Day 9 Acute Low Back Pain
On day 7 of my acute low back pain I had my MRI with Vista Diagnostics just outside Waterloo Station, London (www.vistadiagnostics.co.uk). By this time my symptoms were 80% resolved but being a Chiropractor I was aware of the feeling of instability and knew something wasn’t right.
What Is An MRI Scan And How Does It Work?
MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. There is no ionizing radiation (the type from an x-ray, or from flying or watching TV!). Radio waves 10,000 to 30,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the earth are sent through your body. This affects the body’s hydrogen atoms (those found in water), forcing the nuclei into a different position (flipping them). As they move back into place they send out energy in the form of radio waves. The scanner picks up these signals and a computer turns them into a picture.
What Happens Inside The Tube? Paula’s Top Tips For Comfort
First of all I recommend that you bring your own ear plugs as I wasn’t offered any by Vista. I think this is poor. I had no idea just how loud the machine was going to be (some MRI labs offer you head phones with music). Think night club base mixed with slow pounding jack hammer on the pavement. This is far more stressful than having to stay still or going into a cylinder.
If you are having a lumbar (your low back) MRI then you really don’t go into the tube all that far. My legs were sticking out from about the knee down. I kept thinking stupid thoughts like what if someone tickles my feet? It is a great idea to close your eyes as soon as you lie on your back before you start going into the tube. Don’t open your eyes to look at your confined space (this made claustrophobia a non-issue for me).
Drink bottled water after your MRI scan. There is no official stance on water drinking after an MRI scan. It just makes sense that if you are playing around with your hydrogen ions you might just want a top up supply!
Side Effects Of An MRI- What Are People Saying?
This is what I think. There is no way that having a magnet 30000 times the pull of the earth flipping your hydrogen ions around is completely desirable. We may not ‘feel’ it is doing anything but anyone sensible knows that many health problems come without any symptoms. I am not saying don’t have an MRI. You have to weigh-up the benefits and risks. We know the benefits but I am just not convinced if we know the possible risks. They don’t let pregnant women have an MRI and when I asked the radiographer at Vista why, she said ‘because we just don’t know the possible effects, although we are quite sure it is safe.’
My body got very hot during my MRI. I am not talking a little warm all over, or a bit stuffy but my back was hot as if lying on a hot plate just starting to heat up. I assumes this was from the energy released from my body during the hydrogen ion flipping. I also experienced fasciculations (muscle twitching) in my triceps and latissimus dorsi muscles. I couldn’t control them. I just kept thinking damn, I am not suppose to move. It lasted about 60 seconds. I have googled a few other opinions on MRI side effects:
- I recently had an MRI, this is the third or fourth, any time I go though the anti-theft devices at stores. The alarm sounds when I have nothing on me. If anyone can help please email me at tyler24476@yahoo.com thanks
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#7: cervical MRI
My husband also had a similar situation as yours with horrible headaches following the MRI, please let me know what u found out.
Tania
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I had an MRI for my hand injury about 3 yrs ago and after that the first night in my bed I was hearing buzzing and ringing in my ears. The sound have been subsiding until 3 weeks ago which has become worse. Could that be a side effect due to that MRI?
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#11: MRI side effects
I had my first MRI of my brain yesterday and I felt very weird, spaced out, and VERY tired and got a terrible migraine afterwards. I had earplugs in, but they didn’t help a whole lot. While I was in the MRI I felt pressure on my forehead and it also felt like an energy swirling in the middle of my forehead. VERY uncomfortable. I still feel like crap today.
Read more about safety/side effects of MRI scans
So there you have it. I still wouldn’t hesitate to have an MRI, but I also strongly believe that the only ’safe’ medical procedure is no medical procedure!
By the way, I have a left-sided L2 disc prolapse. I have started a daily spinal rehabilitation program mostly based on material I have learned from Dr Stuart McGill. I can not recommend his book enough. I think he is leading the way with spinal rehabilitation. Check out Dr Stuart McGill and buy his book ‘Ultimate Back Fitness And Performance.’ I don’t like his Dynamic Lumbar Support. It was given to me at one of his seminars and I have tried it. I prefer a simple d-shaped lumbar roll that straps to your chair or around your car seat. I sell them in my practice and patients like them My Chiropractic clinic.
I had an interesting experience from an MRI. During the MRI I fell asleep and was in a deep dream state. Felt fine afterwards. The same night of the MRI, I had the exact same dream as I had while sleeping through the MRI, only it was extremely lucid and full of bright colors which I had never experienced before. I also experience an amazing feeling of euphoria for a couple of days. I am trying to find a reason to get another MRI!
i just had an mri, and the technician told me not to have my hand resting on my chest, as my arm would make a loupe shape. This loop supposedly will concentrate the energy of the mri, causing your body to heat up…. i wonder if that is what you experienced?
My wife had an MRI today. Tonight we took our same walk we take ever other night through the local mall and she set off three different store shop lifter detectors. At the third store she just put her hand out and the detector went off. Called the hospital and of course they all laughed. She is not a happy person right now. She indicated the scan made her body very warm. We are both Engineers and know there is something not right. I have to have a MRI in a couple days on the same scanner. I think I will go to a differnt hospital and try theirs.
I just had an MRI today and I feel really ill. I thought I could get back to studying this evening, however I have a migrane, am nauseated and slightly disoriented, not to mention that I definately feel very tired. Not what I anticipated at all!
I had an MRI yesterday and I am having intermittent tingling in parts of my body. This is very puzzling since it was my elbow that was examined and this not where the tingling is occuring. Has anyone else experienced these symptons? If so, how long did it last?
I had an MRI for a possible rotator cuff tear during the scan I experienced quite a bit of pain in my shoulder, my arms went dead numb, my chest muscles twitched uncontrollably and my heart and chest hurt. This was my 4th MRI, I have had 3 before for a herniated disk (L 4 L5) during those scans I did not experience anything like this. I told the tech that I was having a lot of problems he blew the concerns off and attributed them to stress. I was not stressed about the scan at all I have been through them before. This was a real bad experience and I still feeling strange 4 hours past the event.
I had a brain MRI a few weeks ago and I am also setting alarms off as I enter or leave certain stores. The earlier post of the hospital laughing at these claims makes me angry, believe me it’s real. I haven’t experienced any other side effects other than some anxiety from feeling claustrophobic in the machine.
I recently had a MRI and and while the hospital states they don’t know what happened to me, it felt as if I had been shocked. I felt current moving through my hands and arms seconds into the scan and screamed for the procedure to stop. After being freed from the machine, I was very confused and disoriented. Actually quite spaced out. My hands and arms tingled and felt like they were buzzing and burning as if I had been touched by an iron. I had and continue to have a mild headache, I can’t wear my rings because my hands will swell tingle and get splotchy. A few days later, deep bruising showed on my hands and left arm. My memory has been affected and something with me is different. This happened two days before Thanksgiving 2008 and I am still having problems. I’m angry because the hospital says I’m a medical mystery and they’ve never heard of anything like this. I had only to go on line and find people with similar stories. Maybe not as severe but with many similarities. I had the procedure done in another machine with no problem but I am very reluctant to get another MRI for any reason.
DK
I JUST left my MRI and had to run home because I thought I was NUTS… I felt my MRI after about 15 minutes or so and freaked out.. The first 20 minutes was without contrast and the last few minutes were with contrast..
I am suffering with Endometriosis and my ovary attached itself to my uterus so that was the area the MRI was focused on. I was sitting there for about 15 minutes or so and all of a sudden I felt sharp wave like sensations in my left ovary area. Then it got to feel like snow flakes dropping sharp on my organs. I freaked a little bit because I’ve never heard of such a thing. I hit the call button and she came back in the room and said that there has been cases reported to people “feeling” the waves during the MRI. She then asked if I was ok to have the injection of contrast and I agreed ( i needed this MRI for surgery) and so they gave me the contrast and put me back in and after 5 minutes I felt a sharp knife feeling in my uterus so I hit the button and said OK i felt it again, I”M DONE… I was so freaked out..I mean it wasn’t like death pain but it was a pain the I KNEW I should’nt have been experiencing. STRANGE..omg… I have had MRI’s before and never felt it.. Felt fine after still feel fine after but it was during..very very freaky..
I had a pelvic MRI today. It lasted 25 minutes. Didn’t feel a thing. However when I got up my vision was seriously blurred and lasted for around 20 minutes. There was a BOOTS pharmacy oppoiste the hospital entrance and I couldn’t even get my eyes to focus on the sign and as you all know that sign is massive! Was very worrying!
I had an MRI scan on Monday and have sneezed continually since it!!! Its so weird as ive never experienced sneezing like it and without putting too fine a point on it very productive!! There has to be a link!!
Here we are in March. Just to follow up with you. I had an MRI two days before Thanksgiving (in November) To date I still struggle with some of the effects of the MRI incident. The hospital now believes that something happened to me but they don’t know what. Read my previous post. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s your imagination etc. If you feel any discomfort etc alert your technician. Most people have no idea what to expect in an MRI machine. I have had MRI’s in the past with no problems. Something went wrong with this one. No doubt. I don’t know if there is a proper registry to file accident reports but there should be. Be well everyone
Hello, I have just posted on another site when I saw this site. I had a scan a couple of days ago and have been “off” for the last 2 days, headache, pains in my testicals, back and ribs, I feel shattered and fall asleep as soon as I get home from work, not like me at all. I could “feel” the pulses through my body and would say it was all the most unpleasant experiance I have been through. Never again…….all this for a gangillion……..it definately has side effects, and not good ones…
My wife recently had an MRI scan because of a suspected stroke. She described the noise as unbearable and had awful headaches for days.
Not nice.
I had an mri scan today. I was told it would last 20 mins but ended up in there for 40! I was fine except my body got very hot and tingly. Now I’m home I have large red blotches on my chest, arms and legs, my body is tingling all over and my chest hurts to breathe. It’s now 4 hours since the scan and I’m sure after reading the posts above that I’m not going to feel any better tomorrow!
Good to read everyones comments – thought I was going a bit mad! Had my first MRI (brain) today, and didn’t know what to expect. Was given earplugs, and wasn’t really too bothered by the ‘jack hammers’, but had a totally unexpected reaction to the sort of siren/whirring noise! Felt hot like other people have decribed, and started feeling very prickly. My cheek started to tic, and I started feeling breathless, like I was having a panic attack. I was just about to press the duress switch, when the noise stopped and changed to something else – I felt a bit better, if slightly nauseated, for the rest of the scan, and just lay there waiting for that noise to strike up again. Luckily it didn’t. Drove home yawning my head off, and have been scratching my head ever since, wondering what that was all about! Good luck all – can’t say I’ll be rushing back for a second go…
Excessive heat during an MRI is neither normal or desirable. I had a similar experience and my findings… in my blog.
Hi
I had an MRI scan to examine a cartlidge tear in my groin. There was a strap placed around my waist/hips, where they were planning to examine. Since the MRI I have felt lathargic and my muscels feel extremely fatigued – especially around my waist where the strap was. On the day I felt sick and extremely tired. I also had very little appeitite. I had it 6 days ago and I still feel fatigued and i’m finding the gym a struggle. Is this normal?