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MRI Scan

Posted , 4 users are following.

Jennyann
Jennyann

I am due to have a MRI Scan on my ears & sinuses and at present feeling very anxious. I believe they can be very & noisy. Do you get ear phone to help with the noise and how lon will the scan take.I would love to hear from anyone who has had this done.

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • StevenRose
    StevenRose Jennyann

    Posted

    Hi Jennyann,  Try not to worry about the MRI scan, for a start its safer to have than a CT scan for instance.  Yes it does get noisy but of course you get headphones and ususally get a chpice og music to listen to,

    The length of scan will depend on what the dr wants to see from having it.

    Try to just chill out while you are having the scan and get into the music playing.  But you have to try and keep fairly still else the pictures wont be very good.

    You will be fine Jennyann I am sure.

    Good luck and take care

    Let us know how you get on

    • Jennyann
      Jennyann StevenRose

      Posted

      Hi personal 20. Have just come back from having my MRI Scan. I appreciated the advice you gave me about the headphones. I was fairly relaxed as I was able to listen to Heart FM. When I had a scan before about 15 years ago you had headphones but there was no music to listen to. So that is why I was freaking out abit as the noise was pretty deafening.
    • StevenRose
      StevenRose Jennyann

      Posted

      Hi,

      Glad you got on ok and the experience was not too bad.  I hope the scan result is a good one also!

  • rory21761
    rory21761 Jennyann

    Posted

    Hello there, I've had 2 MRI scans of the head done, the most recent being in February and like you I was anxious and nervous before both.  I will try to tell you my experience as I think the more information you know about something the less intimidating it is.

    First of all, yes the machine is noisy but you will be given ear plugs which drown out the noise. I was also given headphones with the radio on, although this had to be turned off in the second half of the scan as I was having a functional scan and had to concentrate on tasks (basically pushing buttons on a pad).  Despite being loud I actually found the noises quite soothing oddly and almost fell asleep! I would imagine you would have the music on throughout the procedure as from what you are telling me it sounds like a structural scan so no need to turn it off.  Do note however that you will still hear the scanner despite having hearing protection on when it's taking pictures. It's not actually very bad just monotonous. Listen to YouTube for sounds of the scan so they don't seem very unexpected.

    The hardest part for me was getting inside the scanner, as I walked in and was confronted with a big machine. However the staff were brilliant at calming me down and basically advised me to close my eyes after the head coil went on until I was inside which helped immensely.

    In terms of length of time they can vary. Recent one was just shy of 2 hours but that's quite a lengthy scan. structural scan done took around 25 minutes. Of course this all depends on your ability to keep still, as if you move they generally have to start from the beginning. Luckily I never had to do this despite getting a shiver at one point!

    Hopefully this helps and you get a diagnosis and get on the road to recovery!

    Thanks,

    R

  • jane96717
    jane96717 Jennyann

    Posted

    I had one last year and I too was worried, the worst bit for me was actually being in the machine, I found it claustrophobic, they did give me a hand held panic button just in case (I suffer panic attacks) and music was streamed through ear phones and that cuts a lot of the noise out. Ask if you can wear an eye mask too as personally I think that would have helped me.

    Good luck, you'll be okay.

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