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Cervical spine x ray normal4/5/2024 But I was dismissed by every consultant I saw over the last 2+ years, to the point that I started to doubt myself, thinking ‘it might all be in my head’! What is so incredible, your team cleared up all my questions and concerns about my neck that I’d been searching for answers for nearly 3 years, literally within less than 24 hours of me arriving in Colorado! For that I cannot thank you and your team enough.” Neck Pain but Your Imaging Is Normal? As a patient (and medical professional) I knew all along, I was really not right. As I mentioned during my visit, I’d felt completely abandoned by my local orthopedic consultants, who refused to give me a diagnosis and insisted I had no CCJ abnormalities. With your help and all the additional insight you have given me, I am hoping I can push my recovery in the right direction again. I feel very privileged that I was given the opportunity to meet and be assessed by your team of clinicians, who truly focus on the patient’s functional recovery in such meticulous detail. “I would also like to add, the last few days have been amazing and so inspiring for me and my recovery. She sent me this email while she was waiting to board her international flight to head home. Nor did any physician ever give her a diagnosis, because all her imaging was read as “Negative.” Some physicians even suggested that this was “in her head.” She had to fly internationally from Europe to Broomfield, CO to finally get a diagnosis and a treatment plan aimed at getting her back to living a normal life again. She has been placed on multiple medications for headache, migraines and nerve pain but nothing has ever given her any relief. The last several years she has been in and out of multiple doctor offices such as neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, non-surgical interventional spine physicians, and multiple physical therapists. Prior to the trauma was an avid runner and hiker but since the start of these issues she could barely walk a few blocks on flat ground before getting sharp pain in the base of her skull with debilitating headaches. Patient #2: Middle age healthy (previously active) female who was involved in an altercation several YEARS ago that left her with debilitating pain at the base of her skull. I had previously treated her older brother, and her mother was tired of seeing her daughter in discomfort so she brought her in for an evaluation. Yet she couldn’t get back to her normal life which included competitive swimming and even things like sleeping and going to school continued to be difficult. She did not improve and an MRI of her shoulder and an X-ray of her neck were done and were read by the radiologist as “NORMAL”. Her primary care physician told them nothing was wrong and that she should improve with time. She tried 6 weeks of physical therapy with no improvement. The vehicle was hit from the side and the patient was thrown into the door on her right side and shortly after started having shoulder pain in the back of her shoulder with stiffness in her neck. Patient #1: 16 year old female high school athlete who was a back seat passenger during a car crash. I find in practice that physicians do the exact opposite, if you have ever gone to an orthopedic office most of the time is spent getting x-rays and MRI’s before you even speak to a clinician, then the clinician (many times a PA or NP and not the MD/DO) reviews the imaging and tells the patient what is wrong with them without even discussing history or examining the patient! This is very true when it comes to orthopedic medicine. These patients presented with very different symptoms, but were eventually found to have the same diagnosis! BUT importantly, both patients had “normal” imaging so their physicians told them that “nothing was wrong and their issues will resolve with time.” This is a problem because both of these patients actually had serious injuries and their physicians (and many insurance companies) dismissed their complaints and told them it was “just a sprain or strain and should resolve in a few weeks.” We see this too often and in these cases the true diagnosis is missed which leads to patients suffering unnecessarily before eventually getting to the right physician.Īs physicians, we are taught that 70-90% of all patients’ problems can be discovered after discussing their history and doing a thorough examination (1-3). Have you been suffering with neck pain but your imaging is normal? Two patients come to mind that I’ve seen recently whose cases can hopefully shed some light on this issue.
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