Originally Posted By DlandJB I was fine when I had mine...until I opened my eyes. Don't open your eyes. Too close for comfort.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan This is a dumb question, but I've never had an MRI. Is it just a sense of claustrophobia, or is there actual physical discomfort involved in an MRI? How long does an MRI take?
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder I've had several. I've never had one that wasn't full body. It's the claustrophobia that gets you. They really aren't uncomfortable, but you can sure talk your way into thinking it is because you just don't like being there in the first place. My last two have been in an open MRI because at a 52 inch chest, and with relatively big arms, I'm too wide to fit comfortably. Combine that with discovering I'm claustrophobic (although oddly, elevators and other things don't bother me, just MRI's) and it makes for a bad experience. Last year, when I had 13 vertigo attacks from January through April, I got re-acquainted with these things. I found this last time around that my throat has tendency to close up when I have to lie on my back for too long. Consequently, they don't want to give me anything to relax me in case I choke, another reason for having to go to the open ones. The techs don't seem to mind squishing and folding you up in those tubes, but I sure do.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder And normally they're about 25-30 minutes, which can seem a lot longer if you're not enjoying yourself. Big tough guy here always seems to think he can make it for the first 7-8 minutes, then wham, not so much.
Originally Posted By idleHands Depends on which part of the body needs scanning. Intricate joints like the shoulder take about 40 minutes for small defects like rotator cuff tears, while less complicated joints like the knee take about half the time. Head and neck scans vary, depending on what the physician is looking for, i.e., single brain lesion versus sclerosis spread throughout. As for the discomfort, actual physical discomfort can be a factor. For my knee MRIs, one involved a torn meniscus, the other a torn ligament. My leg was strapped to a foam board to place it in the proper position for scanning, and that was painful, because of the injury. For my shoulder scans, my upper torso was strapped down to the table, in two different positions, both of them highly uncomfortable, mostly because of the cuff tear injury. (Thankfully the tranquilizer put me to sleep shortly after going inside.) Head scans aren't necessarily uncomfortable, because you're lying on your back, neck straight. But most machines require image enhancement for brain scans, which involves using a head coil. This can resemble a hockey goalie's face mask on some machines, or a football helmet, as another poster described. And your head plus the coil will either be strapped to the table to keep it steady, or your head will be wedged between foam bolsters, with the coil placed over the foam. Either way, the sensation of not being able to move your head is discomforting for many people. Fortunately, MRI technology has advanced significantly in the past decade, especially in the past three years. When MRI machines first came out in the mid-eighties (I worked for the imaging company which created the computer hardware and software for General Electric's first MRI), I developed vertigo severe enough for the specialist to suspect a brain tumor. The MRI was kept in a trailer in the hospital parking lot; it was too big to house in the hospital itself. Scanning was much slower back then; it took over 90 minutes for the techs to get their images. (That's how long I was in the bloody machine; thank heaven I was living on tranquilizers to control my vomiting from the vertigo.) The same brain scans today are 10 times the clarity and detail, and can be done in 15 to 30 minutes, depending upon the Tesla coil strength. And with the invention of the short bore, claustrophobia is greatly minimized as well. Yeah baby, I live on this street. Still have engineering friends working in the field, and I love to watch them spin those beanie propellers while talking shop. (One of them handed me his current 'light reading' book of mathematical equations used in MRI design, and I could feel my brain implode, trying to decipher it. LOL!)
Originally Posted By idleHands It's no big. Really. Just something I'm unfortunately all too familiar with, both personally and professionally. 8^D
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF I've had two cardiac MRIs that helped the doctors determine just what exactly was wrong with my heart and were invaluable in determining the need for a transplant. I'm not claustrophobic, so that part of it didn't really bother me. I just pretended I was in some sci-fi movie, sort of like the sleep the chambers in the first "Alien" movie. ;-) Yes, they are loud and it gets boring laying still like that for upwards of 45 mins. The facility where I had mine done let me pick out a radio station, and the music was piped into the tube.
Originally Posted By CrouchingTigger My wife discovered that she was claustrophobic when she was in an MRI tube. Unfortunately she winds up getting about 2 MRI's per year for the last few years. Before she goes she needs to take a couple of valium, and then I have to go with her and just place my hand on her foot to let her know that I'm there. The valium just isn't enough. It seems that maintaining a connection to the outside world (through me) helps her keep calm.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling <<(I kept thinking "is this what it looks like being born?" lol >> LOL! I love that you managed to maintain your good sense of humor about it. LOL. <-- sending good thoughts and hugs in advance for your wrist surgery.
