Scans Come Back Clean?

So did mine — for 30 years.

Every scan, every test, every “you’re fine” sent me home a little more confused than comforted. But what I didn’t realise at the time was that each missed finding wasn’t just a dead end — it was damage quietly compounding. Years of untreated compression, poor circulation, and inflammation left their mark. What could have been managed early became chronic, complex, and harder to undo. And that’s the part no one tells you: “clean” results can still cause harm when they stop you from getting help. The hardest part? So much of it was preventable — if only the right tests, protocols, and eyes had been involved from the start.

The Right Test — and the Right Protocol — Matters

Take MALS (Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome) as an example.

If the ultrasound or CT isn’t done under the right conditions — like during both inspiration and expiration — you can completely miss it. Many people are told “your scan is normal,” when really, it just wasn’t performed or interpreted the way it needed to be. Sometimes it’s not that your scan is clean — it’s that it was the wrong kind of scan protocol altogether.

Radiologists Miss Things — Specialists Look in the Right Place

I learned the hard way that not every set of eyes sees the same thing. One of my “normal” scans was later reviewed by a specialist who immediately picked up jugular compression — something the original report didn’t even mention. It wasn’t that the radiologist was bad — it just wasn’t their focus area. Complex conditions need specialist interpretation, not just a general overview.

Are We Even Looking in the Right Place?

Sometimes the problem isn’t missed — it’s misdirected.

A friend of mine had constant reflux-like symptoms. Every scan, every scope, every medication said the same thing: “You’re fine.” For years, they treated it like reflux — but it wasn’t. It was something presenting like reflux, only deeper. Once a specialist finally looked beyond the obvious, they found the real cause.

That’s the thing — sometimes doctors get so focused on one symptom, they zoom in too far. When really, what we need is the opposite: to zoom out, to consider what’s possible, not just what’s probable.

“It’s Too Rare”

And speaking of “unlikely” — that phrase stopped me in my tracks for years.

Some of the very conditions causing my symptoms were dismissed outright because they were considered too rare. Tests weren’t ordered. Referrals weren’t made. Boxes were ticked for “common” things a 20 or 30-year-old woman might have — and that narrow lens cost me time, health, and answers. If we’d opened up the realm of possibilities from the start, we would’ve found it sooner.

Rare doesn’t mean impossible. It just means someone has to think to look.

The Takeaway

A clean scan doesn’t always mean a clean bill of health. It might mean:

• The wrong test was ordered.

• The protocol wasn’t right.

• Or the wrong person was interpreting it.

  
  

If something still feels off, trust that instinct. Ask for the right kind of scan, reviewed by the right kind of specialist. Because sometimes, the problem isn’t invisible — it’s just overlooked.