Well I gotta get an MRI tomorrow. My shoulder is 12 kinds of F'ed up and probably going to have to have it scoped as well. Has anyone had the new MRI where they inject you with something so it shows up even more clear? Do they let you bring headphones in there with you because I hear it is the most boring thing ever and takes like an hour. Anything else i need to know?

 

Never had a MRI but i am staying at a holiday inn express tonight. I did have a mamogram when I was 18. I was the ONLY guy in the room. Kinda weird, I really feel for the women on that one.

 

I had one several years ago but I didn't get the "trace". Take your headphones with you, they may offer you some also.

Make sure you lie very still.

 

You can not bring anything metal into the MRI room. It is a giant magnet; hence Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Anything metal will either become a projectile or at least interfer with the imaging; depending on the amount of metal. Bring some CD's with you, the room probably has speakers. Usually they have a cd player where the tech runs the machine. It should take between 30 mintues to 1 hour for the scan itself, but of course setup and waiting could be longer.

 

I doubt it, no metal allowed seeing as how it is a huge magnet.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging

 

I hear it takes long and you can't move.

 

I went for my back, my knee. They had headphones they gave me. They gave me a choice of music, or told me I could bring my own cd. It was controlled by them though. My back took about 3 hours. My knee took like 45 min/hour

 

They will inject you with a radioactive dye that will allow the material that they are looking for to show up more clearly. It is a simple procedure and should be done in timed sections. Hope you aren't claustrophobic (Spelling)!
Nothing to worry about. They won't let you take earphones as they will talk you through and update you about your progress. You get to wear a gown and probly will be cold. Hope the technician isn't a good looking female


You'll be fine

 

They provide head phones for you. I have not had one recently, but in the past, they tend to be very loud.

 

I had a fat guy. I feel asleep through mine about 15 minutes into it. I was on a few pain killers also. I get another 1500$ mri courtesy of the u.s. army and tax payers.

 

Sorry for the correction but the dye injected is NOT radioactive.

 

I am an MRI Technologist and TX-FX-4 is correct, the injection is not radioactive. It is called gadolinium and it shows whether or not the capsule in the shoulder is torn. The fluid shows up bright on the scans. You will probably be injected in one room with x-rays and the taken to the MRI scanner after you work the shoulder around for a little while. Whole process shouldn't take more than an hour. Be prepared for your shoulder to be stiff/sore afterwards. Take a cd. Hope all goes well.

 

No metallic objects allowed near the machine. Wear comfortable clothing with no metal snaps, zippers, buttons or jewelry.The headphones they provide use compressed air to push the sound into them so the quality of music is not very good. Plus when the knocking and banging happens you can barely hear it unless they turn it way up. then when the banging stops, the music is too loud. Some places don't even have or offer music altogether since the stereo is so expensive(in the 10's of thousands)You could take a cd and see if they will play it for you. People with pacemakers are not allowed near the room within 20 feet. You will go to x-ray first to have an injection of saline(sterile salt water) diluted with Magnevist, Omniscan or Prohance(paramagnetic contrast agent used for MRI under Fluoroscopy(kinda like a movie of your shoulder as the needle is going in to make sure it is in the joint space. The contrast will be placed in the joint You'll feel some pressure and you will need to be scanned within the hour so that the "contrast" does not get absorbed by your body before obtaining information. You won't be able to move or adjust during the scan for about 40 minutes. There is a microphone in most machines so that if you have a problem you can speak to the tech to get you out. Or they have a call button they will give you on your other hand. Make sure you get scanned on a 1.5 Tesla machine. Any number below that is not very good for orthopedic work.(you lose detail) MRI shoudler Arthrograms are done to evaluate for a SLAP tear. (Superior Labrum Anterior Posterior). It is the cartilage in the shoulder that allows the joint to rotate on. Other things they will look at are the rotator cuff and biceps tendon which are very common injuries of the shoulder. Not really much they can do other than tell you it's torn and that is what your pain is coming from. depending on the extent of damage they can remove some of the cartilage or partially repair it. Good luck.

 

Good to hear another MRI Tech. I have been traveling for about 7 years now. I wish more people were as proactive as Jwool15 to get the right information instead of taking what comes out of the movies and others peoples bad experiences. cheers,

 

I had one on my knee once. I went to sleep and they just woke me up when they were through. Good place to take a nap.