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I didn't know what a pannus was, and I am now sorry that I looked it up, and also sorry that I read this article too. I am also sorry that I had an MRI several

I didn't know what a pannus was, and I am now sorry that I looked it up, and also sorry that I read this article too. I am also sorry that I had an MRI several years ago. I had shoulder problems and they started with an X-ray. They sent me back for an MRI for reasons I'm really not sure about. It was claustrophobic and rather scary for me. Also I swear I kept as still as possible in there. Then there was no provider who had any use for the scan so it was an expensive mistake. When I finally managed to get my own copy of the report, the interpreter complained that data was bad because I had moved around too much. I was livid and I wonder why they can't figure that out on-site and retake until they get the proper data from this expensive and inconvenient procedure. I had a minor shoulder issue and physical therapy got me functional again, without caring about the nature of the injury or diagnosis or interpreting a scan. For me, MRI was an insurance scam. Also, don't forget you're carrying around something ferrous, stashed in your fat folds. YMMV.

habi 3y ago
> They sent me back for an MRI for reasons I'm really not sure about. MRI can much better visualize soft tissue (tendons and ligaments) than x-ray imaging. This is probably important in the shoulder.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  I'm well aware of what MRIs are capable of; thanks for the explanation, but it was the reasons and motives that I question, because as I said, none of the providers really cared to read or interpret the results or make any diagnosis based on the scans, other than "welp nothing's broken, go to PT." Many medical tests are not used as diagnostic aids, but as insurance tickboxes or fishing expeditions. You can have a really simple ailment and if you tell the PCP too much about it, they will order a battery of tests just to rule out a bunch of crazy stuff. Or conversely if you seem too healthy, the PCP will order increasingly invasive tests in order to find something to treat. (Also the standards bodies move their goalposts so that healthy people are more likely meet the requirements for disorders, like "catching cancer early" with colonoscopies and mammograms, or hypertension criteria that get stricter and stricter.) Doctors can also get fairly adamant about the testing according to their standards. I told a doctor she didn't need to test all my liver enzymes (at a time when I was out-of-pocket for everything) and she said she didn't feel like refilling my thyroid medication if I didn't let her test anything and everything she wanted. So I was essentially blackmailed into submitting to that. Now can you imagine being out-of-pocket on an MRI that nobody will use?
CyberDildonics 3y ago
I've seen some far out stuff but I don't think I've ever seen someone claim that an MRI, which is a cornerstone of medical imaging and therefore medicine in general, an insurance scam because they didn't like getting one and couldn't stay still. Also don't you think it's a contradiction to call something both an insurance scam and a personal rip off? Also, don't forget you're carrying around something ferrous, stashed in your fat folds. YMMV. What?
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  Yeah, a cornerstone, you would think that, and I was excited when I got the referral, because I thought they'd be able to image all that soft tissue and see exactly what's going on in my shoulder, and I'd get a firm diagnosis and a path forward to healing it. So in the PCP's office, she gave me a hypothesis of two possible diagnoses and then sent me off to imaging to rule stuff out. I was already undergoing PT when the MRI happened, and I was disappointed by that aspect of PT. Because I had a mental image that they would receive several MiB of data on a disc, they'd pop it into their office computer, and guide me through a tour of my shoulder, pointing out where the damage was done, how I'd done it, and what we'd do to repair it. None of that came to pass. I struggled several months with the recalcitrant medical records departments, trying to get the records transferred, and the PT office really didn't seem excited about receiving them. I had to make sure that the raw data was sent and not just a slip of paper with a few sentences by the radiologist. And when I finally confirmed receipt they didn't seem eager to do anything about it. So yeah, it was definitely a ripoff for me, what can I say? Nobody even pretended to give me my money's worth on that thing. Although in the MRI waiting room, they had a full comprehensive Netflix subscription, and they handed me the remote to watch whatever I wanted, so it seems like medical imaging definitely pays the bills!
  - CyberDildonics 3y ago
    If I have this right, you think MRIs are a scam because you expected them to fly through the MRI of your shoulder and find out exactly what was wrong and you think they are an insurance scam because they had netflix in the waiting room? Have you considered that maybe your expectations just don't line up to reality?

habi 3y ago

> They sent me back for an MRI for reasons I'm really not sure about. MRI can much better visualize soft tissue (tendons and ligaments) than x-ray imaging. This is probably important in the shoulder.

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
I'm well aware of what MRIs are capable of; thanks for the explanation, but it was the reasons and motives that I question, because as I said, none of the providers really cared to read or interpret the results or make any diagnosis based on the scans, other than "welp nothing's broken, go to PT." Many medical tests are not used as diagnostic aids, but as insurance tickboxes or fishing expeditions. You can have a really simple ailment and if you tell the PCP too much about it, they will order a battery of tests just to rule out a bunch of crazy stuff. Or conversely if you seem too healthy, the PCP will order increasingly invasive tests in order to find something to treat. (Also the standards bodies move their goalposts so that healthy people are more likely meet the requirements for disorders, like "catching cancer early" with colonoscopies and mammograms, or hypertension criteria that get stricter and stricter.) Doctors can also get fairly adamant about the testing according to their standards. I told a doctor she didn't need to test all my liver enzymes (at a time when I was out-of-pocket for everything) and she said she didn't feel like refilling my thyroid medication if I didn't let her test anything and everything she wanted. So I was essentially blackmailed into submitting to that. Now can you imagine being out-of-pocket on an MRI that nobody will use?

CyberDildonics 3y ago

I've seen some far out stuff but I don't think I've ever seen someone claim that an MRI, which is a cornerstone of medical imaging and therefore medicine in general, an insurance scam because they didn't like getting one and couldn't stay still. Also don't you think it's a contradiction to call something both an insurance scam and a personal rip off? Also, don't forget you're carrying around something ferrous, stashed in your fat folds. YMMV. What?

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
Yeah, a cornerstone, you would think that, and I was excited when I got the referral, because I thought they'd be able to image all that soft tissue and see exactly what's going on in my shoulder, and I'd get a firm diagnosis and a path forward to healing it. So in the PCP's office, she gave me a hypothesis of two possible diagnoses and then sent me off to imaging to rule stuff out. I was already undergoing PT when the MRI happened, and I was disappointed by that aspect of PT. Because I had a mental image that they would receive several MiB of data on a disc, they'd pop it into their office computer, and guide me through a tour of my shoulder, pointing out where the damage was done, how I'd done it, and what we'd do to repair it. None of that came to pass. I struggled several months with the recalcitrant medical records departments, trying to get the records transferred, and the PT office really didn't seem excited about receiving them. I had to make sure that the raw data was sent and not just a slip of paper with a few sentences by the radiologist. And when I finally confirmed receipt they didn't seem eager to do anything about it. So yeah, it was definitely a ripoff for me, what can I say? Nobody even pretended to give me my money's worth on that thing. Although in the MRI waiting room, they had a full comprehensive Netflix subscription, and they handed me the remote to watch whatever I wanted, so it seems like medical imaging definitely pays the bills!
- CyberDildonics 3y ago
  If I have this right, you think MRIs are a scam because you expected them to fly through the MRI of your shoulder and find out exactly what was wrong and you think they are an insurance scam because they had netflix in the waiting room? Have you considered that maybe your expectations just don't line up to reality?