It's actually quite reassuring that your lesions haven't grown or changed since your first MRI — that's a positive sign! Stable lesions suggest that active inflammation in those areas isn't currently worsening.
However, it's important to understand that MS symptoms and relapses don't always directly match what shows up on Show Full Answer
It's actually quite reassuring that your lesions haven't grown or changed since your first MRI — that's a positive sign! Stable lesions suggest that active inflammation in those areas isn't currently worsening.
However, it's important to understand that MS symptoms and relapses don't always directly match what shows up on an MRI. Someone can still experience symptoms and relapses even when existing lesions appear unchanged. This is more common than many people realize. Here's why symptoms can persist even with stable lesions:
- Existing damage to the myelin sheath can continue causing symptoms even without new lesion growth
- Progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) means MS can worsen without obvious MRI changes
- New lesions can sometimes be small or in locations harder to detect, especially with less frequent scanning
Regarding whether stable lesions can "restart" — lesions themselves are essentially scars, but new inflammation can occur nearby or elsewhere in the central nervous system. Given that a recent relapse has occurred, it may be worth discussing with your neurologist whether MRI scans every two years is frequent enough to fully track disease activity. More frequent imaging can help detect active lesions — ones that "light up" with contrast dye — which indicate current inflammation even when existing lesions look unchanged.
Your neurologist can best evaluate whether your current treatment plan is effectively managing disease activity.
June 19
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