If i had a gynae mri, would my bones be visible or would it 'miss' them

[KatyMac]

Im guessing thats a stupid question

I have horrid back& hip pain, lower back and high up at the bottom of my shoulder blade (for about the last 40 years) it comes and goes and is very bad right now

I recently had an mri gynae/bladder and wondered if a physio could look at the mri somehow (is that allowed) & how would I go about it

I've had dexa scans which mentioned "quite severe degenerative changes in my spine and hips" but the gp ordered an xray which said everything was fine

I also have Fibromyalgia ME/CFS, IBS, hypothyroid and hypermobility

Yes they’re visible. Physiotherapists aren’t radiographers though. They’re not trained to give advise on that.

Yes, your bones will be in the image, but not necessarily optimally. Imagine you'd gone to watch a sporting event and took a photo of the athletes. The crowd would be in the background and when you look at the picture you might say "Oh look, there's my friend in the third row". But it wouldn't be a great picture of your friend, because you'd been focused on the athletes. If you had wanted a good picture of your friend you would have changed the camera settings and made her the subject of the photo, but then you wouldn't have seen the athletes as well.
It's a bit like that when you request medical imaging. The requesting clinician has to tell the radiologist and radiographer what they are looking for and they will "take the picture" in such a way as to give the best images for that purpose. Now when the radiologist reports on the images they will indeed look at everything they see and comment on other findings. They may suggest follow up imaging to look at those incidental findings more closely if they might be important, but that wouldn't be the focus of the original set of images. Sometimes it is possible to "change the focus" of scans after they are done, a bit like a photgrapher might be able to use editing software to get a better view of your friend in the crowd, but other times it will need new scans taken in a different way, or even a completely different type of imaging - different types of scan are optimal for different things.
Does that make sense? The analogy isn't perfect but hopefully you get what I mean? There might be some useful info on your existing scans but really you need to be seen someone who specialises in the right field to request the right imaging for that particular purpose and for those images to be interpreted in the light of the clinical findings.

I saw a consultant privately who ordered an MRI before colonoscopy. He showed me the scan casually mentioned scoliosis asking if I'd been in a bad accident or was I born with it.

I was struck dumb for a moment then looked at the scan and there it was. My three pregnancies which caused awful backache, doing lifting jobs. Walking any distance. No-one had clocked it through any x-ray ever. But there it was on the screen, my poor twisted back.

My back specialist when I went back on two walking sticks, watched me walk into his office, sit down, when I said my back pain is unbearable, said it's not your back it's your hip. I can tell by your walk.

So two specialists in unrelated fields diagnosed another condition. Conditions that the NHS had missed.

@KatyMac you don’t always have markers for ankylosing spondylitis. Not everyone has a raised crp or esr. Not everyone has the gene either. rhumatoid factor and ANA which are the main autoimmune markers are actually normally negative with AS.

I didn’t and gp still referred me for an mri due to history. I had bone damage consistent with AS visible on my MRI. You would need a specific back and pelvic ultrasound.

with the family history you really should get referred. It has a strong genetic link. Please see another GP. And also try and follow up about the possible EDS as well. Though to be honest that diagnosis is less important as they do nothing for it anyway. Personally I’ve found it good having the eds diagnosis for my own peace of mind. I know the twinge in my ankle, shoulder, etc is likely to be that and not chase alternative possibilities.

Gp change is imminent- we are moving and need a new surgery, but they wont have us until we have moved and its taking a very long time!!

Currently the gp says if youve been tested for it before thats it!

But the tests are pointless and useless. You haven’t had an mri focused on the area which needs looking at. Sadly it sounds like the gp has a lack of understanding of AS (and EDS) which is not uncommon.

I was at the rheumatology dept at the hospital years ago which is why I know i dont have the markers (i also know they arent essential but...) so as they said i have fibro & hypermobility thats what i have - science & medicine have moved on but I have a diagnosis and I should be grateful

It took years for them to accept i was hypothyroid despite the blood tests as my symptoms were because of my fibro/me/cfs

3 surgeries in different places build on the records of the previous ones

I've had depression before so new symptoms lead to antidepressents being offered apart from the time I really needed them and they said i'd be fine without!

@KatyMac its rubbish isn't it.

One of the reasons why I would never tell a GP I was worried about something. I would be livid if anyone ever wrote 'anxiety' on my medical records.

Oh i was depressed,when I was first diagnosed with ME/CFS I struggled with my future expectations/living with disability - counselling and antidepressants helped

When i had 3 miscarriages and an Ectopic at 13 weeks (negligence) I really struggled -
counselling and antidepressants helped again

But when my mum died during but not of covid, my cousin committed suicide and then the cat died - i was refused both despite asking foe helpline multiple occasions because grief is normal (well it is but my whole support network is inaccessible so..)

However when I have pain because of what turns out to be tennis elbow, antidepressants probably wont help

I have AS and no markers or HLA-B27, it's very common not to.