Patient's Guide to an MRI
After swimming against the tide of the BC Medical system for the last 4 years or so, I finally got an MRI this week. As far as medical exams go, it is about the easiest procedure you can endure, as most MRIs are completely painless.
However, there are a few things you might like to know if you are going to have one:
Needles
Some MRI tests require a paramagnetic agent to be injected into your bloodstream so that examiners can identify veins, arteries and internal organs. If you are scared of needles or injections, you need to come to grips with this before the exam.
Claustrophobia
An MRI unit is a tube that has imaging equipment arranged like a ring around the patient. As you lie inside, it rotates around and takes a series of pictures.
Before the exam starts, you have some paperwork to fill out with questions about various medical problems you might have, metal that might be in your body and how claustrophobic you are. On the scale they provided (1 - 10), I marked myself as a 4.
By about the 3rd minute in the unit, I would have confidently circled 8.
The space is incredibly ssmall, with the wall of the unit just a few centimeters from your nose. You can't lift your head, hands or feet because the space is so tiny.
The Exam
The examiner will give you a set of earplugs to wear, as the machine is very loud when it is taking pictures. You then lie down on a padded platform. The examiner will move you into the unit, possibly stopping to mark where various landmarks are, in order to calibrate your position. In my case, he marked my sternum and my right hip bone.
Once that is done, you are sent all the way into the unit. It is a very small space and anyone with claustrophobia will have to deal with this challenge. There is a speaker and microphone inside the unit. You will hear the examiner tell you when they are about to set an exposure.
My exam took about 35 minutes, with a series of 3 and 4 minute exposures during which the machine made a lot of noise. It sounds a lot like a very loud dot-matrix printer. Occasionally, the bed I was on would move a little bit, in order to reposition me.
Tips:
All in all, the MRI is one of the best options for internal diagnosis. It is a very simple procedure that is almost always painless. But for those of you who hate enclosed spaces, you might be freaked out, so be prepared!
However, there are a few things you might like to know if you are going to have one:
Needles
Some MRI tests require a paramagnetic agent to be injected into your bloodstream so that examiners can identify veins, arteries and internal organs. If you are scared of needles or injections, you need to come to grips with this before the exam.
Claustrophobia
An MRI unit is a tube that has imaging equipment arranged like a ring around the patient. As you lie inside, it rotates around and takes a series of pictures.
Before the exam starts, you have some paperwork to fill out with questions about various medical problems you might have, metal that might be in your body and how claustrophobic you are. On the scale they provided (1 - 10), I marked myself as a 4.
By about the 3rd minute in the unit, I would have confidently circled 8.
The space is incredibly ssmall, with the wall of the unit just a few centimeters from your nose. You can't lift your head, hands or feet because the space is so tiny.
The Exam
The examiner will give you a set of earplugs to wear, as the machine is very loud when it is taking pictures. You then lie down on a padded platform. The examiner will move you into the unit, possibly stopping to mark where various landmarks are, in order to calibrate your position. In my case, he marked my sternum and my right hip bone.
Once that is done, you are sent all the way into the unit. It is a very small space and anyone with claustrophobia will have to deal with this challenge. There is a speaker and microphone inside the unit. You will hear the examiner tell you when they are about to set an exposure.
My exam took about 35 minutes, with a series of 3 and 4 minute exposures during which the machine made a lot of noise. It sounds a lot like a very loud dot-matrix printer. Occasionally, the bed I was on would move a little bit, in order to reposition me.
Tips:
- Earplugs: Make sure you wear the earplugs, otherwise you will be very distracted by the noise.
- Music: Ask to have music pumped in. They will either give you headphones or pump it in through speakers. I found that it helped distract me from the enclosed space I was in.
- Close your eyes: This is the most important tip. If you are even a little claustrophobic, it is a good idea to just close your eyes for the entire test. Tell the examiner to let you know when you can open your eyes. Fight the urge to open them when the unit makes noise or when your bed moves for a re-adjusted look.
- Stay calm: Don't let panic get the best of you. Just lie very still and concentrate on other things, like the music, while in there. Talk to the examiner between each exposure
All in all, the MRI is one of the best options for internal diagnosis. It is a very simple procedure that is almost always painless. But for those of you who hate enclosed spaces, you might be freaked out, so be prepared!
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