Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you! I will be on holidays from Dec 22nd and will return January 2nd.

I consider my position as a spinal care practitioner a privileged honor. I appreciate your continued confidence.

Upright MRI Findings

Many of you know that upright MRI imaging is our best tool to look at spine related pain. This was revealed to me when I began my research a few years ago. In 2007 I traveled to Scotland to use the first upright MRI in the world but since then Canada has obtained our very own first upright MRI unit. The Welcome Back Centre is in Kamloops. And when I feel it is necessary to help my patients figure out why there is pain while upright (whether sitting or standing) and why it disappears when lying down, upright MRI is a great way to evaluate the spine in these different positions.

Unfortunately, the upright imaging is private and therefore people have to pay out of pocket to get these special images. Recently I had a patient obtain imaging from this clinic and the results showed why symptoms were more prevalent when the person was in a regular sitting position. With permission, this patient allowed me to share the findings with the Interdisciplinary Weight Bearing Society. You can see it here.

When you carefully look on the top right image ( neutral sit ) you can see a small black dent onto the spinal cord but this finding disappears when lying down or bending the neck forward or backward. You can see why normal lying down MRI can miss many problems. The education about pain generators while upright needs to continue. Upright MRI imaging is still quite new but a very effective tool for spinal diagnosis and associated spinal treatment plans.

Best wishes,

Jerome Fryer