Having back pain from an unknown cause really sucks. I think I injured something while doing Yoga, but until someone can pinpoint exactly what is going on, any sort of treatment beyond pain pills is impossible.

In the past years ago, I've had quicker MRI's done for different injuries, such as one to diagnose my torn Achilles tendon. But today's seem to last forever. Checking out an entire spine obviously takes longer than checking out a foot and leg. I think it actually took 30 minutes in the machine today.

They give you ear plugs and headphones to muffle all the banging. Plus, they play music through the headphones. When asked what kind of music I would like, I answered classical or else something very mellow like Henry Mancini who had composed the music for some classical movies. Instead, they gave me the discordant kind of jazz that really annoys me. I have nothing against jazz in general, but there is one genre that I absolutely hate. Luckily, the music did not drown out the clunking and banging of the MRI machine. Therefore, I could let my mind flow away from the jazz that was tormenting me to imagining my being at a loud & drum heavy rock concert. Then, all was fine.

After a while, the MRI started to get hot. It felt like I was laying on a radiator. This "extra warmth" is supposedly normal & is caused by whatever the machine does. Although I didn't find the MRI experience particularly stressful (beyond that horrible music in the headphones), I was certainly happy to have it over with and to get out of the uggo hospital gown.

Hopefully, today's MRI will now pinpoint my back problem, so that we can now move forward to a solution that will allow me to get on with my regular life pain free again. The two X-rays that I had before the MRI were of no help.