Why so much imaging?
A weekly nugget or two of pain science news and ideas for patients and pros, usually 400–1000 words. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.
Why do primary care physicians still order way too much inappropriate spinal imaging… when it’s at odds with every expert opinion and all the clinical guidelines? Are they feckin' stoopid?! Maybe a few. But mostly it’s this stuff, perfectly summarized by Adam Dobson:
- Time
- Patient pressure
- Lack of training
- Defensive medicine
- 'Fix it', societal mentality
- Beliefs around 'reassurograms'
Notice that a few of those fall right in the lap of the patient. 😬
Ugly truth: “medical incompetence” is often collaborative. Doctor and patient can and do work together to achieve a lousy outcome. We all bring a lot of biases into medical appointments … and often misinformation too. Doctors and patients alike.