has anybody been burned internally by an mri scan?

Question

I had an MRI almost six months ago. During the scan I felt a tingling sensation in my abdomen. The feeling intensified over the next two days and eventually I was in bed - it was too painful to move, for 8 weeks. I don't have any metal that I'm aware of inside. I believe the electro-magnetic current that is induced could have burned me. I'm really desperate for some advice. It is still painful six months later. Doc's can't find anything wrong, but I know I can feel it and that it started during the MRI.

Answer 1

As an operator of both an MRI and CT scanner i can clear some of this up for you. Before entering the scanner, a radiographer will go through a safety questionnaire to ensure there is no risk of an injury to the patient. People with tatoo's may find that it heats up during the scan, as some tatto inks have metallic elements in them, which are attracted to the powerful magnet used in MRI. However, the patient can be removed from the scanner if they feel this heating effect is becoming painful by communicating with the operator via an intercom. As long as you have no ferro-magnetic elements on your body, i.e piercings, ferro-magnetic objects from previous surgery etc, you will be perfectly safe. No doctor or radiographer will let you enter the scan room, never mind the scanner, if there is even a small risk of injury. However, in America, i learned of a couple of people with pacemakers who for some reason were given an MRI scan (before we had all these safety questions to ask) which caused their pacemaker to stop functioning and heat up, causing death. Also people with internal stiches could be burned internally if the stiches/staples are ferro-magnetic, however these days non-magnetic stiches/staples are now being used. In my three years working in MRI, i have only seen examinations stopped very few times; once because a patient had a small metal fragment in their eye (despite saying there was no chance of him having one), although the patient was completely unharmed, and a number of times because of patients with joint replacements which cause image blurring. The only other time examinations are stopped is due to patient claustrophobia due to the small tight space in the scanner. Hope this is helpful

Answer 2

MRI, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging", heats nothing up inside the body or out. The only time an MRI can cause injury is if there is some metallic object in the body which was undisclosed.

I read sometime ago about a fellow who had had abdominal surgery, his surgeon had left a small pair of forceps in him, he went in for an MRI years later and almost died when the forceps tried to come out of his abdomen. But as far as burns? Not possible.

Answer 3

No not burned but I had an MRI of my brain back in 2000.
My VISION WAS STUCK SEEING PURPLE SPARKS, 4 days!
MRI can damage U.
X-Rays can damage U
& ULTRA SOUND that is being used 2 widely now.
They say they don't know the long-term effects from using it & in a life-threatening situation, the risks out weight any thought of long-term damage!

U bet that Mr & Mrs Average, will B the last people 2 hear about it if it damages U as well!

Answer 4

Ok MRI aligns protons spinning and measures them relaxing back to their normal axis or spin. Its not atoms. With tatoos its the metalic particles in paint.
Yes you can overheat in a scanner.
If there was damage done it would have manifested by now and been found........Possibly if its a wee bit down the tarck then necrosis may have occured by now.
Contact the Society of radiographers who will put you on track.

Answer 5

Not that I have ever heard of, first the rads have to go through your skin. So if your skin has burns on it, and they are severe enough, then it is possible to have internal burns. But MRI's use magnets, so I don't think it is even possible to be burned by them.

Answer 6

Do you mean by the radiation? I haven't but I had a CT Scan twice and each time felt lousy for a while with weird "fevers" that would come. They would radiate from my neck area (thyroid) and back (kidney/adrenals). I think the dumb tech should have put a radiation cover over my thyroid and ovaries.

Answer 7

MRIs don't work like that. They're not microwaves. Some people can feel the vibrations, but that's it. Either something else is wrong or you're imagining things.

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

I really don't think so. While MRI's do allign atoms, much like a micowave, there is no vibration and thus I think there is the potential for heat.

Answer 10

I've had 8 and I am still alive and doing great. Have fun nothing will happen.