MRI Scan - whats involved?

[huffpuff]

that's it really! Going for one next week purely on a voluntary basis but was just a bit anxious as i have no idea what is involved.

TIA X

You lie very still, for 10-20 minutes in a slightly chilly, very noisy plastic tunnel. Pretty boring really !

They may or may not inject you with contrast medium (which makes your mouth taste a little odd)

you lie on a table which goes inside the MRI machine (and you with it). It is quite noisy and may feel a little claustrophobic.

It works by making all the molecules of your body with iron in them (so the blood cells for starters) 'wobble' a little. the machinery picks up the 'wobble' of the iron atoms and converts that to a picture.

Astonishing stuff!

My BIL helps to make the magnets

This is quite a nice site that explains the experience - mri

And Martianbishop - sorry but it actually uses the hydrogen ions (not enough iron to generate the picture - so says my DH) (because he doesn't read things on mumsnet, oh no not ever) (because apparently reading over my shoulder doesn't count!)

To be very specific its the protons - the nuclei of the hydrogen. Magnet makes them line up, and then a small radio pulse knocks them off that alignment. As they wobble back to alignment they give off their own radio signal - the length and frequency of that is determined by how 'fixed' the water is.

Im going next week too huffpuff. Its my 2nd. You lie on a table which slides inside the machine.
I dont remember the noise but apparently its noisy.
I wouldnt open my eyes the whole way through because I was scared of what Id see inside the machine.
They can talk to you and they can hear you talk to them. Its not so bad honest, there are far worst things to have done

it is very claustrophobic, you really can't move at all, but it's okay.
you just have to go to a happy place in your head, and often if you take a cd with you the staff will play it into the scanner to help you with that. it's a bit like being placed in a clanging, banging radiator tube.

thanks guys - will look forward to that then!!

Well noisy. Lots of random banging.

And its a proper tunnel, not like a CT which is a donut and fairly spacious.

If you are claustrophobic you may need sedation. Lots of people do, including me. I had valium last time which worked a treat.

My son had one at 2 weeks old and slept through the whole thing so it can't be all that bad

.... although he had another one at 6 months and had to be given a sleeping aid !!!