MRI and first physiotherapy assessment
Finally, three months after the first symptom and two months after being immobilised by the resulting pain, I get both the physiotherapy assessment (which my GP had expected to be done within a week!) and the MRI scan.
Officially, the MRI scan is supposed to be done after six weeks of the symptoms persisting, if physiotherapy is not resolving it. In my case, physiotherapy hadn't even started by the eight week mark, so of course it had achieved no improvement yet!
NHS Tayside apparently has a total of six MRI machines, divided between the three major hospitals in the region; of course, Perth has the smallest and oldest. This was my first MRI scan: it's surprisingly hot, cramped and noisy inside the MRI, compared to my encounter with a CT scanner years ago, which is why they pipe in music to headphones to reduce the impact of the noise.
Officially, the MRI scan is supposed to be done after six weeks of the symptoms persisting, if physiotherapy is not resolving it. In my case, physiotherapy hadn't even started by the eight week mark, so of course it had achieved no improvement yet!
NHS Tayside apparently has a total of six MRI machines, divided between the three major hospitals in the region; of course, Perth has the smallest and oldest. This was my first MRI scan: it's surprisingly hot, cramped and noisy inside the MRI, compared to my encounter with a CT scanner years ago, which is why they pipe in music to headphones to reduce the impact of the noise.