But It Still Hurts!

02/03/2012

I was thinking back on some questions that I’ve encountered from patients and from people who are not patients of mine, and often times I find people who have become frustrated or nervous when they feel like something is wrong but when a test is performed, nothing is found.

A recent example I came across is of someone’s shoulder hurting and his doctor had him get an MRI. But when the MRI doesn’t show anything, the pain was still there – what was he to do?

I call this the “The Famous Negative Test, But There’s Still A Problem, Problem”.

In his case, soft tissue injuries can occur and be the cause of a lot of pain, but when you MRI that area, it will look completely normal. Also, nerves that come from the spinal cord that become damaged and scar tissue will develop around them, and those can cause you pain as well.

*Important Note – if you are experiencing something like this discomfort in your left shoulder, DON’T ignore it. It could be an indicator of heart disease – so you want to be aware of that.

In this case with the shoulder, if nothing is found via the MRI, it would probably be best to visit an orthopedist and expect to be put through some physical activity so that they can help pinpoint the area and cause of the pain.

But my advice in general to the possible “we didn’t find anything” frustration is that there are many different tactics to diagnosing medical issues, and unfortunately not every test can identify all possibilities. Think about it – if there were one test that could diagnose any and all possible issues – that would be the one we’d use every time. (We’re trying, but we’re not there yet.)

So don’t get frustrated if a test comes back negative or inconclusive – it’s just part of the process of getting you better. Make sure to communicate with your doctor so that they have all the information they need in order to best help you.

Be Well,

Dr. R