Mri

Life Health & Fitness
1

Has anyone had to have an MRI done in Taipei?

It is very possible I will need to have an MRI done on my lower back, I may have a slipped, bulging or ruptured disk. Don’t know how it happend, but no matter…

Which hospital would be the best to have this procedure done? And will NHI cover it? If not, how much am I looking at spending for this?

2

All of the major hospitals (Chang Gung, NTUH, Taipei Medical college College Hopital, etc) have MRI machines and can probably do an adequate job. I’ve edited dozens of MRI-related papers from Taiwan hospitals–it’s an established technology here. Do you have a primary care provider you trust to give you a referral? As for NHI coverage, it should cover an MRI if it’s considered to be medically required. I had a friend with a similar problem once, though, and the docs at his hospital said NHI would not cover an MRI for some reason. Never could figure out why. Now if they start telling you you need back surgery…

3

Jeff, thanks!

At this time I do not have a referral, this is my next question: I need to find an experienced back doctor who can give me an exam first and then if he feels I need the MRI to give me the referral, anyone know a good doc for this?

4

If you go to any ortho or neural doctor here, they must first give you an xray and reccomend Physical Therapy and or muscle relaxants. After a few weeks, if problem still persists then they can order an MRI. NHI insurance covers it. You might want to see a back cracker(chiro) or chinese herb doctor - some can crack your back too. Losing weight would help too, that is if you are overweight. : :slight_smile:

5

Panda,

To tell you the truth I think this is what caused the problem to begin with. I went to a Chinese Chiro and had them move my bones, maybe a little too often because it wasn’t until after they started doing it that I had symptoms. I don’t really want to spend two weeks in Physical Therapy and given muscle relaxants, I just want to have the damn MRI so I can see for myself what is going on. This problem is congenital in my family so I am pretty sure somethings going on back there.

Do you have any good references for a ortho or neural doctor? I suppose I could go talk to them and see what they say before I jump to conclusions.

6

[quote=“JeffG”]Panda,

This problem is [color=green]congenial[/color] in my family so I am pretty sure somethings going on back there.
.[/quote]

Well, as long as it’s friendly. :wink:

7

Tri-Services General Hospital in Nei Hu is the biggest, newest, and supposedly the best.

I have heard a lot of good comments about it.

8

JeffG,
I dont know of any good doctors here but I did an MRI at Veterans hospital. I had a back problem before and used Physical Therapy and a good herb doctor to get back to good health. Backs can take a long time to heal. Do you do stretching exercises?

9

Richard, thanks for the info!

Panda,

Currently I haven’t done anything yet. I was seeing a Chinese bone doctor for awhile until the physician told me my lower lumbar had some problems. I stopped going to the bone doctor immediately. Thanks for the info panda, I may check them out also.

Cheers

10

I have degenerative bone loss on the fifth and sixth spine do-hickies (that’s technical talk) and I was never given an MRI. The fact is that you can find out as much as you need to know with some problems without an MRI. I suppose that if I had demanded one, they would have done one.
Perhaps you don’t need one; a few X-rays could suffice.
And for those of you concerned about my health (HA!), I say: “Drugs! What a concept!”

Life is hard, then you die.

11

Chang Gung Memorial hospital also does MRIs. they are a big hospital with many branches over the island. i’ve done a MRI at their taipei branch before (not for the back though).

12

Wolf, where did you go to get your fifth and sixth spine do-hickies checked? Can you recommend a doctor?

Thanks,