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FREE FOR PATIENTS

Free Spine Assessment

Answer questions about your back or neck pain, add any imaging reports you have, and get a plain-language summary of what they describe, and what to ask at your appointment. Built by spine surgeons, free for patients.

Start the free assessmentNot ready? Start from a symptom
  • Free for patients
  • Typically 8–12 minutes
  • Built by spine surgeons
  • Neck, mid-back and lower back

WHAT THE ASSESSMENT ASKS

Four steps, and you can stop at any point

  1. Step 1

    Describe the pain in your own words

    Talk or type. Where it hurts, when it started, what makes it worse. You are not picking from a list of five options.

  2. Step 2

    Add any records you already have

    MRI reports, clinic notes, X-ray results. Upload a PDF, photograph the page, or paste text from a patient portal. Optional, and you can finish without them.

  3. Step 3

    Answer questions that adapt as you go

    It keeps track of what you have already said and only asks what it still needs. Neck, mid-back and lower back follow separate paths rather than one generic set.

  4. Step 4

    Read the summary, and take it with you

    Plain language, printable, and shareable with a clinician before your first visit.

WHAT COMES BACK

A summary you can hand to a clinician

  • What your symptoms and records describe, in plain language, with how confident the analysis is
  • An indication of how soon people with a similar pattern are usually seen
  • A tailored list of questions worth raising at your appointment
  • One organised record of the history you have been repeating to every new clinician

OR READ FIRST

Start from what you feel

You do not have to start with the assessment. These pages set out the conditions each symptom is described by, including the ones that look like a spine problem and are not.

Or browse every spine condition and procedure guide.

Questions people ask before starting

Yes. The assessment is free for patients, and so is everything in the condition and procedure library on this site.
Typically eight to twelve minutes. It adapts as you go, so answering more at the start usually means fewer questions later.
Yes. The assessment handles health information, so it is kept behind an account rather than left open. That is a deliberate privacy decision. The condition and procedure guides on this site need no account and no sign-in.
No. You can complete the assessment from your symptoms alone. If you do have an MRI report, clinic note or X-ray result, you can add it as a PDF, a photo or pasted text, and the summary will take it into account.
Yes. The questions branch by region, so neck, mid-back and lower back each follow their own path rather than sharing one generic set.
No. The assessment explains which conditions your symptoms and records are consistent with, and how confident that analysis is. A diagnosis requires examination, imaging and clinical judgement, and only a qualified clinician can make one.
No. SpineSense is an educational and record-keeping tool. It does not diagnose conditions, recommend treatment, or provide clinical decision support, and it should not be used in place of medical care.
If you have sudden leg weakness, numbness in the groin or saddle area, or loss of bladder or bowel control, seek emergency care now, and do not wait to finish an assessment. SpineSense flags patterns like these when it sees them, but it cannot catch everything.
A plain-language summary of what your symptoms and records describe, an indication of how soon people with a similar pattern are usually seen, and a tailored list of questions worth raising at your appointment. You can print it or send it to a clinician.

Walk in knowing what to ask

Eight to twelve minutes now, and your first appointment starts as a conversation rather than an intake form.

Start the free assessment