[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Open MRI vs Closed (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 2/25/2013 5:20:47 PM EDT
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I found out today where I'll be going for an MRI on my wrist. I googled them, and it turns out that they have two locations. One is a closed MRI, the other open. I am scheduled for the closed version. I made the mistake of googling what to expect from an MRI. Quite a few people apparently have no symptoms of claustrophobia, but freak out once they get into the tube. Several said that they would rather just live with their injuries than ever get another MRI.  Here are the machines in queston: Closed-  Open-  What do you MRI veterans say? Worth it to try to reschedule for the open MRI, or just suck it up and go in the coffin tube?  |
| Yeah, I'm not claustrophobic, but I did find the experience to be quite uncomfortable . I had a buddy that is claustrophobic, and they gave him some kind of sedative before he went in. In any event, I wouldn't fret over it too much as there are far worse procedures that go on in a clinic/hospital....like colonoscopies. |
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Ehh... just go and relax. Take a nap. You're psyching yourself up by reading all this stuff. Just go and do it. No big deal. Yawn. Boring. Naptime. Not even worth a second thought. This Exactly! I had an MRI when I herniated my C5/C6. I went in head first and it was no big deal. Don't work yourself up over it. ETA: The pounding knocking you hear is just the magnetic coils reversing polarity - it's no big deal.... |
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I've only been in one once, but it was no biggie for me. The only thing that was a little weird was having a facemask placed over my head to minimize movement artifact. Just lay back, relax, and chill. I know, I know, pics or it didn't happen. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/Phillippos/002-000097.gif Have you ever been abducted by aliens? It looks like a tracking probe anterior to your orbits. |
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the closed or regular is easier, i have had both more than once.
It takes a little getting used to, they will yell at you not to move, and the machine is a little loud. I tried to nap but they kept telling me not to fall asleep. just pretend your a torpedo getting loading into the tube and your gonna sink a north korean cruiser. or something the open or free air one,,,,, sucks for me, The table is narrow and I barely fit on it, and kept feeling like I would fall off, it did not support my arms much at all, or you have them on your chest. i don't recall ,but it was very uncomfortable for me. |
| Most likely you'll only go in up to your lower abdomen maybe to your chest at the very most. My dad has had several over the years for brain tumor and be has to go all the way in and he hates it. Usually he takes a vallium before hand. I'Ve had one for my neck and one for my gall bladder and I took the vallium it kinda helps. You can ask your dr to prescribe you one or two prior to your appointment. |
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I've only been in one once, but it was no biggie for me. The only thing that was a little weird was having a facemask placed over my head to minimize movement artifact. Just lay back, relax, and chill. I know, I know, pics or it didn't happen. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/Phillippos/002-000097.gif ive never been given any.. pics i feel cheated. just the stinking bills |
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if you are at all worried just have them give you valium before hand. Better to be stoned on valium with no loss than get all wonky in the tube. Its a non event, you may or may not get an IV, and contrast dye, they give you ear-pro. some have tv and music (talk radio was fine).
slept on the second one, nice hour nap. was to pissed to sleep the first time , they sent me to the wrong location had to drive way across town. |
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Ehh... just go and relax. Take a nap. You're psyching yourself up by reading all this stuff. Just go and do it. No big deal. Yawn. Boring. Naptime. Not even worth a second thought. This This.......... I've had a couple dozen CT's,MRI's ,PET . If you get a little nervous breathe deep and slow ....relax.........piece of cake......... One time the technician asked what kind of music I wanted to listen to........I said "Pink Floyd".He said "OK,I'll be right back"....He went to his office and got 'Dark Side of The Moon'and I listened through headphones while he did his thing....... |
| I by no means considered myself claustrophoic, hell I used to go caving and all kinds of stuff when I was younger. However, when I did an MRI about 6 or 7 years ago, I couldn't take it in the closed MRI. I lasted a few minutes and that was it. I ended up doing the open. One and it was totally different and much quieter. |
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First, there is no "closed" magnet. At no time will you be fully enclosed as they are a tube open on both ends. Second, the wrist has a lot of fine detail that an open will not have the ability to image adequately. I view those as a last resort in a case like yours as it would be better than nothing. Imagine having a 60's era tv and broadcast playing beside a current HD broadcast on a large, current flat panel. Yes, the difference is pretty big.
If you have doubts, talk to your referring MD about sedation. Bring a friend to drive you. That friend can usually be in the room with you as long as they don't have a pacemaker or other excluding medical implant. Also call the performing facility. A standard scanner has a 60cm bore. There is a new generation of 70cm bore magnets that are much easier for a lot of people. Many find them easier than the opens. They are new though. It may be difficult to find one in you area. Lastly, for some reason people like to talk it up worse than it usually is. Go give the conventional machine a try. If you can't do it, no biggie, just reschedule for the open if you have to. Good Luck! |
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Quoted: Quoted: I've only been in one once, but it was no biggie for me. The only thing that was a little weird was having a facemask placed over my head to minimize movement artifact. Just lay back, relax, and chill. I know, I know, pics or it didn't happen. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/Phillippos/002-000097.gif ive never been given any.. pics i feel cheated. just the stinking bills Heh, I actually got paid for that one. They were doing a functional MRI study and were offering a few bucks plus the MRI images to volunteers. They first did a scan, then did another while they flashed pictures that supposedly indicated threat vs non-threat in front of me to see what lit up. I always wondered if I would have thrown off their study results when it turned out that the 'threat' pictures included pictures of guns and nuclear tests. I was having a grand old time in there naming the nuke tests and figuring out which guns they were showing. My results, however, did not get put into their study because, after having done all the work, they actually read my answers to their questionnaire and found out that I am left-handed - they were only using results from right-handed folks in that particular study. |
| I've had several in teh closed. It's the only time that I've ever felt claustrophobic in my life. Not sure why, because it only happened once and not the other times, but the one time it happened was enough to convince me I didn't ever want to do any caving (at least in small caves). |
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Claustrophobia is real. If you have it, you will kill to escape the tube. They can sedate you if necessary. My SO works radiology and she says that they can put you in feet first too. If you have it, get the open table. It's a little close but I would describe it as working under a really low car that you can't raise. For those saying man up, eat me. I didn't know I was claustrophobic until one night while crawling through the ruins of the Cypress structure on a body removal mission the "ceiling" seemed like it was getting closer and closer and I was having trouble breathing. I held in there as long as possible, but the combo of dead bodies, a very tight space, crushed cars and thousands of tons of collapsed concrete and asphalt did the trick for me. |
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I am somewhat claustrophobic. I have had quite a few MRIs on various body parts. Shoulder MRIs are the worst. They ususlly tilt me slightly for those, which makes it an even tighter fit.
I have lifted weights for about 40 years and have broad shoulders. When they insert me, I rub on the walls. They have to place a slippery cloth between my body and the machine because the friction coefficient of my skin is too high to get me in. It is not so tight that it is painful but it does restrict my breathing. I have to concentrate on remaining calm and relaxing. I have found that covering my eyes (they have goggles for viewing movies) makes it much worse. I always choose closed MRI so my surgeon has the best images to work from. There is no way that the machine will hurt you unless it is so tight that you cannot breate at all. Just focus on that thought. ETA: My nose is a probably about 3-4 inches from the wall for these shoulder MRIs. |
| BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR... tock tock tock tock tock tock tock... BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR... tock tock tock tock tock tock tock... BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR BRRRR... tock tock tock tock tock tock tock... You get the idea. |
| My doctors said they see better images with the closed MRI but I am severely clausrophobic. I take one Ativan when I leave the house and another Ativan when I get to the imaging facility. Then I could care less about anything when they put me in the tube. The last MRI I had a few months ago I actually fell asleep after taking my second Ativan. |
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I'll definitely ask about going feet first. They said that I should allow two hours for my appointment. Not sure how much of that is actually inside the tube though. Is there room to move your arms and legs at all, or are you totally pinned? From the videos I watched, it looked like the ceiling was almost touching the guys nose. |
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I'll definitely ask about going feet first. They said that I should allow two hours for my appointment. Not sure how much of that is actually inside the tube though. Is there room to move your arms and legs at all, or are you totally pinned? From the videos I watched, it looked like the ceiling was almost touching the guys nose. For a wrist you will probably go in head first, on your stomach, arm overhead. Think Superman. For just a routine wrist most places will use about 20-30 minutes of table time. Did your doctor say anything about getting contrast? If intravenous that usually adds less than 15 minutes. If you are getting an arthrogram that might account for the 2 hours though. |
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The tube is constrictive but it is very well lighted and usually has speakers to play any music you might like to relax you.
There is also a microphone in there so you are always in constant communication with the controller. Honestly, this is no big deal unless you are claustrophobic. ETA: When I had mine I didn't even ask for music, I just wanted to get it done. I had a contrast injected - for me that was the worst of the deal, and even that wasn't all that bad. |
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Claustrophobia is real. If you have it, you will kill to escape the tube. They can sedate you if necessary. My SO works radiology and she says that they can put you in feet first too. If you have it, get the open table. It's a little close but I would describe it as working under a really low car that you can't raise. For those saying man up, eat me. I didn't know I was claustrophobic until one night while crawling through the ruins of the Cypress structure on a body removal mission the "ceiling" seemed like it was getting closer and closer and I was having trouble breathing. I held in there as long as possible, but the combo of dead bodies, a very tight space, crushed cars and thousands of tons of collapsed concrete and asphalt did the trick for me. +1 billion |
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closed magnet > open magnet Are you having an arthrogram as well? They didn't mention it, so I guess not. I do have to go for an EMG test though. ouch. sorry those things suck. Just hope its not a single fiber. The techs are picky on those which = a lot more pain. Now my arm hurts thinking about it |
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Quoted: You sure you're going in a full-sized machine? Lots of orthopods are using smaller guys- http://www.olyortho.com/news/uploads/MRI_Extemity.JPG Full sized. The machines I showed are the actual machines they use. |
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I've ridden in closed many times without any issues. Yes, when the gradient coils are firing, noise is a big issue, they will give you earplugs. But if you have been on a busy range, this is nothing. I did a stint as a lab rat as a poor college student. Well, I was working in the radiology department and they needed volunteers. |
| One of my closed experiences was awful. I had a possible destroyed shoulder and confirmed destroyed knee and the A/C was broken in the MRI office so I had to be in that cramped little tube doing multiple scans at 11pm when it felt close to 100 degrees and I was pouring sweat. Shitty experience for sure. Other times haven't been so bad. Just close your eyes and relax. |