. or any mri , will it show RA or will it jsut show degeneration, and a dr can tell the difference? i am new to all of this so if you can help me i would really appreciate it.

thanks sharon

Hi Sharon! Afraid I can't help you much. I really don't know much at all about MRI's. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will reply and give you some info. I just noticed your post and wanted to make you feel welcome! You might try posting your question in the arthritis forum, if you haven't already. Surely someone there will have more knowledge of MRI's.
Hugs,

Sometimes the doctor's take the results of xrays, MRI's and bloodwork and use it all together to tell what type of arthritis you have. For example if you show up with lower spine degeneration and sacroilliac joint degeneration and a high bloodcount for Rheumatoid Factor, They will diagnose you with spondylarthropathy caused by Rheumatioid Arthritis. They are also able to diagnose Ankylosing Spondylitis the same way. They also do xrays of the hands and are able to tell you if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis just by looking at the pattern of deterioration in the hands.

Hope this helps,
Billye