What If MRI Makes My Tinnitus Worse...

Hello all,

I got a letter telling me that a MRI scan has been booked for me and I am very scared of what it might do to my reactive tinnitus. My T is not in a good stable place at all and I keep getting spikes from sounds that aren't that loud for healthy people. My last bad phase came in late December when I went to see a movie - with >30 dB earplugs on!

Now MRI machines are known to be incredibly loud (120 at worst!). There are so many people who actually got tinnitus from MRI and so many more who experienced worse symptoms afterwards. I really am not sure if my ears can take it. So there are two things to consider:

A) Finding as silent as possible MRI machine
The problem here is that I cannot seem to get information needed from the public healthcare. I was already set to get the scan in an old and extremely noisy model, but I found out about it by calling the place and then refused to go there and asked to get me a less risky option. I now got a new invitation, but again no info on the machine. So I called the new place today and all they could tell was that it was a Siemens 1.5T - even when there are dozens of different Siemens models, with different decibels. When I tried to get into detail they just told me it is "one of the best", even when they didn't even know the model or anything. Private health services are really expensive, but they would have Toshiba Vantage Titan 1.5T and I guess it is considered to be quite silent? I am so confused with this right now and I feel like there isn't a safe option for me at all... It is an utter nightmare to go get the MRI and come out more damaged, I would not be able to deal with it.

B) Not getting MRI at all
To be honest, I am not even sure why I got the invitation to MRI. My tinnitus is noise-induced: it started in 2011 after a band started playing suddenly right next to me (it was so loud I couldn't hear for a moment) and then got worse last September in an electronic music concert. Both very clear triggers. I have hearing loss in my left ear and normal hearing in my right one, but it is something that I have had since I was a child. At the time, I was referred to MRI and nothing was found. Why are they contacting me now then? I got HBOT in September for the worsened T and they sent my info forward to public healthcare, so I am thinking the invitation came because of the one-sided hearing loss. They prolly do not have the record of this hearing loss having been detected as a child and MRI already done back then. Is there any reason to have MRI when there is bilateral tinnitus after an acoustic trauma and one-sided hearing loss that has remained the same after childhood? Have you guys been getting MRI just because of noise-induced tinnitus? Then again, I do not want to worry that perhaps there is indeed something wrong and I am doing a fatal mistake by refusing to get the scan...

I feel like I'm in a blind alley in all this. I am so worried I will make a decision that will later prove to be a mistake. I do not want to make my T any worse, I really cannot endure the thought at all. But then if MRI is necessary and perhaps there is something in my head that needs to be checked - can't make that mistake either! What do you think of this all? Any experiences to share?

No one can make the decision for me, I know, but I really feel like I need some insight from you guys. Would really appreciate it!

 

You don't need an MRI if its clearly noise induced
and yes MRI are very loud - avoid

If MRI could make a clear image of hair cells and auditory nerves then it may be worth it to gauge the "noise damage" but that's not yet possible

maybe in a few years images resolution will be better

 

If your T was noise induced it's highly unlikely an MRI will find anything.

As for the MRI itself, I've had multiple MRI's done over the year with T. With earplugs I came out fine each time. I didn't find the machines overly loud and nowhere near 120 db.

 

@Bobby B - Good point and this is exactly what I am thinking. There seems to be no benefits to get the MRI, but a high risk instead. I understand that one-sided hearing loss usually needs to be examined, but as said, I had it examined as a child and those MRI results were fine. I guess I will send them my old hearing test results and acknowledge that MRI was done back then and see how they respond...

@racerfish - Good to hear that your MRIs went fine! Do you have reactive tinnitus - i.e. do you get spikes easily, from loud sounds? I feel like my T reacts very badly to sounds and even a busy café feels horrible (and causes a spike). Furthermore, I think getting problems depends on the machine and whether it is very loud or not. There really is a big difference in decibels produced by different MRI machines - some indeed produce up to 120 dB and some are claimed to peak at 99 dB.

 

At the time my T was not reactive. However, now that my T is reactive I've found that loud sounds such as a movie or loud restaurant will spike my T for about a day, and then it will go back to baseline.

 

If you wear good ear protection you won't have any issues.

Its often good to rule out an AR, but please follow the advice of your doctors not people on a website forum ☺

 

Sorry, not familiar with the term "AR"? I agree in that I wouldn't say no to a scan that is necessary. Just haven't heard of noise-induced tinnitus needing a MRI, since the cause is quite clear. But yes, I sent futher info to the facility and will see how they respond. Perhaps I'll make a request to consult a doctor before going into MRI, since now I just got the invitation by letter and keep talking with customer service.

 

I think he probably meant "AN", meaning, Acoustic Neuroma (@Pleasure_Paulie I apologize if I am mistaken!) -- this is a kind of benign tumor which can cause tinnitus, and needs to be surgically removed before it causes even worse problems. However, these tumors are extremely rare, and generally cause unilateral tinnitus and not bilateral (one side vs both sides).

I had this exact procedure done because even though my tinnitus is bilateral, it's worse on the left side, and I have asymmetric hearing which is worst on the left side. I wore foam earplugs with over-the-ear muffs over them, and it didn't cause me any problem.

I suspect that you will be totally fine with this as long as you wear good hearing protection while it's done, on the other hand, if you're 100% sure your tinnitus is because of noise trauma, then it's unlikely to be very useful.

One thing you could do is get a second opinion from another ENT, hopefully one with lots of tinnitus experience, and see if they think an MRI is necessary.

 

Yes, my mistake - I did mean an Acoustic Neuroma

 

I know the NHS are gonna send me for an MRI, and I'm going to refuse. It's way too loud. This is my second batch of tinnitus. The first batch came on 10 years ago in the left ear as a side effect of Mercilon medication. I went for the MRI back then and it was loud- even with the muffs on. It was a waste of time as the tinnitus had been clearing up after I came off the medication. Thank goodness I did. Ent doc flat refused to believe it was the mercilon but it was.

Now I have it mostly and v badly in my right ear from acoustic trauma.

 

I'd suggest to find a place which have a new type of MRI machines which produce 75 dB, then with earplugs you'll be fine. I had one in a normal machine it was very loud and my earplug wasn't correctly inserted so o ended up with a new sound and a spike for two weeks...

 

If everything goes well we should have a otoscope capable of taking pictures at cellular level in the next years. It had already been tested on animals and cadaveric humans.

 

I had an MRI with no problem. Used foam ear plugs underneath the ear muff type protection that they had at the clinic. "Double bagged" it so to speak.

 

I had an MRI last week. Definitely bring your own earplugs, the ones they gave me sucked but I am OK. She covered my ears with pads and put more pads on the sides of my head. I fell asleep during the whole thing I did not have any spikes, I was just tired after the whole thing.