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MRI today, never had one ~can be locked~
Jaded
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Getting a little scared about what is going to happen to me at the MRI I am going to today...
I followed the orders I was given...
1) Do not eat or drink 4 hours prior to the exam
Shouldn't be an issue
2) All jewelry, including any body piercing(s), must be removed.
So long nipple ring, I loved you like no other
3) Avoid wearing metal objects in hair, on person or on clothing.
Done and done
4) If your physician has provided you with a sedative, bring this medication with you to your appointment.
Does not apply.
What else do I need to know? What should I expect?
I have some older Tattoo's (12 years old or so) that I was told may heat up due to metal content in old tattoo in.
I followed the orders I was given...
1) Do not eat or drink 4 hours prior to the exam
Shouldn't be an issue
2) All jewelry, including any body piercing(s), must be removed.
So long nipple ring, I loved you like no other
3) Avoid wearing metal objects in hair, on person or on clothing.
Done and done
4) If your physician has provided you with a sedative, bring this medication with you to your appointment.
Does not apply.
What else do I need to know? What should I expect?
I have some older Tattoo's (12 years old or so) that I was told may heat up due to metal content in old tattoo in.
I can't think of anything clever.
Jaded on
0
Posts
Metal in the tattoos could be an issue, but I'm not sure 12 years old is old enough to have that type of ink.
Expect it to feel a little claustrophobic... nothing major, but you are basically lying in a giant tube while it's being done. Just something to consider, it's an issue for some people.
Sweet! Nap time.
Enclosed spaces are not an issue for me.
I should expect to be in there for 30+ minutes though?
Depends on what it's for, I think. Mine were on my shoulder--usually they would do a bunch of calibration stuff, and then actual scan would take around 20 min, I think.
Dr. thinks I am most likely epileptic.
They can be a bit disorienting, but if you're calm enough, then you can just close your eyes and be dandy. You might not be able to sleep depending on the location of the scan because you might need to hold your breath for stretches to get the best scan.
My mom had a really old tattoo and even that wasn't an issue- she said it just felt a bit warm.
In that case, it's possible that they'll be doing an fMRI scan (functional MRI) which measures blood flow in the brain. There will likely be a monitor you'll be looking at and some kind of task they'll ask you to do, so you won't be able to sleep.
Of course, they may still just be looking for structural abnormalities, in which case sleeping is fine.
I've worked on fMRI research for 5 years now, and never have we had a patient have problems with tattoos (despite some people having extensive tattoo work). Even so, we still have to give them the warning about tattoo ink. There are a lot of different types of MRI scans that can be done, and some of them may excite the ink differently, so can cause some heating in the area.
The machine will be loud, like really loud. They should give you some ear plugs, or noise canceling headphones or something to help. The noises are also pretty repetitive, so can tend to make some people doze off, even if doing a task. The rooms are also usually pretty chilly (they have extensive hardware in place to keep the magnet cooled down) so hopefully they'll provide a blanket or something.
I'm not gonna be naked am I?
They might confuse me for a form of cattle and refuse to do the scan.
(( Yes, I am a large fellow ))
The amount of metal in a tattoo is so insignificant that the MRI won't effect it at all.
You won't be naked, but (depending on the hospital procedure) you will likely be in a hospital gown only.
This is not completely true. Depending on the tattoo and the exact type of MRI scan that's being done, it's possible for the tattoo to heat up a bit. It's rare because most combinations of types of scans and tattoo don't have any effect, but it's not unheard of.
All in all, unpleasant but not terrifying.
A similar amount of crying as well.
:P
Well, you know that MRI machines use teenage angst to see inside of the human body, right? That's the technical term, anyways.
I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
Yeah, I had one when I was in the hospital back in February after passing out (which was due to some large combination of cold medications/the flu/bronchitis, but they were worried I had a seizure or something). It's really not bad at all as long as you're OK with confined spaces. I didn't get injected with anything that I remember, and it didn't take longer than 30-40 minutes. It really was a lot better than I was expecting.
Okay, let me revise this: your tattoo won't be torn out of your arm because of the MRI machine. I've never heard of the heat thing, how hot does it supposedly get? Enough to cause damage, or just discomfort?
But most importantly good luck Jaded, I hope everything works out well for you.
All I have to go with is Mythbusters, where they tried putting a slice of pig flesh with a tattoo on it in the MRI machine. All of jack shit happened to it.
Check out pubmed and do a search for tattoo mri
Unfortunately, unless you have access through a university or something you probably won't be able to get the actual articles, but they show the abstracts.
One study on permanent makeup tattoos found 2 reports from 135 people, 1 of slight tingling, and 1 of burning (feeling, not actual burns of any kind). Based on conversations I've had with MRI techs who've been doing scans for years, it really is pretty rare, but possible. As to permanent damage from it, I've never heard any reports of anything beyond temporary sensation or discomfort.
A dead piece of pig flesh can't really complain about heating/tingling, and can't really turn red at all as these are all reactions/sensations of living flesh.
Other than that, the noise from the magnets switching polarities and any sort of claustrophobia is the only thing you have to worry about.
Electronic composer for hire.
I'm particularly interested in knowing the answer to this, as I got a little bar connecting the bottom front 4 teeth and I am getting an MRI on my shoulder to investigate "erosion of clavicle"
EDIT: I'm interested in knowing how this relates to MRI stuff...
I would like to say that everything went off without a hitch, but that would be a lie!
The Nurse setting up the syringe for the contrast injection was rather... forceful... in setting up the drawing needle and then the tech decided that instead of gradually shooting 9ml's of that shit into my body he would just give the syringe a quick push and shoot it all in quick.
Other then that no uncomfortable heat, because I have had extensive dental work my jaw actually worked itself open (i wasn't clenching, just kinda happened) at first because I wasn't expecting anything.
I was in the tube for a total of about 25 minutes.
Results in 2 weeks.
Thank you all for your knowledge and well wishes!
Mods, please feel free to lock.