Anyone ever had an MRI done?

[MaxDepth]

This will be my first time. I do not know how long it will take or exactly what they will do.
Do they inject me with something to help the scan?

I had a really bad incident diving last month that my ear had trouble equalizing to water pressure going down to 70 feet and then a really bad time when I came back up to 60 feet when it wouldn't release either. I've been on nasal steroid for a month and it seems to help a little bit but it still feels blocked. So the doctor wants an MRI to rule out tumour or inner ear inflamation.


EDIT: Damn, maybe they can see where my brain does all the dyslexic typing too.

 

[bigrash]

do you mean MRI?

 

[theNEOone]

MRI?

afaik, you do not need an injection for an mri - i certainly don't remember having an injection for my mri. some imaging tests require certain isotopes/dyes to adhere to molecules in your tissue, but even in these cases the dye can be ingested. an mri works by creating a massive magnetic field that aligns the water molecules in your brain in a certain direction. the images are derived by detecting this alignment.

you might need an injection if you need to take some sort of pain killer or muscle relaxant, but this is aside from the actual mri itself.


=|

 

[Mike2002]

When I had mine, they did have an IV of some dye going in me but that might not be the case for everyone. I just remember it being extremely loud and with a ton of vibratoins for about 20-30 minutes. They will even give you earplugs since its so loud inside.

 

[nutxo]

I've had 3.

No injections. You'll have to wear somethign with absolutely no metal and hold still in a tube for 30 minutes or something. Its kind of like being in a 55gallon drum and having someone tap on the outside with a wrench. Really not bad at all. I fell asleep during my last one.

 

[Spineshank]

I had 3 last year on my knee. 2 were with the dye which is just a small injection. Usually takes anywhere from a half hour to an hour depending.

 

[krunchykrome]

I had one done about a month ago. I was told I went to a decent place because only my head and neck were surrounded by the machine and I had headphones playing music. It can be uncomfortable, but just relax and get it over with.

Oh yea, I had the dye injected into me. For me, that was the worst part of it because I absolutely hate needles.

 

[amish]

no dye for me either. they just put me in the tube and had a nice fan blowing in my face. i would have fallen asleep if the dick at the controls hadn't been asking so many questions.

 

[TheoPetro]

no dye here either. kinda boring tho

 

[Theiananator]

I've had 3. One on my elbow, one on my spine and one on my head. No injections, just go in the tube for 30 mins, without moving. No biggie.

 

[Corporate Thug]

they do an injection if there is head trauma

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
they do an injection if there is head trauma

Not necessarily....they use the dye to trace things is all.


BTW, words of advice, don't forget to tell them you have a prosthetic titanium testicle before you go in, trust me on this one!

 

[Ausm]

I had a couple done on my knee when I f'ed it up in football an there was nothing to it.


Ausm

 

[lokiju]

I've had two done this year and neither one involved any injection or dye.

It's just noisy with a "knocking" sound repeating and the tempo of it will change during the procedure.

Nothing really to it though unless you're really claustrophobic, since it's only a few inches away from your face even in the "open" MRI machines.

 

[drinkmorejava]

Pretty boring...and expensive, not much to it. I had a brain scan with no dye. Depending on what they're looking for, it can take as little as 15 minutes up to over an hour. They were like, you could wear what you have on, but we'd rather you just put a gown on...so I did. Even if you have a non-magnetic metal such as rivets on your jeans or w/e any conductive element can still mess it up.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I had one about a month ago for a bad disc in my back. I was warned about metal and given ear plugs. I just closed my eyes and layed down on a tray that slid into the tube. Small spaces don't bother me much, but it helped just to keep my eyes closed anyway. I started to fall asleep before it was all done. As medical procedures go, the MRI was really pretty easy. I'd definitely take another MRI over another cortisone injection in my spine. The whole thing took about 30 minutes in my case.

 

[moks78]

Originally posted by: MisterJackson

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

you have a prosthetic titanium testicle before you go in, trust me on this one!

Titanium is non magnetic so your ok plus they're scanning your brain so they won't go down there.

 

[PAB]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
This will be my first time. I do not know how long it will take or exactly what they will do.
Do they inject me with something to help the scan?

I had a really bad incident diving last month that my ear had trouble equalizing to water pressure going down to 70 feet and then a really bad time when I came back up to 60 feet when it wouldn't release either. I've been on nasal steroid for a month and it seems to help a little bit but it still feels blocked. So the doctor wants an MRI to rule out tumour or inner ear inflamation.


EDIT: Damn, maybe they can see where my brain does all the dyslexic typing too.

I had one due to back problems. No injection or anything, you're thinking CAT scan.

When you do the MRI, you better not be claustraphobic. If you are, have them shoot you up with valium and you'll be out like a light.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
This will be my first time. I do not know how long it will take or exactly what they will do.
Do they inject me with something to help the scan?

I had a really bad incident diving last month that my ear had trouble equalizing to water pressure going down to 70 feet and then a really bad time when I came back up to 60 feet when it wouldn't release either. I've been on nasal steroid for a month and it seems to help a little bit but it still feels blocked. So the doctor wants an MRI to rule out tumour or inner ear inflamation.


EDIT: Damn, maybe they can see where my brain does all the dyslexic typing too.

I have had a few done. If you have an "MRI with contrast", then they will inject you will something otherwise no injection.

The length of time totally depends on the area they are MRIing.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
This will be my first time. I do not know how long it will take or exactly what they will do.
Do they inject me with something to help the scan?

I had a really bad incident diving last month that my ear had trouble equalizing to water pressure going down to 70 feet and then a really bad time when I came back up to 60 feet when it wouldn't release either. I've been on nasal steroid for a month and it seems to help a little bit but it still feels blocked. So the doctor wants an MRI to rule out tumour or inner ear inflamation.


EDIT: Damn, maybe they can see where my brain does all the dyslexic typing too.

I have had a few done. If you have an "MRI with contrast", then they will inject you will something otherwise no injection.

The length of time totally depends on the area they are MRIing.

I had an MRI of my head back in May. It was with/without contrast and they injected me before the "with contrast" scan. It took about 20 minutes. There's a loud drone that they give you earplugs for.

 

[BoomerD]

I've had 5(?) MRI's and never had any injections. Had 2 CT scans, and for one, I got an injection at the time of scan, the other, they had just pumped my disks full of imaging dyes, so no additional injections were needed.
Each MRI took about 45 minutes, and the CT scan took about 20 minutes..

 

[Willoughbyva]

I had one done about a month ago. The first part took about 45-50 min. Then they injected me with dye for another scan that took 5 min. I was surprised that I had a normal study. I was expecting them to find something.


Perry

 

[MaxDepth]

Update: Just got back from the scan. The place is a actually a trailer out back behind the building. Very cute tech there explained everything and it took about an hour. I was injected with a liguid for some contrast shots. I have all the snapshots and I'll go back to the doctor Thursday to tell me what he sees in the pics.

It was cold in the room and the tech put a blanket on me and slid me into the machine. basically immobilized my head and the machine did the rest. I fell asleep and I think I snored because she was laughing when she asked me if I was okay.

 

[Willoughbyva]

Hope everything comes back ok.

Best to you.

Perry

 

[Skiddex]

yep, ive had many, with contrast due to seizures...they were looking for blood clots or something. its loud and annoying, but not the end of the world.