MTBLover

Good point, but prudent docs won't order MRIs (or other expensive test) just because they can or are available. Always ask your doc if a test is really needed, and if there are alternatives that might be more cost-effective and just as accurate.

An aside- one reason why some docs jump on the MRI bandwagon is because there's no ionizing radiation associated with them, unlike X-Rays and CT-scans. You might recall a study that hit the popular press about a month or two ago that suggested patients were getting exposed to too much radiation from CT scans, which were being indiscriminately ordered. Although they are cheaper than MRIs, they do in face carry some risks that MRIs don't. Docs tend to worry about that, although some don't!

Another aside- I have a very prudent doc who ordered a simple c-spine X-Ray for some neck pain I was having. She wanted to rule out a spondylosis, where the disk gets eroded and the vertebrae compress the nerve outlet. Many (most?) docs would have ordered an MRI. Guess what? Because an MRI is done supine (lying on your back), it won't catch the majority of early spondylosis cases. But a cheaper X-Ray will, because c-spine films are done with the patient sitting up! That gives gravity control over the situation and gives the offending vertebrae a chance to slide into position. Yeah, unfortunately, I got it- an old weightlifting injury, but isometric neck exercises have really helped.