Dynamic Digital Radiography: To See is To Know
What we discover every day in patients using our dynamic testing procedures is astounding! Dynamic tests mean that we are analyzing symptoms and joint stability while a patient is in motion, and when the joints are being stressed. Seeing joint movement is important because this is most often when a person experiences pain. During traditional MRI or X-rays, you are lying or standing still. Most patients do not have their worst symptoms while lying still. Hence, the reason why regular testing may not reveal definitive answers for many patients suffering from chronic pain. It is much more common for patients to complain that their symptoms are worst when the joints are moving or when under tension. Thus, to know what is happening in the joint, we want to see the joints during movements that elicit symptoms. In our office, we use musculoskeletal ultrasound, digital motion x-ray (DMX), and dynamic digital radiography (DDR) to do this.
Viewing your body in motion
DDR technology allows us to observe complex bone structures with movement including the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine, as well as the upper and lower extremities, and even swallow studies. Patients who have been through dozens of static MRIs and x-rays without any remarkable findings, yet they know something is wrong, may finally receive answers to why they have bizarre, transient, and horrific disabling symptoms.
What happens after a DDR exam?
An individualized testing and treatment program is created for each of our patients after analysis of the DDR exam. When joint instability is found, often Prolotherapy is the go-to treatment because it targets the ligaments which connect bone to bone and have allowed for the excessive movement seen with motion x-ray. provides an objective method to gauge treatment progress as the joint stabilizes. If no joint instability is found, then further physical exam is performed, such as musculoskeletal ultrasound, and non-Prolotherapy treatment options are discussed.
Coming in for a DDR exam
If you have been frustrated by static testing methods that haven’t provided you or your healthcare provider a reason for your symptoms, reach out to schedule an appointment for DDR. We would love to help you get better testing and find solutions to your chronic symptoms!
(239) 308-4701
Email Us