Has anyone had a MRI scan (on knee) done privately? If you did, how much did it cost?

[Olihan]

DH needs a MRI on his knee to check for a meniscus tear. NHS wait is 6+ weeks so we were thinking about going private. Googling is bringing up prices from £200 to £600. The former we could just about manage, the latter we definitely couldn't.

Tell me your experiences please.

Ta muchly .

DH had one a few years ago and it was 500 quid or so.

Trouble is, that going private for the scan prob won't actually speed up the treatment if he needs arthroscopy for a tear, so you are prob better just hanging on for that

My mum just had one, think she paid about £350 but she says it was worth it

I did, though it was a while ago. It was about £400, I think. Like cmotdibbler says, it's only worth it if you're planning on going privately for the op. I had medical insurance but had to pay upfront then got reimbursed.

dh had one a couple of years ago Olihan, for the same thing. It cost £600. Soory. Thankfully my exemployers private insurance paid for it.

Meant to add - meniscus tears are not fun. I had torn the ACL as well, but the surgeon said afterwards he thought that the meniscus tear was at least as problematic in terms of inhibiting movement. So I feel his pain...

Erk, not cheap then . Thanks for telling me though. No need to get his hopes up now.

Snickersnack, he is in quite a lot of pain, poor thing - max doses of diclofenac and co-dydramol aren't doing more than taking the edge off it and he can't face the 6 weeks wait. A&E thought it was just the ligament when he did it 3 weeks ago but Ortho consultant reckons it's meniscus.

Sagger, we have no insurance, unfortunately. HM Government aren't keen on providing it for their lowly teachers .

Mosschops, did your mum have to have surgery afterwards?

Cmot and those who had the surgery privately, how much did the surgery cost?

Did any of you find out what the wait was for the op after the scan on the NHS? Is it likely to be quick or another couple of months? We didn't think to ask,

According to the Spire hospital website (new name for Bupa hospitals) its just short of 2k for the operation - that doesn't include scans or consultant appts though. I seem to remember that all in, it came to 5k or so including physio, followup etc.

You can check waiting times on the hospital website or Dr Foster.

Your DH might be better changing to ibuprofen - DH never gets relief from voltarol for his knees. He has useless knees and has had three lots of surgery. Now he needs major open surgery, but its too risky to be off work for at least 10 weeks.

dh had a repair done and some tweaking of his ligaments, followed by a course of physio and it came to around £3k (without the MRI). I don't know about the NHS wait, sorry. dh's work mean't we couldn't afford to wait. However it's gone again this week so like cmot's dh it looks like more surgery is needed.

Unless we win the lottery on Saturday he's definitely waiting the 6 weeks and how ever long the wait is for the op on the NHS. And maybe we'll look at getting insurance too. He has very dodgy knees and ankles so I doubt this will be the last time we'll be in this situation, rather like both your dhs'.

Thanks for the advice though, it's much appreciated.

Unfortunatly he prob wouldn't be covered on a new insurance policy for knees - DH only gets his on mine as its corporate and doesn't exclude pre existing conditions.

The really, really important thing for your DH will be doing his physio religiously - building up the right muscles will protect his knee from future damage

Hadn't thought of that, re the pre-existing conditions. That's a very good point.

He has been referred to the physio team, we're just waiting for an appt to come through.