After your scan, you will need to remain under observation for some time in order to recover from the sedation and you will need to be accompanied by someone who can drive you home. You must not drive yourself home.
You will be able to carry on your day as planned once the test has been completed. If you require sedation for the scan, the MRI facility will give clear instructions on what to do before and after the scan. You will not be able to leave until you are fully awake and you will need someone to drive you home.
You may have someone with you in the room if you wish. This may help if you start to feel anxious. You may also listen to music through headphones while in the scanner. If you are very claustrophobic, your doctor may give you a mild sedative, or your MRI may be scheduled with sedation.
What to expect after the MRI. Unless you've been given medication or a sedative, you can resume your daily activities. Once your MRI scan is complete, you'll be escorted back to the changing area to retrieve your belongings. If your doctor gave you any medication or sedation, DO NOT attempt to drive yourself home.
In most cases, a family member or friend may enter the MRI room with you and stay with you throughout your exam. If the situation allows, they may even hold your hand or pat you on the knees so that you know that they are there with you.
We do not allow phones, or any other electronic devices, to be taken into the MRI scanning room as they may be affected by the static magnetic field.
After the scan, you can resume normal activities immediately. But if you have had a sedative, a friend or relative will need to take you home and stay with you for the first 24 hours. It's not safe to drive, operate heavy machinery or drink alcohol for 24 hours after having a sedative.
Keep your eyes closed or even wear a blindfold.
It's much easier in an open MRI it's wider than a standard scanner, so patients shouldn't feel any walls touching them.
22, a team led by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests that MRI's strong magnet pushes on fluid that circulates in the inner ear's balance center, leading to a feeling of unexpected or unsteady movement.
Plan for this ahead of time by having someone either come with you or asking someone to pick you up once the procedure is complete. If the sedative wasn't part of the plan or you forgot to secure a ride beforehand, don't attempt to drive yourself home anyway. Call someone and wait for them to come get you.
You will be asked to remove any clothing containing metal and all jewelry. You will be provided metal free clothing to change into such as gown, shorts or pants. Lockers are available to safely store all personal items such as wallet, purse, keys, phone and other electronic devices.
For this type of scanner, only the upper part of your body would be inside the tube for a brain MRI. With an open MRI, all sides of the machine are open. The technologist will give you a pillow or foam block to help keep your head in the right position.
Since the MRI machines are magnets, it is best to not apply deodorants, antiperspirants, perfumes, or body lotions before the examination. These items contain metals that might interfere with the magnetic field inside the MRI machine and cause you to have distorted images and wrong results.
You won't have pain from the magnetic field or radio waves used for the MRI test. But you may be tired or sore from lying in one position for a long time. If a contrast material is used, you may feel some coolness when it is put into your IV.
MRIs require you to lie still in a tight space for 30 minutes or longer. While this is completely safe, people with claustrophobia and larger patients may not feel comfortable.
Labyrinthine stimulation can induce nausea and vomiting. In this case, labyrinthine stimulation by the MRI magnetic field caused vomiting, and the associated increase in intracranial pressure resulted in reopening of a CSF leak.
If You Have an Overactive Bladder
This feeling of urgency can make it harder to hold urine in. While you may still experience this urgency to a degree, not drinking for several hours before your procedure can make you less likely to experience incontinence during the scan.
The radiologist may discuss initial results of the MRI with you right after the test. Complete results are usually ready for your doctor in 1 to 2 days.
Many MRI procedures don't require your head to go inside the machine at all, but if you need a head or upper spine MRI, you'll appreciate the fact our machine provides a full 12 inches of clearance between your face and the wall – relieving stress for our patients with claustrophobia.
On imaging, the vaginal tampon takes the shape and orientation of the vaginal canal and resembles air in attenuation, because of the gas between the fibers. Occasionally, the string of the tampon may also be seen. Radiologists need to recognize a vaginal tampon, to not get confused with a pathology (21, 22).
There also aren't any restrictions on what you can do after the test. “Patients can resume their normal activities immediately after the MRI scan,” Dr. Taouli says. (Unless you had any drugs for sedation or anxiety, in which case you may need someone to drive you home; be sure to ask your doctor about this beforehand.)
What medications are used? Propofol will be given through an I.V. to induce sleep. This medication has a short duration of action and a rapid recovery time and is administered to make sure you remain asleep during the entire MRI study.
“They aren't doctors, and while they do know how to get around your anatomy, they aren't qualified to diagnose you.” That is true even though the tech likely knows the answer to your question. Imaging techs administer thousands of scans a year.
Various clothing items such as athletic wear (e.g., yoga pants, shirts, etc.), socks, braces, and others may contain metallic threads or metal-based anti-bacterial compounds that may pose a hazard. These items can heat up and burn the patient during an MRI.