Possible Acoustic Trauma After a "Quiet Suite" MRI Scan?

So it's definately better now, but the tinnitus is fading much slower than the first time i had it. So I'm going to try Piracetam. Has anyone had good results with it?

 

I had an MRI with the exact same machine two weeks ago and still have elevated tinnitus. Claiming that it is quiet is just a joke.

 

Jesus, im sorry for this. I hope your tinnitus goes back to baseline soon! Did you have any ear pain during the scan itself?

How loud in terms of decibels do you think it was?

 

I am not good at quantifying this but certainly loud and this is no way in the category "quiet". Hopefully they will develop some MRIs which are really quite such that we can have MRI scans without risking our ear health.

 

So they don't utilize the so called Quiet Suite feature anywhere. Which country are you in? I'm In Bulgaria.

 

I am from Germany. Regarding the Piracetam I wouldn't take it. This lists as a side effect insomnia. Probably one of the last things one needs as a tinnitus sufferer.

 

I'm taking it right now and it has no effect on my sleep. I talked to my audiologist today and she said she is certain the tinnitus can't stay permanently.

 

I'm afraid to even say it out loud but when I went to bed yesterday and woke up today... the Humming From Hell was gone. :X Could this really be the end of it?

 

I hope so much! Keep us posted and fingers crossed.

 

I'll keep you posted, I just pray to god it doesn't re-appear...
Thanks for the support.

 

Ok, so the tinnitus is back again today, after two days of abscense. I expected it migh come back, but at least i know now its not impossible for it to stop. So that gives me hope. I thought it would never stop.

 

My tinnitus was caused by an MRI, too. When I get some spare time (maybe in a few months?) I plan to make a complaint to the FDA. Will you stick around this website so I can get info from you when I make the complaint?

I work in the medical device industry, so I think I know how to make a complaint that will motivate the clinic and the MRI manufacturer to take better protective measures against hearing damage in the future. My hearing damage could have been easily prevented by the clinic and MRI manufacturer. They should have established better procedures to mitigate patient risk. I want to help stop other people from getting hearing damage from an MRI. I am also considering talking to an injury attorney.

 

I think they cannot fix this specific problem because the very nature of the MRI magnets means noise for the machine to do the work. Actually I have been waiting years for MRI techniques to improve and they have not. Those so called "silent machines" are still very loud and if the radiologist wants a very clear and detailed image the machine will make more noise (that "silent" mode, which is not silent at all, is for lower quality images).

I suppose you signed also an "informed consent" before having the MRI, where you discharge the clinic, personnel operating the MRI machine etc from any responsibility. This is standard...

 

I'm so sorry about this. All the doctors and ENTs I talked to said it couldn't have happened because of the MRI machine... I am so livid. And yes I will stick around this website for sure, and I will of course help you with the complaint.

 

Of course they did. Because they're never willing to take responsibility for anything.

 

This is insane. There are literally research articles on how MRIs are loud enough to cause temporary hearing threshold shifts/ damage, sometimes permanent, even with ear plugs. ENTs are clueless when it comes to this and general doctors even more so. It’s actually scary how much doctors don’t actually know. So much about our ears still remains in the dark, so it’s infuriating when specialists make such statements.

 

I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s horrible how grossly negligent the medical field is when it comes to hearing health and MRI’s. Was your tinnitus worsened with your MRI despite hearing protection or did they fail to provide any at all?

I’ve seen people mention numerous times how they weren’t given ear plugs at all, just those headphones that don’t have any noise reducing properties at all which should literally be treated as a case of malpractice.

 

Sorry to hear about your tinnitus and what you believe caused it. Since it has recently started for many people with noise induced tinnitus find that it improve with time. This doesn't make it any less distressing with what you're going through but it's likely your symptoms will improve and it's possible the tinnitus will go away or reduce to a very low level. To help with this I advise that you don't use headphones, headset or earbuds even at low volume. Please click on the links below and read my posts.

Prior to your tinnitus starting if you were not a regular user of headphones, earbuds or used a headset. Didn't listened to loud music at home or in the car, nor go to venues where loud music is played, then the MRI could have been the cause. As I said many things can cause tinnitus and if it's not noise induced, then probably an underlying medical problem is responsible or even stress.

Microsuction or ear syringing can also cause it. Some people have developed tinnitus after having microsuction or syringing. For this reason it's important to apply eardrops/olive oil 3x a day to each ear for 7 to 10 days before having earwax removed, to make removal easier and the risk of problems less likely.


I am saying this because it's not easy to prove medical negligence or prove medical equipment such as an MRI, micrcoscuction ear syringing caused the tinnitus, as this condition can be caused by many things. Someone I know had root canal dental treatment and found his tinnitus increased quite a lot. He tried to suing the dentist and ended up spending thousands on lawyers that were only interested in taking his money. When he had no more to give the case was dropped and all he had to show for his efforts was a huge litigation bill and a lot distress.

Be careful and hope you start to feel better soon.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

Evaluation of the possible effect of magnetic resonance imaging noise on peripheral hearing organ with the otoacoustic emission

Purpose
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of noise produced by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device on hearing by using objective and subjective audiological assessments.

Methods
A total of 38 patients between the ages of 18 and 50 without hearing loss, and had performed MRI for brain, head, neck or cervical imaging were included in this prospective clinical study. Pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, high frequency audiometry, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) were performed before and after MRI.

Results
There was no statistically significant difference in TEOAE, pure tone audiogram, high frequency audiogram and speech audiogram thresholds. In DPOAE, the median value before and after MRI at the frequency of the left ear at 4.0 kHz was 13.6 (8.5–19.9) and 15.7 (8.9–20.7) SNR respectively (p > .05). The median value before MRI at the right ear 4.0 kHz frequency was 14.1 (9.1–20.5) SNR, whereas the median value after MRI was 13.2 (8.8–19.8 SNR (p = 0,03). There was no statistically significant difference in other frequencies in DPOAE.

Conclusions
This is the first objective study that examines the MRI noise on speech audiometry and otoacoustic emission together. However, the effect of MRI noise on hearing pathway is still doubt. Based on the difference at 4 kHz frequency on DPOAE; on-earphones may not sufficiently protect the patients from the MRI noise and this issue should deserve further research.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196070920302805

 

I think there may be different results depending on the timing of hearing tests after the MRI. My personal feeling is that hair cells could get recruited by the noise produced by the MRI test, so that would contribute to a good performance in hearing tests carried out right after the MRI, but maybe these results could change a few months, let's say 4 months as a reference, after the MRI when hair cells and the hearing system have had a little bit more time to get stable.

 

Did your spike lower? I need an MRI and they offered me the Skyra 3T option.

 

Yes, the spike did lower. But that took quite some time. I didn't use double protection, big mistake.

 

I don't think they will allow me to use earmuffs. I will still bring them. They offer headphones but I doubt they do anything. They also mentioned the "quiet suite" but it seems like it still affects people with tinnitus. They weren't taking me seriously. The receptionist accidentally left me on the line on hold and she was speaking to the employee at the MRI center and I could tell she didn't take it seriously from the way she was talking.

 

When you say "it took quite some time", what do you mean? How much time roughly?

 

Any other advice? This is for an MRI for my ankle by the way. I can’t bear any weight on it. I’m suicidal because this has been going on for 7 months. An ultrasound showed tendon damage but it severely worsened after a reinjury from frostbite so I think something further happened to the tendons. I need imaging anyway.

Would you ask for another ultrasound, or opt for an MRI with the risks in my case? Keeping in mind that ultrasounds get a better image of tendons and blood flow while MRIs get a better image of cartilage and muscle although they both display tendons (I also have muscle atrophy from not being able to weight bear.)

 

It's now two years ago. It was some gradual improvement, but I am not over it yet. Still using hearing protection 24/7.