Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Medical Question

Yeah, was going to say that they have Open MRIs now. They're rare, but if you're claustrophobic, I'd bet it'd help.

Personally, I've been scanned a few times in a regular MRI tube. It's a tight fit, but not really that bad. As others have mentioned, the noise is more disruptive than anything.

Basically... It looks something like this:





You're inside a plastic tunnel. Circular cross-section just big enough to fit an adult human. You're lying on a rectangular pallet that slides in and out of the tube. There's a plastic grid mask over your face. You're not supposed to move if you can possibly help it. Attached to the mask, directly above your eyes, is a small mirror, which is angled so that if you look up, you can see along the length of your body to the open end of the tunnel.

The tunnel is inside the middle of this giant machine. On the other side of the tunnel walls, powerful magnets will be fired off. (So make sure not to have anything metallic on you... Wear sweatpants without a belt or zipper, etc.) It sounds like someone banging on the tunnel walls with a giant hammer. Sometimes it bangs very loudly. Sometimes somewhat softer. The noises echo through the tunnel. It's kind of like the stupid kids next door have cranked up the stereo and you can hear the drums through the wall pounding at different volumes with a rhythm that would probably make sense if only you could hear the rest of the "music."

One thing I like to do is to bring a favorite CD along with me. They can pipe music in there through something very much like a stethoscope - a Y-shaped plastic tube that carries the sound from the speakers (outside the room) into the tunnel, over your body, and to your ears. (Some labs pipe music in through the computer, giving you an option of whatever's on the radio, but most can play a CD for you.)

Of course, you can't hear the CD at all when the drumming is at its loudest, but that's only for a few minutes at a time. And you're going to be in that tube for about an hour (give or take, depending on what they're scanning, etc).

Oh, and sometimes you have to do it with and without contrast. I doubt they'll do that to you since they're just doing the leg, but it does happen. Basically, they do a scan as-is, inject some dye via IV, wait for it to spread, and then put you back in to run the scan over again.

The other option is to close your eyes, lie still, and find something interesting to think about. For example, plotting out your next story. Something to keep you occupied while you're in there.

Or you could stay up all night and arrive so tired that you actually manage to fall asleep inside the tunnel, despite the semi-rythmic pounding. It has happened...

Anyway, that's about as best as I can describe it off the top of my head. Hope this helps. And good luck.