Whole Spine MRI

[Lollyl88]

I am due to have a 'whole spine MRI' on the NHS. Are there any medical professionals/anyone with knowledge that can tell me (a) how long this normally takes and (b) if it will show issues with my hips also? Many thanks in advance.

Should take about 40 mins and no, you’d need a separate MRI for any hip/pelvic issues.

Thanks @OzCalling. Would it not show any sciatic nerve issues? Assuming it takes an image down to the sacrum?

Hi, I had a whole spine MRI last year to diagnose spinal stenosis, and they didn't pick up my sciatica.
The whole thing took about 40 minutes and I got my results within days (although that's because they'd noticed something wrong - before my MRI, a previous physio had said nothing was wrong with my spine and that the pain was basically all in my head).

Good luck with your scan - mention your concerns to the specialist before your MRI and they may be able to look as some MRI scanners pick up more than others.

I had one done a month ago, saw my results a few days ago, they could see my damaged nerves, while spine all way down and the specialist even zoomed in on the fat and muscle surrounding my slipped discs. It only took about 20mins.

@AddictedToBooks and @LouiseTopaz thanks so much for your replies and info. Hope you both aren't in too much discomfort x

My 3 year old had one - about 40 mins for the spine part. I don't think they did the hips - it sure the doctor said each "area" had to be signed off - so brain, spine, hips, legs and feet etc

Yes - these would be caused by the discs in the lumbar spine so will be shown on the spinal scan. A pelvic/hip scan is a totally different thing.

DD has regular full spine MRIs, her consultant ordered a separate MRI (pelvic) when he was concerned about hip issues.

Although sciatic pain occurs in your leg/hip/bum the root cause of the pain is almost always in your back so the scan should confirm this.

Mine took about half an hour, had the results in about 2 days (2 prolapsed discs ☹️) but they didn’t do further down - well, the images they showed me were spine only.
Good luck.