# Tell me about getting an MRI **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610 "2011-08-05T16:18:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/21 "2011-08-06T16:24:51Z")
I’m sort of claustrophobic, but that didn’t bother me in this case as I already knew I was going to be inside a tube. The worst part was the “be still. No, stiller.” “Can I move my toes?” “_sigh_ OK…” That, and just as I was falling asleep they took me out… halfanhourmo’Mom… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/22 "2011-08-06T17:34:45Z")
Show up, lie down, be still, wait 15 minutes while the machine clunks & drums, get up, pay the nice lady $5K, leave. Easy. I’d rather have a dozen MRIs than a flu shot. And I don’t really mind flu shots; either the injection or the afteraffects. I’m always mystified at people making a big deal out of MRIs. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/23 "2011-08-06T23:04:50Z")
I have to get an MRI scan of my head (balance issues) and I wonder about the fillings in my teeth, some of which are thirty-odd years old. May seem silly to you, and it’s not exactly keeping me up nights, but a quick answer one way or the other would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/24 "2011-08-07T03:15:43Z")
[QUOTE=maggenpye] I have to get an MRI scan of my head (balance issues) and I wonder about the fillings in my teeth, some of which are thirty-odd years old. May seem silly to you, and it’s not exactly keeping me up nights, but a quick answer one way or the other would be appreciated. [/QUOTE] Unless your dentist wedged steel bolts into your teeth, your fillings will not be an issue. The problems with MRIs and metal are limited almost entirely to metals such as iron and steel that are attracted to magnets, and your old fillings are most likely mercury amalgam, so no worries there. The metallic components of those fillings may cause some localized distortion of the images, but AFAIK, it’s not going to be bad enough to disrupt the view of your brain. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/25 "2011-08-07T05:01:20Z")
Thanks, there was this one dentist, steel bolts wouldn’t be the half of it! I’m sure he felt that he wasn’t doing his job unless the patient cried (including my dad!) but this is pretty much what I believed and it’s nice to have it confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/26 "2011-08-07T14:32:42Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > I have to get an MRI scan of my head (balance issues) and I wonder about the fillings in my teeth, some of which are thirty-odd years old. > > May seem silly to you, and it’s not exactly keeping me up nights, but a quick answer one way or the other would be appreciated. Should not be an issue – I don’t think this is even one of the things they ask you about beforehand. You will be asked about things like whether you have any medical devices implanted in your body, if you’ve ever been shot, if you do metalworking, etc. IIRC you’re a woman, so I’ll warn you that they may ask you to remove your bra unless it’s a totally metal-free sports bra. I’ve had MRIs at four different hospitals, and at two they let you keep your bra on under the gown and at two they didn’t. The place I go to currently just changed their policy to sports bra or nothing within the past year or so, and the nurse indicated that this was due to recent research indicating that even the metal from an underwire could fuzz the image. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/27 "2011-08-07T19:02:13Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > When you guys are talking about bringing music, does that mean having your own iPod won’t be a problem? What if I wanted to try to read? I read during the MRI on my knee. I was in the machine up to about my bra line, and the technician brought a pillow for me to prop up my arms/book. Clearly, if you were having an MRI anywhere higher than your knee, this would not work. I’d take headphones and music as a backup, in case the machine is different or something. I found an MRI less distressing than a CT scan (probably because an IV was involved with the CT, and I have terrible, awful, very bad, no good veins). Not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/28 "2011-08-07T22:38:28Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Should not be an issue – I don’t think this is even one of the things they ask you about beforehand. You will be asked about things like whether you have any medical devices implanted in your body, if you’ve ever been shot, if you do metalworking, etc. > > IIRC you’re a woman, so I’ll warn you that they may ask you to remove your bra unless it’s a totally metal-free sports bra. I’ve had MRIs at four different hospitals, and at two they let you keep your bra on under the gown and at two they didn’t. The place I go to currently just changed their policy to sports bra or nothing within the past year or so, and the nurse indicated that this was due to recent research indicating that even the metal from an underwire could fuzz the image. Good info to have, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![activgurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@activgurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/activgurl)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/29 "2011-08-09T03:09:22Z")
If you are having a contrast dye during your MRI, for goodness sake, find out BEFOREHAND if you are allergic to it. I just lost a friend who had a “mild reaction” to the dye at the time of the test. The radiologist sent her home, “you’ll be fine”, and her reaction killed her before she got home. Or, be sure to carry epinephrine with you. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/30 "2011-08-10T01:38:40Z")
I had a knee MRI about 18 months ago (actually I also had my shoulder done, same session - they slid me in one way, then out and back in the other way). I’m a larger-than-average person, and was a bit worried about claustrophobia, so I took drugz (a Halcion tablet) about a half hour beforehand. Snoozed through the whole thing. There were headphones - not sure how, since you’re not supposed to have any metal and surely headphones have some metal???. I could choose the “flavor” of music (Rock classical or whatever). It was, however, noisy enough that I had no idea what was playing. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/31 "2011-08-10T01:43:11Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > IThere were headphones - not sure how, since you’re not supposed to have any metal and surely headphones have some metal???. That baffles me too! Plus, heapones work using little magnets, so I’d think they’d be screwed up in an MRI. I even had to remove my belly-ring and if there’s a risk that you have any metal fragment in your eye it’s apparently a huge big deal because the magnet can dislodge it and wreck your eyeball. I had an MRI of my cranium. So in addition to putting me on a gurney bed thingy, they also pretty much had my head in a plastic brace thing to prevent me from moving. It sounds like you’re lying in a bathtub while people are banging on the sides. I still managed to does off. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/32 "2011-08-10T03:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] There were headphones - not sure how, since you’re not supposed to have any metal and surely headphones have some metal??? [/QUOTE] They’re like the old-style airplane earphones where the speaker was in the armrest and the sound was carried through plastic tubes to your ears. In this case, the speakers are in another room, and the tubes are much longer. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/33 "2011-08-10T04:53:19Z")
I’m not particularly claustrophobic but when they slid me in the tube and I opened my eyes to find the wall of the tube 3 inches from my face, I had a brief moment of “get me out of here”. So I closed my eyes again. Problem solved. After the scan you’ll probably get a CD to bring to your doctor. The CD has a viewer for PCs, but you can also get one for a Mac on-line. I looked at the scan they took of my spine and found out that I was full of blobby fuzzy grey things, none of which I could easily recognize. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610/34 "2011-08-18T22:19:09Z")
Forgot to report back that I had the MRI this past Friday. Pretty uneventful and fairly relaxing. Very loud, though. I had on ear plugs and then the music headphones on top of that. The machine still managed to make the music very hard to hear. The machine had me in up to my chest, which didn’t bother me at all. I can very easily see, though, how that could be disturbing if you were in all the way. The whole thing took about half an hour, and I was actually surprised when the tech came in and told me I was done. It went by very quickly. Thanks for all the contributions, folks! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-getting-an-mri/591610.md?page=1)