Anyone had a non-referred private MRI scan?

[BoysRule]

There is a lot of cancer in my family and last year my mum sadly died of cancer. I am 41. I am fairly paranoid about having cancer and not knowing.

Is it possible to have a private MRI to check for cancer and has anyone done this? It feels a little over the top but I just wonder if it will give me a bit of peace of mind.

Dh has had one to check for neck and spine issues after years of problems and nothing more than physio offered via NHS. He wasn’t referred as such but his osteopath wrote a letter explaining his issues so they knew what they could potentially be looking for and he used a clinic that she recommended.

I’m not sure you could have an mri just to check for random cancers though as that’s a lot of areas to cover. Dh paid £500+ just for neck and spine.

Have you discussed your fears with your GP? As you’re over 40 you’re eligible for a free health check so maybe you could get that done as a starter.

Thanks for the reply. I haven't talked to my GP but yes, that might be a good starting point. I had a full breast cancer check about 3 years ago after finding a lump.

I will also follow up on the free health check - when I did call up about it I was put through to a pharmacy who had no idea what I was talking about!

You can get private MRIs done without a referral. I had one done on my spine in London a few years ago. I can't remember the name of the company, but there are a few who do them (just google private MRI without referral).

Alternatively, you could have a comprehensive health check with a private company like Preventicum, which can include a full body MRI. I also had this done, but it's about 10 years ago now. It's more expensive, but you can choose what you want to include. It depends how much reassurance you want! They also do individual MRIs I think.

Unless you are specifically worried about one area I wouldn't recommend full body scans. You could discover things that would never have been life threatening but once known would have to be further investigated or at least would cause you more anxiety. These incidental findings happened to me and I had to have further tests. Luckily everything turned out to be fine but at the time I regretted even mentioning the original problem to the GP.