I'm just wondering if many people have experienced false results with CT or MRI? I would like to hear your story!

I've had x-rays...they showed stage 2 DD disease
I had a CT it showed:

C4-C5:small posterior disc protrusion w/o central canal stenosis
C5-C6:mild right posterior lateral disc osteophyte complex formation and a small posterior disc herniation, resulting in minimal central canal stenosis and effacement of the right lateral recess.
C6-C7:tiny posterior central disc protrusion and minimal posterior disc osteophyte complex formation with minimal central canal stenosis.
C7-T1:minimal posterior disc osteophyte complex formation without significant central canal stenosis.

and according to my Dr this is a "normal" CT and walked away from me. I am now waiting for an MRI to show something??? if this is normal, then why did my GP send me to see a neurosurgeon?? I'm so confused and frustrated

I hope to god the MRI shows something, I really need my pain to go away! It's been 9 months of hell.

I need some hope here!

I don't call a CT scan "normal" when you have herniations & bone spurs with a bit of stenosis.

Granted, it's not a "terrible" scan, but it's not normal.

Your GP sent you to a Neurosurgeon because X-rays don't show any soft tissue when the discs are. They only show bone. Your GP had no idea if you had herniations or not. The only way to know is to have a scan or an MRI.
And to get the best opinion, he had to send you to a Neurosurgeon. GP's need to cover their backside so they send their patients to specialists and it really is a good idea.

When you get your MRI, post it here and we'll try to help. God bless & take care. Hugs, Lee

So my MRI is tomorrow at 3:30 pm, hopefully I will have results within the week sometime. I will post the them when I get them. I have also looked into a private clinic to get a second opinion. It's just been so long, I mean if Chiro or PT was going to work I should have seen results by now don't ya' think? It's been 9 months...

Or Lord -- chiro. I hope you got a Neuro's ok before undergoing THAT.

Anyway -- make sure you get a copy of the report and bring it here. Yeah, I would have thought you'd have gotten SOME results by now after 9 months!

Are you taking any pain medications? If not, why? Won't your doc give you any?

Hope to hear from you soon. Hugs, Lee

Hey good mornin'! So I am taking pain meds, Dilaudid 6mg as needed every 4 hours and that barley touches the pain, takes the edge off though and makes it so I can function as a mother! I did not get the ok from a neuro to do chiro. It just started as neck pain, visit to GP, he said try pt and chiro, it didn't work, so he ordered x-ray and ct, then when he seen those he sent me to a nero who then told me my ct results are normal (???) but ordered and MRI cause I started to cry...lol

MRI today...will post results asap! xo

im glad your getting that done are you having any numbness symptoms or mainly pain?

Glad you are getting that MRI. We all care about you. ginnie

yes lissa is 100 percent correct regarding chiro on neck. but theres even scarier stuff to worry about. the nerves and the blood vessels travel close together in the neck. some studies show chiro adjustments in neck can actually cause strokes.
regarding whether a ct scan be wrong. i doubt a ct of the bones and calcium deposits would ever be wrong. where there is always a question is the discs. they are tough to diagnose even with an mri. sometimes even the mri isnt that accurate. studies have shown the ct myelogram to be the most accurate but its not the safest or most comfortable procedure.
ten years ago i had the best neurosureon in town do a 4 level fusion on my neck. he told me he wanted the best pictures he could get before the surgery. so he did mri, ct, and even the myelogram. he said each test give him more valuable info....i am pretty much pain free now in arms , neck and shoulders.
its always good to get a few opinions regarding surgery.....pete

Thanks Pete! I am hoping a praying that my MRI shows something more (or whatever it is that my neurosurgeon is looking for to warrant and "not" normal test...lol) I also will be asking my Dr today for another referral for a neuro so I can get a second opinion. I am so glad to hear that you have reached success with treatment!

I will for sure share my MRI results asap!

I am taking Dilaudid for pain but either I'm building a tolerance or the pain is getting worse (im sure both) but i'm up to 6mg every 4-6 hours and it only takes the edge off! I've tried a million others, anti-inflammatories do nothing for some reason...?? figure that one out? and Gabapentin, I'm sure works good, but I can't get to the right dose amount without becoming comatosed, and that's doesn't work with three young boys running round the house!

The way it works here in BC Canada is that first you see your GP, so when my neck first got bad he suggested pt and chiro, so I did what he said. Then he ordered x-rays, they showed stage 2 ddd, so he then ordered a CT, after he saw the CT results he then referred me to a neuro. He was a complete a-hole and said "your ct looks perfect and there's nothing wrong with your neck and that the radiologist that did the report "well that's just one persons opinion, I'm the specialist". So after bursting into tears he finally said "well fine, we'll do and MRI"....so frustrating