MRI Question

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken is an actual expert in how the machines work and has provided some fantastic real-life information.

Thank you but hardly!

[Ronald Blue]

A few days late on replying here. I had an MRI on my shoulder in 2021. After two tries. Because welding was a regular part of my occupation they X-rayed my head to make sure no artifacts were present in my eyes. As for the two tries....a magic pill was given for the second time. Something about being inside a tube with little room wasn't calming to me. I will know if I ever need another one.

[Patty Hann]

A few days late on replying here. I had an MRI on my shoulder in 2021. After two tries. Because welding was a regular part of my occupation they X-rayed my head to make sure no artifacts were present in my eyes. As for the two tries....a magic pill was given for the second time. Something about being inside a tube with little room wasn't calming to me. I will know if I ever need another one.

Prior to one of my many MRI's (Neck, shoulder, lower back, hip, and knee, some multiple times over the years) I asked the tech which sex has more "claustrophobia" reactions to being in the tube.
His answer: men, by far. He didn't offer any explanation as to why.
Anther time, at another site (and so a different tech, this time a woman, I asked the same question.) Her answer: men, much more often than women, have a hard time with it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

They can give a medication that helps relieve that. IIRC versed is the med.

[Alan Lightstone]

They can give a medication that helps relieve that. IIRC versed is the med.

If you have an IV in. Otherwise, taking any benzodiazepine tablet an hour before usually works.

I had LASIK done in Canada 28 years ago. Supposedly there were tiny metal fragments in one of my eyes. So before my first MRI they did a head X-ray, and determined no issue. And, having anesthetized many patients in MRI scanners, you really have to be even more OCD than usual regarding ferromagnetic equipment. Fortunately, over the years many monitoring devices that we need to safely anesthetize patients became available to use in MRI scanners. But it is a PIA. When I read news articles regarding bad mishaps (oxygen tanks, metal carts, etc...) I shake my head. Never, ever should have ever happened.

Really learned a ton from Ken's post. Thanks for that.