MRI Machines Really Need to Be Reworked — I Developed Tinnitus Immediately After the Scan

[anotherforumuser]

Hi all,

Been lurking for a few days around. My story goes;

On May 15 I went to a MRI - very long and very loud - unsuspectful of its dangers. A minute after it, I got tinnitus and bad pain in my right ear. I went to two different doctors the same day; one said it was normal and the other said I had no external damage and should have gone to an ENT.

I did not know at all how this worked, so I tried to simply calm after that and simply not get any major noise on me. After a few days the ear pain seemed better, and I did my best to ignore tinnitus. Then both the ear pain (like "itchy"), tinnitus (not too loud, from mild to moderate) started to show themselves more insistingly, after two weeks.

Last week I visited the ENT, who just ordered an audiometry before continuing. A couple of days before, I had begun researching what was this on the internet, so I obviously went there into a very deep anxiety...

Next week I get the results of the Audiometry which I bet may not show something to the world, and also get the next ENT appointment. I already guess how this ends.

Apart of that, thanks to reading the many helpful people around this forum, I got some ear protectors and a few reserve earmuffs.

Then, checking on forum more carefully what to do, I began today having NAC and vitamin C. Better late than never.

I have read all the MRI - related people around, so I currently am not trying to negate anymore with the reality that is incoming, but just trying to cope with the fact I need to find how to keep working and even try to live with this, particularly regarding increased sound sensitivity and ear pain, yet I have read around those symptoms do have some decent chances of improving.

Finally, I conclude by explaining the title of this thread is intended to raise awareness even more on the current dangers of state-of-the-art MRI with yet anotherforumuser arriving here...

Thank you for your time on reading this

 

[Exit]

Very sorry for you too.

You didn't say if you had any protection during the MRI?

Protect those babies and you might be lucky before year end.

Stay hydrated if you take a lot of supplements.

And have some low volume sound around you at least during daytime, possibly nights too but the jury's out on that one.

Thanks for contributing to Tinnitus Talk

Best regards.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

So is there any way to prevent getting tinnitus or making it worse from an MRI?

 

[kingsfan]

I had a brain MRI done about 10 years ago. I can't even remember if I wore ear protection. It was right at the cusp of my retiring from playing music to focus on my main career and family. I didn't have very bad tinnitus at the time, I could only hear it in bed at night and didn't care. The MRI didn't seem to affect me at all at the time, but I wonder if I had not gotten it, would I be here, on this forum today? I remember it was loud as hell.

 

[kingsfan]

So is there any way to prevent getting tinnitus or making it worse from an MRI?

The best way is to not get one at all. Otherwise find a facility that has the newer "quieter" ones. I hear they are anything but quiet.

Wear fully inserted foam earplugs and earmuffs.

 

[Kriszti]

So is there any way to prevent getting tinnitus or making it worse from an MRI?

You can maybe search for open MRIs (supposedly worse quality imaging), quieter MRIs (some are advertised like that, in reality I don't know how quiet they actually are), wear correctly inserted earplugs and earmuffs if possible, stock up on supplements that supposedly have some protecting qualities (magnesium, NAC, etc.) and hope for the best.

@anotherforumuser, I am sorry that you are dealing with tinnitus. MRIs are incredibly loud, you possibly suffered an acoustic trauma from it. You are now out of the strict window for steroids probably, but maybe try to ask an ENT about them, I heard anecdotal stories of steroids helping/lessening tinnitus even some weeks after onset.

 

[Luman]

This looks interesting. I'd heard of a greatly lowered volume MRI machine a few years ago, but not this low.

https://www.princetonradiology.com/quiet-mri/

 

[Matchbox]

There's quieter 1.5T ones that exist. That's probably the only option.

 

[anotherforumuser]

Very sorry for you too.

You didn't say if you had any protection during the MRI?

Protect those babies and you might be lucky before year end.

Stay hydrated if you take a lot of supplements.

And have some low volume sound around you at least during daytime, possibly nights too but the jury's out on that one.

Thanks for contributing to Tinnitus Talk

Best regards.

- They gave me earmuffs and I wore them.
- I'll do my best to stay hydrated indeed.
- I fear I'll have low volume during the day around, and all kind of volume; I am a high school teacher which is not a safe job for this...
- I also wish you the best of the lucks

So is there any way to prevent getting tinnitus or making it worse from an MRI?

I am no expert at all; what I know on MRI dangers is from reading the forum and my own experience: I recall the article on the the Texan woman where she stated that she was using double protection and still... I also read that some people also try looking for a less noisy MRI machine model as well, but I have no idea to what extent that would help to protect. You need to ask that to some expert I guess.

 

[Exit]

I'm beyond luck. I had major improvement at month 5, then exposed to a loud bang outside and now I'm 1,5 years with no improvement...

Since the holidays are coming for you, I would use earplugs or over the ear headphones at school, whatever is best for you. Bose is a good brand.

 

[anotherforumuser]

@anotherforumuser, I am sorry that you are dealing with tinnitus. MRIs are incredibly loud, you possibly suffered an acoustic trauma from it. You are now out of the strict window for steroids probably, but maybe try to ask an ENT about them, I heard anecdotal stories of steroids helping/lessening tinnitus even some weeks after onset.

Thanks for caring! I'll ask about those steroids.

I'm beyond luck. I had major improvement at month 5, then exposed to a loud bang outside and now I'm 1,5 years with no improvement...

Ouch. . I understand the feeling - I haven't seen any MRI related tinnitus case on this forum improve. I still wish for the small chance of it improving a bit for us all.

Since the holidays are coming for you, I would use earplugs or over the ear headphones at school, whatever is best for you. Bose is a good brand.

Yep, I already began to use some ear protectors for the school ring and the noisy corridors.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

The best way is to not get one at all. Otherwise find a facility that has the newer "quieter" ones. I hear they are anything but quiet.

Wear fully inserted foam earplugs and earmuffs.

So basically just like anything else, it's a crapshoot. I'm guessing my pulsating tinnitus is just tinnitus caused by the COVID-19 vaccine. I think we suffered trauma since we are experiencing similar acoustic trauma symptoms.

 

[Bobby B]

If you have to do an MRI - have it done in a Toshiba (Canon) Vantage machine.

A Better Patient Experience With Toshiba's Quiet MR Technology

You still need earplugs but it won't damage your ears with the earplugs on.

 

[Guest384]

Before I developed tinnitus, I had several MRIs and never developed any issues. I got tinnitus from a medication (Baclofen).

My last MRI, well that was a different story lol. I had my first spike ever since getting tinnitus in 2019. It lasted about 2 weeks. They call it double bagging where they use earplugs and earmuffs and it didn't work.

I truly feel your pain. I hope I don't have to get any more for a long time. I've had several for back issues.

 

[anotherforumuser]

First, thanks for all the comments. It's nice some of them pointed out ideas for people to protect themselves in case they ever need MRIs which is very constructive for people searching Tinnitus Talk.

Myself, I developed after an MRI an increasingly horrible inner ear pain in the most affected ear and eye floaters in a matter of days. Quite out of ideas...

 

[Michael17]

Hi everyone,

I had an MRI in December of 2020, with earmuff type protectors and ear plugs. I has some very, very minor tinnitus prior to this which I only barely noticed when waking up at night when extremely quiet. I also had mild TMJ dysfunction, left ear pain, and cranial pain in various spots in the months preceding the MRI.

Immediately after the MRI, I was experiencing weird noises in my ears - buzzing in my right ear and morse code type sounds in my left ear. In the months that followed my jaw became totally misaligned accompanied by what was now, distinct tinnitus. The TMJ dislocation (from the MRI???) led to other areas of pain along the occiput and into the neck.

I initially went to an ENT; however, based on audiology and pressure tests determined my hearing and inner ear pressure were "excellent". Also, no ear infection. He essentially told me to use background noise and live with it.

I went to an acupuncturist and was able to get some relief from the occiput and neck pain, but no real relief from the tinnitus. I have also been under chiropractic care most of my life since being a teenager (I'm now 57) and this did not offer any relief other than to help realign the jaw - but TMJ was still very annoying.

Hyperacusis has become really pronounced over the last several months where speaking and chewing will actually agitate this condition. Occasional ringing and high pitched tones in left or right ear - frequently moving between each ear, and only very infrequently in both ears at the same time. The higher pitch tones typically are accompanied by ear pain. I take many, high quality supplements and eat really, really clean including no sodium, caffeine or alcohol.

Not sure where else to turn as I am very perplexed as to how I could possibly have noise-induced hearing loss from the MRI, when my hearing test is normal. Neck and occiput pain continue to get worse along with some "cracking" sounds in both areas (which I never had before).

I have an appointment with an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus management, as I am going to need some assistance in being able to manage this.

Thanks for listening and happy to receive any and all input.

Best of luck everyone - the most frustrating part of all of this is I feel like I got screwed by the medical profession who ordered the MRI and now no medical professionals have answers. Totally left out on my own to figure out how to (hopefully) figure out the root cause (was the MRI the trigger that put me over the edge given the very minor tinnitus I begun to notice in early 2020 or was did the MRI, in fact cause the problem?).

 

[anotherforumuser]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for listening and happy to receive any and all input

Hi Michael,

Thanks a lot for telling us in detail your case,
I can relate to your puzzlement as the symptoms are so chaotic. I really hope you get them relieved, and given my own closely similar issues, I can link with your suffering.
It seems we're left to wonder if it's solely noise induced, or if the acoustic trauma was partly a trigger to other issues as well.

Another important point in your message is that we're in a system unable to even conceive cases like ours being possible, so at least we have this forum to point out that our reality exists.

Apart of that I'm relatively new here, so I can't give much expert advice.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

Before I developed tinnitus, I had several MRIs and never developed any issues. I got tinnitus from a medication (Baclofen).

My last MRI, well that was a different story lol. I had my first spike ever since getting tinnitus in 2019. It lasted about 2 weeks. They call it double bagging where they use earplugs and earmuffs and it didn't work.

I truly feel your pain. I hope I don't have to get any more for a long time. I've had several for back issues.

So basically MRIs are unsafe for anyone.

 

[anotherforumuser]

Update: I am getting neck surgery in a couple of weeks for a congenital shortened SCM. The neck surgery was already planned before all of this, but now it also could be interesting regarding its possible effects on the tinitus/aural suffering.

Regarding my spine; MRI shows issues from the disc C3/C4 to C7, mostly what seems common bulging/dehydration. Also a small cavity in those vertebra. However, C1-C2 ("usual suspects" on Tinnitus Talk) showed nothing of interest themselves, even if my neck rotation is quite limited due to SCM.

My posture is very head forward-downwards and tilted by the SCM, being only addressable post-surgery. Apart of that I started getting muscle spasms/tension in the upper scalp and the middle back when trying to lay back in bed, so probably my spine is getting a bit inflamed from this.

The reason I believe neck/posture could be very involved even if noise-triggered are that a few cases can be traced on forum where neck was a clear contributor in the past. I'd be very thankful if @Greg Sacramento in particular weighed on this, having such extraordinary knowledge on the issue.

Also I plan to recheck TMJ soon enough to see how much it could contribute to this puzzle, yet I believe it may be a minor factor at most.

 

[Juan]

Myself, I developed after an MRI an increasingly horrible inner ear pain in the most affected ear and eye floaters in a matter of days. Quite out of ideas...

That does not sound good... did you have steroids afterwards?

 

[Juan]

and morse code type sounds in my left ear.

Sounds like typewriter tinnitus.

 

[anotherforumuser]

That does not sound good... did you have steroids afterwards?

Yes, after it was suggested in this thread by Kriszti (thanks again Kriszti!). I fear that was 1 month after the incident though...

EDIT: If you mean eye floaters could be caused by steroids, they appeared on day 3 of the steroid treatment, so there's correlation even if I doubt causality given how common they're on Tinnitus Talk.

 

[Juan]

EDIT: If you mean eye floaters could be caused by steroids, they appeared on day 3 of the steroid treatment, so there's correlation even if I doubt causality given how common they're on Tinnitus Talk.

In theory one of the side effects of corticosteroids may have to do with eyes, but this is supposed to happen in the long run, after using corticosteroids a lot, and for extended periods of time.

I doubt having corticosteroids once they can produce an impact on your vision that fast...

 

[Robster]

Exactly how I got my tinnitus.

 

[anotherforumuser]

Update: - Even if noises cause me a lot of pain in my ear, for the last few days I've been reclusive and the pains are still berserk.

I increasingly hypotesize on some kind of domino effect causing some nerve damage and wrecking the whole balance chain as a hopefully something I can start to treat by fixing the neck. I think so many symptoms are happening too fast to be only noise induced, as I am getting now as well weird cold feelings inside the painful ear, and both upper cheeks next to the ears also are now in pain on their own, sometimes even some other points of the jaw too - yet jaw itself can't be calmed by massage. Probably I'll get to a dentist to try ruling out TMJ being the primary cause of this somehow, something I believe it is not.

Also, after waking up I have a poorer vision each day - especially reading - that improves a bit after hours awake. I visited an ophthalmologist and everything was right with my eye. He recommended a neurologist, but that will take time.

As I read from Greg Sacramento on high blood tension, and as I can't help the neck before surgery, my current self treatment will include cutting out on vitamin B/A and taking Magnesium split 3 times a day. Also, I'll try to sleep semi-sitting - if neck pain allows - to see if my vision wakes up better. My normal tension readings are ok or pre-hypertensive, but given the neck issues and anxiety, I read on Greg Sacramento's posts it could then be brief hypertensive crisis anyway.

 

[Vassili]

I had my scan done (with pre-existing tinnitus) with hearing protection that the medical worker gave me. The procedure was very loud and unpleasant but luckily I experienced no tinnitus increase.

 

[anotherforumuser]

Update: I've been protected from noise. I keep researching and getting very weird and unstable symptoms.

1) I tried all the TMJ/neck trigger points possible* and most definitely my tinnitus shows no somatic reaction at all. It keeps being the original buzzing in both ears that sometimes becomes loud crickets and a slightly less noisy "eeehh" on the right ear. Tinnitus still fluctuates for no known reason from mild-moderate.
*By the way, I recommend everybody to get to YouTube and check themselves in case they never did, as some people could get a nice surprise if they find some particular muscle is worsening their tinnitus regardless of its original cause.

2) My facial pain, which was mostly on the right side, now has mostly moved to all my back head/neck/spine in a sudden. I keep having small spasms/pain/tension if I try to lay down and even if I try to sleep on my side (thus getting very little sleep). It looks like irritated nerves somewhere C1-C7 could be after every pain after all - no wonder, given my impossible postures.

Hypothesis so far;
A) My tinnitus is typical subjective noise induced. There's a significant chance it has a spinal/nerve contribution as well, yet even then it would probably be just a small contribution.

B) My ear pain maybe could trigger again with noise, but as days go by, it increasingly has more chances of being mostly irritated nerves spreading to the most weakened side of the face than noise triggered themselves. Of course, this could be complicated in case the nerves themselves had been sensitized by the acoustic trauma itself, yet maybe fixing the neck still does the trick.

My bet is some nerve is inflamed by my neck condition. I already booked with a neurologist. I will re-read the many C1-C7 related threads around these days.

On a personal note, I am very worried as I hope the surgeon does not abort after I told him on my increasing problems to lay down and surgery is scheduled next week...

 

[Wrfortiscue]

So how do I check my brain or vessels? With a CT scan?

 

[anotherforumuser]

Update on my self-research:

- A dentist checked my jaw. Chances of it being a primary cause are not many, as expected. I will work on splints and postural stuff after neck rehab.

- My back/neck pain actually has concentrated into a C1-C2 -Occipital? Some thoracic intrascapular vertebra is also annoying, not to forget my burning ears. Any attempt to relieve the neck/head by gentle stretch, posture or massage seems to just make Atlas area even more berserk. Only some heat, and changing frequently body posture does not make it even worse I think. I can't almost sleep from this, and my pain levels are very high and so shall remain for the next three weeks until neck can be somewhat relieved from this trap, ufff .

- Neurologist next Monday.

a) I think I'll show him a diagram where every route has ended upon him: "My ENT told me to visit you on my otalgia, then my ophthalmologist said so as well without me suggesting either, based on my strain around the eyes and sudden floater. After that, a GP said I should get a Doppler with a neurologist, but hey, even my dentist is convinced I suffer some kind of neuralgia and I must visit... you for diagnosis and treatment."

b) Also, I've been checking myself the (cursed) MRI and I want to ask the neurologist as well on this "Chiari" and "syringomyelia" odd things, as I have read they can be a root to eye/ear issues and occipital issues - occipital issues are a potential link which would fit my domino theory regarding my symptoms.
(In fact, I have come to the conclusion that Occiput in general should get more credit on so much crap, as Trigeminal seems to always steal all of the fame!)

c) My neck is still the usual suspect of stressing the nerves anyway, so I plan to explain him my concern to get that Doppler and some CT scan in order to know in detail how to turn such foe into a friend during the neck rehabilitation after surgery and to finally cut down the number of issues which could be behind my problems.

- Psychologically, my main concern is no longer surgery or even the permanent pain, but the fact most chances are none of this will eventually work anyway to stop pain hyperacusis

 

[anotherforumuser]

Research update

1) After failure to find somatic classical trigger points, I am now looking for clues in anything that modulates Otalgia/tinnitus.
a) I've been testing forced body compensations which should alleviate right neck/ear/ jaw biomechanics, and those do seem to lower ear pain.
b.1) When lying down on my back - which triggers neck pain/spasms berserk - I think some kind of pulsatile tinnitus appears, which scores up to the bad blood flow input theory probably from... neck again - bad blood flow also would be the only way to explain floaters increase and worse sight, specially after waking up and given I am too young otherwise.
b.2) Curiously, the odd neck pain that surges when lying down on my back also seems to be another thing that makes my pain/tinnitus increase, so it becomes 100% obvious again again it's a "bad posture" to me, probably due to my atypical neck structure.
Conversely, after sleeping on my side, my ears/neck wake up mostly calm, even if sight keeps pressed.

Conclusions:
-Whatever inflames ear pain seems to be the most contributing factor to tinnitus
- Neck -> jaw -> ear pain -> tinnitus & pain hyperacusis?
- Neck -> bad blood flow -> visual damage?
- I get some reactive tinnitus from noise, but could be also from movement or bad postures as they also worsen at the same time. Also when my ear is less in pain in the first place, then tinnitus is way less noise reactive.

2) Checked with another dentist who is also a posture specialist. He says my x-rays are actually "normal" considering my jaw imbalance between sides. He says my right TMJ is compressed and the left one is underused. He recommended neck surgery and eating with the left jaw. Later of course splint treatments could follow.

3) I keep hyperactive on doctor checks, and even got a more recent cervical X-ray. Nothing of interest, said the doctor.

4 ) Neurologist did not think I have anything neuro-related -in fact, claimed semi-isolated ear pain does not belong to neurology-. He also claims chiari/syringomyelia is something irrelevant. I am booking with another neurologist in the future who may be more willing to do some deep research...

Work on this goes on. Tomorrow, neck surgery, which is scary as I maybe can't side sleep for a week and it may damage further my sight, but 100% needed.