Most patients come in, if they’ve had no real treatment and they have neck or back pain, typically we go over their history and examine them, and assuming there’s no real warning signs for the need for emergency evaluation, generally we start with physical therapy or chiropractic treatment.
The trend now is to get an MRI fairly early, as they’re readily available. They’re no longer very expensive, and there’s no radiation with an MRI, so it can help guide treatment early rather than later.