Have SEVERE shoulder/back pain, left side. Popping, stiffness, can’t sleep comfortably. Exercise is not
helping. Physical therapy not helping. Had cortisone shot in shoulder, did not work at all.

Been going to physical therapy at since March. Before that went to attorney doctor. Attorney doctor was not relieving pain so I switched to Kaiser. Kaiser physical therapy is not working.

Have got 3 refferals from 3 different doctors (one my family medicine doctor at Kaiser) to have MRI done. Kaiser Ortho. Depart. will not do MRI.

Stated to me that they don’t need an MRI to know that my muscle is torn but tells me that it will get better with exercise. Exercise is making it more painful and worse.

In your opinion why won’t they do an MRI? They can’t see through my skin?

?

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

It’s true that MRI is usually not needed for shoulder pain diagnostics. Rotator cuff rupture can be diagnosed clinically, and confirmed with ultrasound which is cheaper than MRI. It’s also true that the MRI will probably not change anything - the treatment will stay the same. I’m assuming that proper clinical evaluation has been done. However, if the problem persists and there is doubt as to its origin, an MRI might be appropriate. Also, in some cases back-shoulder pain could be caused by cervical disc herniation, in which case a cervical spine MRI should be done. Clinical examination by proper specialists are key.?