MRI — How to Prepare?

[TimmyC]

Your tinnitus sounds like mine so I really have not done any extra protection to this point (ear plugs).

Yeah I never wear earplugs. Sounds like this won't be a problem for me. I'll still get noise reducing earplugs just to be safe. Thanks for the input Dayma!

 

[Arseny]

Hello,

I am getting an MRI done tomorrow, and from what I can tell half the people have a problem and the other half do not.

They use a wide bore 1.5T GE 450W
https://www.gehealthcare.com/en/products/magnetic-resonance-imaging/1-5t/optima-mr450w

They offer hearing plugs and muffs.

Should I be concerned?


I have been in a restaurant at 96 dB for 4 hours before with no issue, but I'm unsure about this.

Anything helps,

Thank you.

I don't want to scare you, but I had mild tinnitus (non reactive) and no hyperacusis.

I did an MRI with double protection and it caused tinnitus to spike to severe levels with hyperacusis and TTTS.
I suppose it happened mostly from vibration and may have caused damage via bone conduction.

Why are you doing an MRI?

And there is no way restaurant was 96 dB. That's very close to a rock concert.
Did you use an app on your phone to measure the sound?

You should bring your own ear plugs. 3M 1100 are pretty good.

 

[TimmyC]

I don't want to scare you, but I had mild tinnitus (non reactive) and no hyperacusis.

I did an MRI with double protection and it caused tinnitus to spike to severe levels with hyperacusis and TTTS.
I suppose it happened mostly from vibration and may have caused damage via bone conduction.

Why are you doing an MRI?

And there is no way restaurant was 96 dB. That's very close to a rock concert.
Did you use an app on your phone to measure the sound?

You should bring your own ear plugs. 3M 1100 are pretty good.

Yeah I was at a restaurant Super Bowl bar. My phone registered 96. The MRI was just suggested to rule out any complication. It's free for now so it seemed worth it. I have hyperacusis already but I believe the MRI machine is going to be ok. With 32 NRR inner plugs and at least 20 NRR1 muffs that makes the machine at most 60 dB. But I read your comments from before. Seems 50/50 on here.

 

[Arseny]

So you are getting an MRI, because of tinnitus? If you are getting a brain MRI you should ask for cushions to reduce vibration.

Unless you have unilateral tinnitus or pulsatile tinnitus it's not really worth the risk.

I got shoved into an MRI machine, because doctors suspected a lot of scary stuff, but later I've learned that it was totally unnecessary and they were uneducated and decided to do a brain MRI on my just to poke around to see if there is anything strange.

Was there anything strange and unusual on MRI? NO!!!

Worst mistake of my life. Should have never trusted the doctors.

Did you do an audiogram up to 16000 Hz? I know a guy who has a small dip at 16000 Hz and he has severe tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Earplugs and earmuffs don't stack like that. At most you'll get additional 5 db of protection.

This is going to be way louder than 60 dB. 60 dB is human speech. An MRI with protection is going to be closer to a loud bar or a club.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

The machine being used with double protection will bring dB down to 83-84 with possible peak at 89. That's appear like it won't be a problem for you.

 

[TimmyC]

The machine being used with double protection will bring dB down to 83-84 with possible peak at 89. That's appear like it won't be a problem for you.

Yeah I'm thinking this machine is a little newer but I'm going to the hospital right. To ask about it.

 

[TimmyC]

The machine being used with double protection will bring dB down to 83-84 with possible peak at 89. That's appear like it won't be a problem for you.

Do you know if that's a good mri machine?

 

[TimmyC]

So you are getting an MRI, because of tinnitus? If you are getting a brain MRI you should ask for cushions to reduce vibration.

Unless you have unilateral tinnitus or pulsatile tinnitus it's not really worth the risk.

I got shoved into an MRI machine, because doctors suspected a lot of scary stuff, but later I've learned that it was totally unnecessary and they were uneducated and decided to do a brain MRI on my just to poke around to see if there is anything strange.

Was there anything strange and unusual on MRI? NO!!!

Worst mistake of my life. Should have never trusted the doctors.

Did you do an audiogram up to 16000 Hz? I know a guy who has a small dip at 16000 Hz and he has severe tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Earplugs and earmuffs don't stack like that. At most you'll get additional 5 db of protection.

This is going to be way louder than 60 dB. 60 dB is human speech. An MRI with protection is going to be closer to a loud bar or a club.

So there's no reason to get it if I have bilateral t? The doctor was only half and half about the MRI. He said it will most likely come up clear but we can do it just Incase to make sure. Maybe I shouldn't do it...

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Do you know if that's a good mri machine?

It's a good machine. Have your ear plugs placed in your ears correctly. You may want to trim a little hair above your ears. It's not a bad idea to get a MRI for neck or jaw problems. Not sure if your MRI is for brain or neck.
The newer upright MRI machine are better if there's suspected artery compression within the neck.

 

[TimmyC]

Quick update and question. So I was able to do the MRI and they used some kind of lower volume tech so it wasn't so bad. I feel fine right after, if I'm ok now then I'm probably ok late right?

 

[Alue]

Quick update and question. So I was able to do the MRI and they used some kind of lower volume tech so it wasn't so bad. I feel fine right after, if I'm ok now then I'm probably ok late right?

Probably. You said you've tolerated loud restaurants without a spike before.
How loud did you find it to be?

It's a good machine. Have your ear plugs placed in your ears correctly. You may want to trim a little hair above your ears. It's not a bad idea to get a MRI for neck or jaw problems. Not sure if your MRI is for brain or neck.
The newer upright MRI machine are better if there's suspected artery compression within the neck.

Does that machine have the noise reducing technology (vacuum sealed coil)? I have heard the upright MRIs give a crappy picture compared to the closed MRIs.

 

[Alue]

I'm probably going to need to get an MRI done. Unfortunately there are no new/quieter MRIs in my area. I'm actually debating traveling to one as crazy as that sounds. I have so many airline and hotel points saved up from work travel that I can travel just about anywhere domestically for free.

 

[TimmyC]

Probably. You said you've tolerated loud restaurants without a spike before.
How loud did you find it to be?




Does that machine have the noise reducing technology (vacuum sealed coil)?

After I pulled the earplugs out there was no difference ( the t seemed actually quieter).

However, I didn't finish the last test ( full inner ear) because it was super loud.

The first 15 minutes he said he used some new quiet tech to keep the noise down. I sat it sounded and felt a bit loud but if I had to guess I would say I was imputing 80db at best

 

[Sash]

I just had an MRI done yesterday for Tinnitus took around 10 minutes but seemed like an eternity.. No idea why it was required should have asked the doctors I didn't know what to expect so didn't bring my earplugs. My tinnitus is already quite loud having had a major spike around 5 weeks back. Did notice this morning I could feel some discomfort in my ears but seem to have settled down later this evening

 

[Sash]

Actually tinnitus it does seem louder unfortunately they were playing very loud music through the headphones too during the scan. Last night couldn't sleep properly as a result and that's the first time it's really affected me since I have had tinnitus for over a year now. Oh well .....

 

[Alue]

Did anyone have contrast with their MRI? Did the contrast exacerbate tinnitus or anything?