# MRI Scan- brain and cervical spine only **URL:** \ **Category:** New diagnosis and before diagnosis\ **Created:** [23 April 2025 18:57 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247 "2025-04-23T18:57:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nokkerboff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nokkerboff](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Nokkerboff)\ **Post date:** [23 April 2025 18:57 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/1 "2025-04-23T18:57:37Z")
Hi, I had my MRI scan today. They did a brain and cervical spine scan. I was expecting them to scan the entire spine especially as much of my symptoms are in my legs. Is it usual to just have the brain and cervical spine scanned initially? ---
**Author:** ![alison100](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/mssociety/user_avatar/forum.mssociety.org.uk/alison100/32/1019_2.png) [@alison100](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/alison100)\ **Post date:** [24 April 2025 06:28 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/2 "2025-04-24T06:28:39Z")
My scans over the years have been brain+c-spine or brain only. ---
**Author:** ![Nokkerboff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nokkerboff](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Nokkerboff)\ **Post date:** [24 April 2025 12:12 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/3 "2025-04-24T12:12:03Z")
Ah OK. Thank you for your reply Alison x ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Dogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@Hank\_Dogs](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Hank_Dogs)\ **Post date:** [24 April 2025 15:00 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/4 "2025-04-24T15:00:59Z")
If it’s of any reassurance, I’ve never had anything scanned other than my brain . I did once ask why and was told that if I developed any lesions in my spinal cord they would soon materialise as new symptoms. Which I suppose makes sense ( you can develop asymptomatic lesions in the brain ) ---
**Author:** ![alison100](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/mssociety/user_avatar/forum.mssociety.org.uk/alison100/32/1019_2.png) [@alison100](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/alison100)\ **Post date:** [24 April 2025 16:30 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/5 "2025-04-24T16:30:13Z")
I’ve been told much the same: if you lucky with placement you can have brain lesions that cause no obvious issues, but there isn’t enough space in the spinal cord for that - a lesion in there and you’ll know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Dogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@Hank\_Dogs](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Hank_Dogs)\ **Post date:** [25 April 2025 11:03 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/6 "2025-04-25T11:03:08Z")
Hi . It all sort of makes sense to me although I do sometimes wonder if my worsening mobility and bladder control is a result of some new spinal lesions. Not that all of this makes any real difference other than a possible argument for a change in DMT. After 19 years I’m still on Avonex: would it have made any real difference if some of the more recent and more effective DMTs had been available back then and I had started on them from the outset? Who knows! Weird, but at 71 I find myself thinking ‘oh well, friends and old work colleagues just a few years older than me are either RIP or dealing with other significant health conditions’. OK, I’m no longer climbing hills but etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Nokkerboff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nokkerboff](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Nokkerboff)\ **Post date:** [25 April 2025 11:23 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/7 "2025-04-25T11:23:42Z")
Thanks Hank. It sounds like you’re remaining very positive. 👍🏻 ---
**Author:** ![Viktoriyalysak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f08c70/32.png) [@Viktoriyalysak](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Viktoriyalysak)\ **Post date:** [23 September 2026 07:36 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/mri-scan-brain-and-cervical-spine-only/79247/8 "2026-09-23T07:36:16Z")
I agree that a brain and cervical spine MRI is the usual starting point, and it matches what I’ve been told too. Leg symptoms often trace back to cervical lesions, so skipping the full spine makes sense initially. If your scans stay unclear, a broader look might come later. For any surgical follow-up, I’d personally trust [Dr. Andrew Simpson Dallas](https://www.misspineinstitute.com/minimal-exposure-tubular-retractor-metrx-system-spine-surgeon-dallas-tx/) for minimally invasive options that fit this kind of workup.