X-rays
	CAT Scan
	MRI
	Myelogram
	Bone Scan
	DEXA Scan
	EMG

If you do not know the cause of your symptoms, you need to find out. An accurate diagnosis makes it much easier for you to seek effective treatment.

Your family practitioner or primary care physician may refer you to a spinal specialist, or even a pain management center or clinic, if the cause of your symptoms is unclear. For any of these health care providers to diagnose your condition and to recommend any course of treatment, they must first obtain a complete history of your health and perform a physical examination.

If you keep a written history of your health, make sure to share it with all your heath care providers. Writing down important health information is the best way to remember it and to have it ready when you need it (e.g., Knowing which diagnostic tests and treatments you have already had will prevent a health care provider from repeating them).

After completing your medical history and physical examination, you may then be ordered to take some diagnostic tests. These tests are intended to help confirm the cause of your symptoms.

X-rays
Even though X-rays are the oldest form of medical imaging, they remain a doctor's primary tool for detecting, diagnosing, and monitoring musculoskeletal conditions.

Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) Scan
CAT scanning is an imaging technique that utilizes a computer to produce detailed three-dimensional images of the human body from a collation of cross-sectional X-rays taken along an axis. Of all the imaging techniques that are currently available, the CAT scan is best able to produce images of different types of tissue, such as bone, soft tissues, and blood vessels.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
The single most useful test currently available for diagnosing spinal conditions, MRI involves rotating a magnet around a human body and exciting its hydrogen atoms. A scanner detects the energy emitted by these excited atoms, producing exceptionally detailed images, since the human body is composed primarily of water, which is two parts hydrogen.

Myelogram
A myelogram is typically ordered in cases where other diagnostic tests have not provided a doctor sufficiently enough information about the spinal canal and/or nerves for the doctor to make a definitive diagnosis.

Bone Scan
A bone scan is a test used to capture images of the entire skeletal system.

Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) Scan
Radiography-based bone densitometry is a test that uses X-rays to determine the density of bone. The test utilizes enhanced X-ray technology called dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).

Electromyography (EMG)
An EMG provides a measurement of a muscle's ability to respond to nerve stimulation.

The materials on this Web site are for your general educational information only. Information you read on this Web site cannot replace the relationship that you have with your health care professional. We do not practice medicine or provide medical services or advice as a part of this Web site. You should always talk to your health care professional for diagnosis and treatment.

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