MRI Scan tomorrow

Wirral_paul

Evenin all

I have an MRI scan in the morning on my knee injury (probably Patellar Tendon) and was just reading the letter i received again. It mentions about taking a CD to listen to because of the noise!! Are these machines really that bad that a distraction is needed?? Appointment says it could take up to an hour as well!! Its not a brain scan anyway as that wouldnt take very long!!



Cheers
Paul

Garry H

It's a loud clicking/banging noise. Had one about 15 years ago for knee problem. Don't think I could hear the music over the noise. Beethoven's 6th if I remember correctly.

Richj

I took music to listen, the machine (a mobile unit so basically the back of a lorry) was pretty noisy but I could listen to the music fine. I think it's more so you don't get too bored. My knee scan did take around an hour and my leg was strapped down with a foam wedge under it, wasn't uncomfortable but very restrictive. The music was a pleasant distraction.

amaferanga

Newer scanners are significantly quieter than those of 15 years ago. Music is recommended for people that work themselves up into a state before the scan to help them relax a bit, but since your head wont even be inside the scanner and just your knee then there really is nowt to worry about. I work in MRI for the NHS and have been scanned many times as a volunteer and I actually find it quite relaxing (so much so that I've fallen asleep more than once).

Wirral_paul

Thanks for the info guys. I dont get worked up about tests but do get bored - so i'll chuck a cd in my bag to take with me.

Cheers
Paul

oldwelshman

Hi.
They ask if you wish to take a cd in for a couple of reasons.
One is that you can get bored inside a scanner after a while and the other is some people do not like the noise of the gradients inside the scanner.
Without going into detail lol there are no moving parts inside the scanner at all but a current passes into gradient coild used for creating the image and the current is pulsed and you will hear these pulses at different frequencies, they may make you sleepy
They are not too bad for knee but for certain brain sequences they can be ridiculously noisey
The newer scanners can actually be nosier than the older ones as the magnetic fields and gradients are more powerful.
For knee exams they will take about 6 differrent types of scans, some each taking a few minutes so in total will probably be 20 to 30 minutes.
Which hospital are you being scanned in ?

Wirral_paul

Mornin

I am at Arrowe Park on the Wirral. I have a 7:15am appointment which is handy for work but means getting up at silly o'clock for me!! Ah well - gonna be a long day but quite looking forward to the scan now.

anto164

Last MRI i had at Arrowe Park i had a full torso scan from my neck down to my knees. that took about 30 mins, and they were playing james blunt down the headphones.

They're great. I loved the band of warmth they create as the scan passes down your body. bloody noisy though, and you've got to stay still. And the tube is pretty small you go down.

Wirral_paul

All done with no dramas at Arrowe Park on Thursday. They only scanned my knee down to the area at the bottom of the Patellar tendon so a static scan for me. Took around 20mins and i was out by 8am!! Even managed to get to work for 8:30am via the supermarket so my boss was happy too

Now for the 2 week wait while the results come back. Just hope they figure out the problem as its now 14 weeks and i cant ride.