Cost of MRI??

[Al_Davis 28]

How much would a MRI on a knee cost in Thailand? How long before the results are know? Bangkok.

[Bob Belzy 150]

Found one place quoting a price : https://www.mymeditravel.com/medical-centers/thailand/bangkok/bangna/sikarin-hospital/mri-scan-magnetic-resonance-imaging-bk-1213

$350

[capdagde 1,954]

Told off by teacher...... so post deleted.

Edited April 21, 2019 by capdagde

[jacko 8,786]

35 minutes ago, capdagde said:

In France ZERO if you are in the system.  2 month wait in my town for my liver.  Will be there 3rd June - my mum's birthday.  But seriously - Hope you get it sorted Al. 

The OP specifically asked about Thailand, nor is he likely to be in the French 'system'. Stay on topic.

Edited April 21, 2019 by jacko

[Al_Davis 28]

Thanks gentlemen.  It's a knee. This America insurance refused to pay for a MRI but rather sent me to get a bone xray. I heard my MCL pop, during a sporting activity. What the Hell is a xray going to reveal? lol. I can see retirement far off in the distance and plan on forcing a surgery...one way or another. I just want the MRI to know for sure what I need repaired. 350 is far less than in the U.S. ?

Edited April 21, 2019 by Al_Davis
Wording

[capdagde 1,954]

1 minute ago, Al_Davis said:

Thanks gentlemen.  It's a knee. This America insurance refused to pay for a MRI but rather sent me to get a bone xray. I heard my MCL pop, during a sporting activity. What the Hell is a xray going to reveal? lol. I can see retirement far off in the distance and plan on forcing a surgery...one way or another. I just want the MRI to know for should what I need repaired. 350 is far less than in the U.S. ?

Al - stop the "sporting activity" - unless it was particularly enjoyable (nudge-nudge)! 

Is "This America" the name of an insurance company? 

If it's US$350 go for it - pay cash (i.e. bank card) and complain to your insurance company after.

All the best.

[VPI78 11,474]

13 minutes ago, Al_Davis said:

Thanks gentlemen.  It's a knee. This America insurance refused to pay for a MRI but rather sent me to get a bone xray. I heard my MCL pop, during a sporting activity. What the Hell is a xray going to reveal? lol. I can see retirement far off in the distance and plan on forcing a surgery...one way or another. I just want the MRI to know for sure what I need repaired. 350 is far less than in the U.S. ?

I had a severe knee sprain a month ago when I lost a 2 out of 3 wrestling match with a steer. My right boot slipped as my left leg was at an awkward inside 45 degrees angle and I felt the whole knee go wobbly. Intense pain but I didn't hear a pop per se. 

I basically crawled back to the truck, whipped out the phone and googled for an hour ... it's amazing these days what you can find. Any way, from that self-diagnosis I deduced that if there was limited swelling and no bruising what likely happened was severe stretching and some smaller tears. The smaller ligament tears will heal themselves giving enough time and the opportunity. As you know if it was the inside of your knee it's likely the MCL and outside the LCL with the ACL, PCL and Meniscus all weaving through and around the knee.

Any way for me ... this time ... I am finding recovery is pretty much as you read on the internet, i.e., RICE ... Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevate. 4 weeks later the knee is much more stable and there is no aching pain. Seems athletes go in for a lot of arthroscopic surgery to expedite recovery but unless you had a catastrophic tear, if you give your ligaments enough time and avoid stressing them while they try to repair themselves they will often heal on their own. 

Buen suerte.

[Al_Davis 28]

Heard the pop and felt the ligament give way. Yes, M.C.L..  A friend from high school, physical therapist now, did the stability test on my knee. When he applied pressure by pushing ankle outward and knee inward,  it felt like a table leg not screwed in lol. I told him, that's enough, my MCL is gone.  He told me I'm looking at 6 months recovery time if I choose surgery now. ?

Edited April 21, 2019 by Al_Davis

[VPI78 11,474]

3 hours ago, Al_Davis said:

Heard the pop and felt the ligament give way. Yes, M.C.L..  A friend from high school, physical therapist now, did the stability test on my knee. When he applied pressure by pushing ankle outward and knee inward,  it felt like a table leg not screwed in lol. I told him, that's enough, my MCL is gone.  He told me I'm looking at 6 months recovery time if I choose surgery now. ?

It is a weird feeling once you go down after a ligament goes isn't it? It's amazing how quickly you lose confidence in your ability to remain upright, you just don't trust any step and going down a staircase, man for a couple of weeks I made sure my leg was perfectly perpendicular to the stair tread and I had a death grip on the hand rail. Once your MCL goes and you cannot tolerate any twisting of the knee you realize how much work it actually does in everyday things such as getting in/out of a car, kicking out the sidestand of your Harley, etc.

The ankle out and knee in are good stress exercises for rebuilding strength in the MCL when it isn't completely torn but yours does sound trashed. 

[redwood13 56]

And what happens if you fall on the stairs?

My then 11 y/o granddaughter did exactly that after doing in her ACL skiing.  Chipped a bone at the elbow.  So, cannot use crutches, so cannot have ACL repaired, so has to have elbow surgery.  Then recovery from that with rehab.  And finally months later she had the ACL fixed.  

A year later she's back to swimming.  Haven't asked her yet what her plans for future ski trips are.

[MrMango 665]

On 4/20/2019 at 1:24 PM, Bob Belzy said:

Found one place quoting a price : https://www.mymeditravel.com/medical-centers/thailand/bangkok/bangna/sikarin-hospital/mri-scan-magnetic-resonance-imaging-bk-1213

$350

I had one in Hawaii and the cost was about 1,000 US$ and the result was available in a few hours

[VPI78 11,474]

49 minutes ago, redwood13 said:

And what happens if you fall on the stairs?

My then 11 y/o granddaughter did exactly that after doing in her ACL skiing.  Chipped a bone at the elbow.  So, cannot use crutches, so cannot have ACL repaired, so has to have elbow surgery.  Then recovery from that with rehab.  And finally months later she had the ACL fixed.  

A year later she's back to swimming.  Haven't asked her yet what her plans for future ski trips are.

Sounds like you're saving money on ski trips.

I don't know if I would have risked stairs on a torn ACL. It's different with a torn MCL which are pretty common. If you avoid side-to-side movement, e.g., use a heavy knee brace such as I have, and avoid twisting the knee you can go up and down stairs ok. I boarded planes without air bridges, i.e., bus to the plane and then stairs into it, but getting out of the seat so someone could go on a toilet run ... that was more adventurous because it's hard not to twist the knee a bit then.

Unlike torn ACLs, most MCLs don't require surgery and heal on their own. 

[Grandpollo 366]

I suggest for non emergency treatment you send a message to Gavin Wadell at Phyathai hospital in Sriracha. He coordinates expat treatment e.g. those who pay cash. You're met by a nurse and translator, see a specialist on the dot in time, front of the line to imaging and in and out PDQ.

It's not that far. I used Mr. T. I sent an SMS at 2 pm and had an 11 am appointment the next day.

I saw a neurologist, perfect English, had a CT scan, got an OK, pills, DVD and all in an hour for $250. 

If you're going to get an imaging study you may as well have an expert tell you what they see.

If you're not seen by an MD regularly they do monthly promotion deals of dozens of tests for big discounts. An email a month. 

I got good emergency treatment at Pattaya Memorial for a dog bite,  but nowhere as white glove or any cheaper than Phyathai. 

[nkped 1,208]

On 4/21/2019 at 7:18 AM, capdagde said:

Al - stop the "sporting activity" - unless it was particularly enjoyable (nudge-nudge)! 

Is "This America" the name of an insurance company? 

If it's US$350 go for it - pay cash (i.e. bank card) and complain to your insurance company after.

All the best.

At Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, be sure to ask the cashier for the detailed bill for insurance.  The red white and blue receipt may not suffice.

Yes, if your insurance has provision for overseas claims, send it in.  They'll pay or they won't.

[Al_Davis 28]

20 hours ago, nkped said:

At Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, be sure to ask the cashier for the detailed bill for insurance.  The red white and blue receipt may not suffice.

Yes, if your insurance has provision for overseas claims, send it in.  They'll pay or they won't.

 I'm not going to bother with my insurance. In the States, insurance is a huge problem, unless one works for the government, Fire department or Law enforcement. I have the 20/80 plan( I pay 20 dollars and the insurance pays 80), so its not even worth getting a receipt from BKK and file it with my insurance  really. In America they charge about 100, 000 dollars for Heart bypass surgery. I'd have to come up with 20,000 dollars out of pocket. In Thailand that same procedure costs about 24,000 total. Medicine is extremely expensive in the States as well. We have citizens, if lucky enough to live close, either go to Canada or Mexico to buy their meds. Epipen is 150US per dose in the USA but only 38US in Canada. The American government tries to scare people from doing this by saying the Meds aren't safe as the Pharma companies send the exact same meds to those counties. But I've got everything sorted out with my appointment in Bangkok. They will pick me up from my hotel early morning, consultation, MRI, post MRI consultation,  email of results of MRI and finally return trip  back to my hotel.?

   

[Bob Belzy 150]

From experience, most won't cover MRIs unless its required due to a non-sporting injury or as part of in-patient treatment.

[MrMango 665]

30 minutes ago, Bob Belzy said:

From experience, most won't cover MRIs unless its required due to a non-sporting injury or as part of in-patient treatment.

From my experience in the US, I have had maybe 6 MRI and all were covered.

[Bob Belzy 150]

4 hours ago, MrMango said:

From my experience in the US, I have had maybe 6 MRI and all were covered.

Then you're very lucky. Perhaps that's why insurance is so expensive in the US?

[Al_Davis 28]

5 hours ago, MrMango said:

From my experience in the US, I have had maybe 6 MRI and all were covered.

PPO???

[MrMango 665]

2 hours ago, Bob Belzy said:

Then you're very lucky. Perhaps that's why insurance is so expensive in the US?

As I remember, the cost was about $1,000, which is not that much. it costs about $3,000 a night in a hospitable so the amount seems ok to me.

[MrMango 665]

1 hour ago, Al_Davis said:

PPO???

?? PPO?

[midlifecrisis 4,040]

PPO vs HMO

[MrMango 665]

1 hour ago, midlifecrisis said:

PPO vs HMO

Here in Hawaii, we only have 2 choices for private health insurance, Kaiser and HMSA (Blue Cross), and I had MRI's with both

[midlifecrisis 4,040]

3 hours ago, MrMango said:

Here in Hawaii, we only have 2 choices for private health insurance, Kaiser and HMSA (Blue Cross), and I had MRI's with both

It seems to be state to state. Washington does things differently. Hawaii does too. I am assuming Nevada is a bit different as well.

[MrMango 665]

2 hours ago, midlifecrisis said:

It seems to be state to state. Washington does things differently. Hawaii does too. I am assuming Nevada is a bit different as well.

i never had one in Nevada as I only use my condo a few weeks a year. I use Nevada mosty for filing my tax returns.