These mother f#@$cking MRIs... no one seems to know how loud they are... or the ones that do know treat you like some idiot... ."oh, how didn't you know."
I nearly had an MRI. I rang my local hospital. They told me their machine was 117 dB. Yup, that's right
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN DECIBELS! I decided not to pursue a scan. There needs to more awareness on this. I would have been a lamb to slaughter if it wasn't for reading about other people's experiences.
I genuinely feel for you.
Having another acoustic trauma which causes more tinnitus is awful. I can't think of anything worse to be honest.
This is the trouble though. Someone's decided that 80-85 dB is the threshold where hearing damage can occur and that hearing protection actually works.
If you're exposed to 117 dB and wear heavy duty ear defenders that say offer 30 dB protection, it's still not enough to actually bring the noise down to safe levels. Plus it's not that simple. The dB scale is logarithmic meaning for something to be this loud, the energies involved are phenomenal. In my opinion these kinds of problems should terrify the medical profession.
I have read that GE are working on quieter MRI technologies.
My experience tells me this. If you have already got hearing damage, it's like trying to run on a broken leg. You're far far more likely to suffer further damage at much lower levels, something ordinary people wouldn't even consider problematic.
If you have hearing damage, tinnitus, hyperacusis etc, then heed the warning. Avoid loud noises. Don't assume that hearing protection will work but always carry plugs/defenders just in case.
My tinnitus is still epic. I mean totally epic. I'm surprised I can still hear at all it seems so loud now (but am grateful for the hearing I still have)
I've been in contact with Dr. Shim. I'm going to wait a few more weeks before I make any conclusions.