DEEP DIVE · CHAPTER 3
The Illusion of the Scan
Your MRI Is Lying
Your MRI picture is accurate, but it explains far less of your pain than it seems to. Chapter 3 covers what scans find in people who feel fine and why placebo operations matched the real ones; this Deep Dive is the evidence, claim by claim.
35 pages · 94 references, every one verified · written by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, and Dr. KrisJay Fucanan, MD
CHAPTER 3 ON VIDEO
Your MRI Is Lying to You
Dr. Padda walks through this chapter on video. All twenty-two are on the The Pained Brain playlist on the Padda Institute channel.
The receipts behind Chapter 3
Every picture your MRI takes is true. The lie is in what it lets you believe the picture means. In Chapter 3 I show what scans find in people who feel fine, why placebo operations matched the real ones, and how sleep, sugar and inflammation move your pain without the picture changing at all.
The book makes the argument. This Deep Dive shows the evidence, claim by claim: the study, who was in it, the number and where it sits in the paper, what it does not show — and the questions to bring to your own physician. It is written to be handed to your doctor.
Enter your name, email and mobile number. The PDF arrives by email within a few minutes, and the other twenty-one Deep Dives arrive one a week, in order.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my back hurt when my MRI is normal?
The picture and the pain are two different things. Chapter 3 of The Pained Brain shows how sleep, sugar and inflammation move your pain up or down without the picture changing at all. The picture explains far less of your pain than it seems to, so a finding on the report does not prove it is the cause.
How accurate are MRIs for back pain?
The picture is accurate. What an MRI shows is really there. The problem is what it lets you believe the picture means. Chapter 3 covers what scans find in people who feel fine and why placebo operations matched the real ones, so a finding on your report is not automatically the source of your pain.
What should I ask my doctor about my MRI?
The Chapter 3 Deep Dive is written for that conversation. For each claim it gives the study, who was in it, the number and where it sits in the paper, what the study does not show, and the questions to bring to your own physician. It runs 35 pages with 94 references, every one verified, and it is meant to be handed to your doctor.
Educational material. Not medical advice. If you are in the St. Louis area and want this looked at properly, that is what the Padda Institute is for.