MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Discussion & Experiences & Questions

Ah Glynis. Thanks so much. That is so reassuring. Had myself terrified reading older posts! Will keep you updated

 

Hi there Emer from Ireland just wanted to follow up with how I am after MRI yesterday.
I am so relieved to report that all is well since even though a little bit hissy last night but unless its delayed reaction and is yet to come I have no adverse effects whatsoever.

Awful to be so anxious beforehand though and I did use ordinary little rubber ear plugs underneath the big ear plugs they give you. I guess the fact it was on the pelvis might have reduced the tone a bit but it was very noisy!

I think my deep breathing and stillness (enforced) helped a bit. Today though I notice I am a bit tingly in the hands and legs and a bit woozy - hopefully thats just post dye and noise experience. Also very stressed re another health issue in my bladder which they are investigating. But I really just wanted to post the positive news that sometimes it is the intense anxiety that can make everything worse or more likely to happen. Thanks for the kind and supportive responses here. I know I am very luck that I have very quiet and mostly intermittent bouts of loud tinnitus.

 

I would like to know about how loud an MRI is and how long it lasts.
I am making an appointment for one soon.

Thank you.

 

Both of these questions have the same answer: "it depends".
How loud depends on the actual machine used and the type of program run on it. Different brands of machine have different loudness outputs.
How long it lasts depends on what the MRI is for and the region that needs to be imaged: it's easy to understand that the bigger the region, the longer it takes to image.

The MRI I did to rule out acoustic neuroma was probably about 20 min.

 

@GregCA
Thank you so very much.
It will probably be for my head and brain to look for trouble possibly causing my tinnitus.
I just want to make sure nothing's going on upstairs.
Do they supply hearing protection or do I have to bring some?

 

I suggest your bring your own "just in case".

 

Thank you...

 

The worst thing about MRI is worrying about the MRI. Stress is much more likely to increase your tinnitus than the actual sound of the machine.

I've had 3 long cardiac MRIs, 60 minutes each, since my tinnitus began. My scans are really difficult because of the duration and the huge amounts of breath-holding, and being pretty much fully enclosed in the tube. I've had contrast with all of the scans as well.

Nothing changed with my tinnitus.

Bring a pair of foam earplugs to put in before adding the supplied ear muffs over top. Relax during the procedure (I find closing my eyes is far preferable to having them open), focus on easy, deep breathing (in between sequences if you have to do breath holding), and it will be fine.

 

Well I had the MRI and thankfully no spike.
It didn't seem that loud (GE machine).
It only took 20 minutes and I closed my eyes and focused on breathing.
Thanks for all the input.

 

Hi,

I used to visit often here a while ago, but due to some unforeseen circumstances concerning my health, I had to stop and disappeared for a while without any explanation. I was planning to address that in another post, but life got in the way and I never really had the opportunity, and I am sorry for that. However, at the moment, I am having a dilemma concerning getting an MRI and I would appreciate any advice or information regarding this.

In short, I have to get an MRI for my knee (moderate to severe knee pain and limited function for a few months, saw 2 doctors about it and both said I need an MRI to diagnose accurately). Now, I had read quite a few horror stories on here about hearing loss and auditory damage due to MRI noise, and so I had to abandon my first MRI appointment out of fear and distress. But the 2nd orthopaedic doctor I saw said that the machine is ''newer'' and since it is a knee scan I wouldn't have my head placed inside the machine, thereby reducing the risk, and well, being stuck between a rock and a hard place, I opted to get another MRI appointment which is due tomorrow.

Now, I am having second thoughts. I would bring ear plugs (28 dB reduction) and ear muffs in case the hospital didn't have hearing protection of their own (wouldn't be entirely surprised considering the standard of healthcare where I am). I also plan on taking NAC 12 hours prior to the scan, as I've read that it has a protective effect on the auditory system. I'm still worried that this wouldn't be enough though. The machine that I will be entering is a Siemens 1.5T MAGNETOM Aera and I haven't been able to find it's loudness levels online (guess my googling skills suck).

To sum it up, I have pretty bad knee pain and function that isn't improving for 4 months now, doctor says that I have to get an MRI scan to get a diagnosis, but I am afraid of the potential for hearing damage (have had tinnitus for a little over a year now, possibly due to a combination of noise exposure and ototoxic drugs, but no noticeable threshhold shifts). Any advice, information, or just encouragement or warnings would be appreciated. Thank you very much!

 

I got tinnitus from a neck and jaw issues, could an MRI make my tinnitus worse? My upper cervical chiro mentioned an MRI, so if they do find something, what could be done that I'm not doing now while avoiding surgery?

 

You should ask that question from your chiro. I would get the MRI done anyway, could show something you're not aware of.

 

I have awful tinnitus. I have just had my second MRI in a month after the first images were apparently blurry. It was noisy as hell both times but because I’ve basically accepted this as a death sentence anyway it’s made me somewhat nonchalant to worsening.

But I digress. I’m offering hope to those who are fearful of an MRI. My tinnitus is no worse afterwards. No new noise, pitch changes or volume increases. I wore only foam plugs........My tinnitus was not caused by loud noise however.

 

Hi guys,

Haven't posted in a while - I was supposed to have an MRI this evening but made the mistake of researching it out of anxiety before I got there. After seeing a lot of people say it was too loud and some scientific articles/papers supporting the idea of it being risky, panicked and cancelled. My neurologist reckons I suffer from something called vestibular migraines and only referred me to an MRI for caution's sake, so it's not urgent. I want to reschedule my appointment but I would like to hear some stories first! My tinnitus wasn't caused by noise (at least not a specific acoustic trauma) but I am affected by low grumbly noises such as engines and the like, albeit not for very long after exposure. I have walked through nightclubs with hearing protection and experienced no adverse affects, though alcohol affects it quite significantly regardless of noise.

I would just like to hear people's honest experiences with MRI. Would be planning to use ear plugs (33 dB) and ear muffs if they'll let me.

 

If it's not urgent then don't do it.

My tinnitus was made worse by an MRI. Other people have no problems. Such is life.

I had both ear plugs and ear defenders. They were the hospital's, so maybe not the best quality. I used a quiet MRi machine.

Remember the sound goes through your skull too, and you can't really protect against that. I got horrible electrical circuit type sounds going through my skull after the MRI, and my tinnitus was made more constant. The former dissapeared, the latter didn't.

Ultimately it's your decison.

 

I have a recent experience, as of last Thursday. I was in a GE machine, don't have any idea of the type, but it was very narrow with a cage over my head, so I only could use earplugs (3M 1100), because there was not enough room for an earmuff. It started okay, the whum whum sounds were not that bad, but for about 3x2 minutes, it was awful. The sound was like a drilling, or something like that and I felt my bones trembling. I was advised here, but in my country it was not possible to get an open MRI, that's supposed to be much better to avoid the sounds through bone conduction more. The MRI took about 20 minutes and after I did get a spike. Made my high pitched tinnitus very, very loud and uncomfortable, but did nothing for my barely audible low hum. After 2 days, it is still spiking, but I would say, now it's about 70-80% of the loudness I experienced right after the MRI, so I hope it's fading and will continue to do so.

 

Thank you both for your responses, at least I now know what to ask the doctors about (open MRI possibilities space for ear muffs etc). I would like to rebook it as it is worse on one side so I should really check it out.... but kind of glad I freaked out at the last minute because I have not done enough research!

 

I would say, listen to your doctors first, before having an MRI, and try to get doctors to be honest with you by asking them questions. A good question to ask them is what do they expect to find in the MRI and what are the real chances of finding it.

I mean, if you have had hearing problems for a long time, doctors say there is a very slim chance of finding anything on an MRI, and you are just taking the test for the sake of it... maybe it is just better to postpone it.

Sometimes doctors look for really rare conditions on an MRI and just taking to a patient, and hearing about symptoms, thinking about the time span that those symptoms have been there.. doctors can pretty much rule out many things without further tests.

 

I had an MRI a month ago with only the derpy headphones... I was naive and didn’t know how loud they were. My technician never mentioned the noise, didn’t offer earplugs, heck... she didn’t even give me a “call” button... total incompetence. I was stuck... so do I crawl out of the machine and get full noise with my back injury, or do I hope the muffs do some protection, nope I should have crawled out!.... I have been miserable for a month... I mean close to suicide miserable.

Some people have said the MRI can conduct through the bone... even when they had earplugs and muffs on. Do an MRI only if extremely necessary. Also, some are quieter than others... I found that through a search on here... after the fact. My life is ruined thanks to the MRI, do not treat them lightly.

I was in a brand new 1.5T “wide” MRI... between an open and a narrow. I was erroneously told by the tech it was an open MRI... another lie, oh swell.

Ask the tech how loud it is.
Ask the tech how will you call for help if need be.
Wear the best earplugs you can, and wear protective muffs, not the communication muffs they use, they are worthless.

I expected 20 minute snooze... got 30 minutes of torture, and I will never have my life back....

After the fact again, but there is a People magazine article about a woman who is now disabled from tinnitus and MRIs.

 

I wouldn't go by the tech at all. Asking them how loud it it does not mean you will get the correct answer. Many have no idea of the loudness and will pull a number out their ass.

And the one i dealt with new nothing about ear plugs or ear defenders and the dB scale and how it works.

 

The lack of education the technicians have using this equipment is sinful.

Has the ATA EVER mentioned in a PSA about MRIs... well... I’ve never seen a PSA by the ATA... lol.

Google “ATA” and tinnitus doesn’t even show up... but the American Trucking Association does...

 

Is MRA as loud as MRI?

 

MRAs are done in MRI machines and are equally loud.

 

Thanks, I was hoping they maybe use some different, quieter setting... scary to ever need one of those things!

 

I had my MRI Saturday morning, wore foam ear plugs & headphones. No worsening of my noise induced tinnitus, which I was expecting from some of the posts I read here. Might be of some reassurance to people who might be nervous about it. Expecting my results this week, although can't imagine there will be much as I know the cause of my tinnitus. #jinx

 

Why did you undergo an MRI if you know (per your profile) that your tinnitus is noise induced?

 

Spike in left ear so the doctor wanted it, also my first ENT appointment is in May so he said he'd probably want to me to have one anyway so might as well get it done.

 

I took a 40 minute MRI test at my local hospital for one sided tinnitus in my left ear and when I showed up to the hospital I asked for earmuffs multiple times along with earplugs because of my existing tinnitus. I was given 3M foam earplugs with a 29NRR with headphones that they used to communicate with me.

Now I’m worried the earplugs were improperly inserted since they were basically just shoved into my ear canals and that I wasn’t given actual earmuffs even though I asked for them

 

I don't understand your worry? Did your tinnitus or hearing loss actually become worse or are you just being paranoid?

 

I don't understand your worry? Did your tinnitus or hearing loss actually become worse or are you just being paranoid?

I’m worried that the foam earplugs they put in my ears weren’t inserted correctly. I also asked for earmuffs plenty of times before the MRI and was only given the headphones that play music but I asked for it to be off so I’m not so sure that I got any hearing protection at all. After the exam I couldn’t tell if my tinnitus got worse but I felt like my pulsatile tinnitus started up in my right ear since I could feel the pulsating when laying on my side.