What to expect for an MRI Scan!

Welcome to "A Couple of Rad Techs Podcast"! I'm your host, Chaundria Singleton, and today's episode delves into everything you need to know about MRI scans. As someone who has experienced MRI scans and suffers from a bit of claustrophobia, I understand the anxieties surrounding the process. In this episode, I'll walk you through the entire MRI journey—from scheduling the appointment to understanding the scan itself—covering essential tips and preparations to ensure a smooth experience. Whether you're a bit anxious or just curious, stay tuned as we demystify the MRI process, ensuring you or your loved ones can go through it with ease and confidence. Get ready to take some notes—this is going to be informative! Welcome to "What to Expect for an MRI Scan!"

✅ Discover the inside scoop on your next MRI scan! 🌟
✅ Dive into our latest episode with host Chaundria Singleton of "A Couple of Rad Techs Podcast."
✅ From scheduling to results, we break down every step to ease your mind.
✅ Tune in to conquer your MRI fears and get informed! #Healthcare #MRI #Podcast

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Transcript

0:40

I'm your host, Chaundria, host of a couple of rad techs podcast, and we're going to get right into it because this topic shot off the charts on my last. YouTube shorts. So everyone obviously wants to know what to expect for an MRI scan. It is one of the best producing pieces of content I have made on YouTube under a couple of rad techs. And I'm going to talk about it because actually I am a little claustrophobic myself. So, I can relate the anxiety despite doing this for 20 years. I understand the anxiety of getting an MRI scan. I'm actually getting one tomorrow. Yes, it won't be my first, but I'm going to tell you every time I have to play over in my mind. So this topic today is perfect. Even for me, go ahead and get your pens and papers out. Let me know. Have you ever had an MRI scan? MRI. If you have, are you claustrophobic? Just a little anxious? Uh, have you seen the TV shows that tell you, Oh my goodness, this is a scary tunnel. It's going to be dark. It's going to be scary. Loud noises. Well, I'm going to talk about those things and hopefully that helps you to get through your next MRI scan or even help someone else get through their next MRI scan. So, uh, MRI scan is basically a bunch of magnets that are inside of this machine. Those magnets allow the doctors to be able to see with great detail any part of your body. Yeah, we just don't MRI the brain. I know that's what you see on TV, but I'm telling you, we MRI everything. We can take MRIs of the heart, the vessels. The prostate, of course, the bones, the ligaments, the tendons. I like to tell people sometimes if you break your hand, we don't always do the MRI for the fracture. We know it's a fracture. Sometimes what the surgeon likes to do is use MRI to get really, really crisp detail imaging of the prostate. of those small little parts, like the hand, the finger, because what they want to do when they repair that fracture is make sure no ligaments were torn, stretched, no tendons were torn or stretched. And if they were, they want to be able to put them back in the right place. So your finger works the same, right? So your hand works the same. So your wrist works the same. So it's not always about taking pictures of broken bones. I just like to expand people's mind on what we do in MRI. It's not just, Oh, there's the bone. Take a picture. No MRI. We have to know tendons, ligaments, tendons. everything. There's a purpose that makes MRI different from CT, makes nuclear medicine different from MRI. Each modality under medical imaging is different and has a purpose. You don't do a CAT scan and MRI just because they both do cross sectional anatomy. Two different totally reasons why you do them. MRI is great for detail. You guys just remember that. So if you have something going on and a doctor says, we want to get an MRI, and you say, well, I got an ultrasound last time. It was quicker. It was better. but did it give better detail? And if you're getting surgery or they want to really see something clearly to distinguish if it is or isn't something that could harm you, let's figure out how you can prepare for an MRI scan so you can get the right diagnosis so the doctor can diagnose you properly. Right? So in this video, I'm going to guide you through the entire process, like from scheduling all the way down to when you get on the scanner and scanner, is done. The scan is done. That's we're going to do this literally in the next six minutes. So stay with me. The first thing you're going to do before you ever get the scan, it's going to be scheduled. So the process of scheduling is you meet with your doctor to talk about whatever issue you're having. And your doctor sends a referral to an imaging center where they can do your MRI. Now you can say, well, Hey, I don't want to go all the way over there. Or your doctor may have an MRI scanner in their facility, or they may send you to a hospital that. hospital or imaging center is going to get your order, probably give you a call or you may have to call and schedule, but usually they'll give you a call because they have to check your insurance pre cert. If you're doing insurance and not a, a, a pay, like you're not paying for it out of pocket, they'll call you, set everything up. And when they set everything up, usually someone, if not the scheduling department, but sometimes scheduling, they're going to prepare you. Now, now they're going to talk about things like going over basic screening questions. Like, do you have a pacemaker? Do you have a defibrillator? If you have a pacemaker, do you have a card for it? Because we can scan MRIs with pacemakers now, but only certain type of pacemakers there are. MRI safe pacemakers out there. So you would have a card for any implant that you have in your body, not just pacemakers. And they ask you pretty much what surgeries have you had? When was your last surgery? Any allergies to dye, contrast dye? Um, Are you claustrophobic? Are you anxious? Those basic things like that. We like to get that done through the scheduling ahead of time before we ever get you scheduled and get you wasting your gas and coming in. Right. So that is the time that you, if you are anxious, make sure you say, Hey, I didn't tell my doctor, but I'm a little claustrophobic because then they can relay that information back and your doctor can now get the nurse to contact you and do whatever it is they need to do. You have options. They can either schedule you with something that's a little more convenient for your claustrophobic needs, or they can even prescribe certain medications based on what the doctor says. You know, I'm not making any claims, but those are all your options, uh, that the doctor will run through with you and then you two decide. And they also are going to ask you, what medications they're also going to tell you during scheduling if you need to fast or not. Some exams we prefer that you don't eat. I'm just going to give you a rule of thumb. If you're getting any contrast, don't eat anything two hours, four to two hours prior to your exam. Please don't. The reason why is because when you lay down, if you get nauseous, we can't get you in there and get you up fast enough. And there's a risk that you could aspirate whatever food is in your stomach comes up and it's going to possibly go down into your lungs. Food is not meant to be in the lungs. That's a whole nother issue you did not come for an MRI for. So let's just remember if you're getting any kind of contrast in any of your scans, any study, don't eat at least two to four hours prior to your scan. Okay, there we go. Now, when you arrive at the imaging center, It's best that you arrive, if they tell you to arrive at 7 a. m. Don't assume your scan time is at 7. That 30 minute buffer time is for you to fill out necessary paperwork to check in, scan all your insurance card, all of that stuff. It takes some time. Sometimes the line is long for you to even get up to the countertop. But this is why I tell people don't try to rush in for your MRI, because the paperwork, If you filled it out last week, you got to fill it out again. The screening form. Why? Because you could have had a stent placed in the day before and been there for your MRI. You could have pacemaker put in a couple of days before and be there for your MRI. We don't know. So people have surgeries and walk out the same day. So now that you, or you could have had a fragment of metal in your eyes the day before and we don't know it because we didn't have you refill the paperwork out. So that's all for your safety. Now preparing for the scan, you're going to be screened again. So don't get frustrated with the technologists because once they bring you back, they're going to take you to a dressing room where they're going to instruct you about, about the lockers, what you need to change out of. Most facilities will have you change out of. everything. Even now they're requiring in some places that you remove your underwear. Why? Because some underwear are made with certain fibers that stop sweating and those fibers can burn you when you heat up in the MRI. So that's why we don't let you wear athletic equipment. People say, well, I came with my, my Lululemon nice little pants. They are so cute. I got a pair of myself. I love them, but they can't go on the MRI scanner. It's hospital approved, facility approved clothing, which is like a scrub outfit, paper shorts. a gown. That's what you're going to wear. My motto is if you weren't born with it, it's got to come off. That's what I say to patients. If you weren't born with it, it's got to come off. You know, that's, that's safety. Now we take you to the MRI machine. We can show you the machine. If you're claustrophobic, you always can request that. Uh, but you will be brought to the scanner. They're going to wind you down, make sure that you have no ferrous magnetic, uh, Implant sore, anything on you, all jewelry must come off. Literally everything, you gotta leave everything in a locker. Can't take your cell phone, nothing. They sometimes even give you socks. Compress your socks, have to come off everything. I'm just gonna leave it there. Everything. So, I'm warning you now. Uh, so positioning, they're gonna lay you on the table. The technologist, this a MRI technologist, not a nurse, not a doctor. It is A MRI technologist, trained by the A RRT. They are a registered radiologic technologist by the A RRT, licensed and credentialed and educated with a minimum of two years education and years of experience. So you're in great hands. Now what you're gonna do is be. on the table. They're going to position you depending on what body part that is going to determine whether you're going head first or feet first, where there's a coil, how your positioning of your body is going to be. It may not be totally comfortable depending on what you're getting done, but they're going to try to get you as comfortable as possible. Is the MRI scanner loud? Of course it is. So we give you earplugs. Earplugs are there to protect your hearing. Don't just stick them in your ears. We want you to squeeze them down really, really tiny and stick them in those little holes. Doesn't matter how small your holes are in your ears. They will fit. The scan time can range depending on a scanner. Five to 45 minutes. It depends. Some scanners are a little faster than others and it depends on what body part is being scanned, right? And it depends on how you allow us to place you in the scanner. We can do things faster if we put you in in a certain way, but if that's not comfortable for you or you are claustrophobic and we have to put you in another way, then we have to change factors to be able to get quality imaging. throughout your exam. Your technologist will speak to you through a microphone. You have headphones on possibly, or you can hear them through the scanner. They're going to be checking to see if you are awake. If you're okay, they have cameras to watch you to make sure you're in there breathing, make sure you're not moving. And you have a little squeeze ball that can alert. anyone outside of that room that you need their assistance and they will respond. You're never alone. Never, ever. So now that the scan is all done, once the technologist comes and gets you up, they're going to explain to you the process of reviewing the images, which is not done by them. We make sure as technologists that the proper anatomy is on the scan. And then we send it over to a radiologist who's either in a reading room or at home or in a, you offsite facility reading the images. They dictate a report that's done in like 48 hours sometimes, maybe two or three days, sent to your doctor who referred you and you get the report from your doctor. You're going to change back into your clothes and you are free to go. That is it. Easy, easy, easy. So your key takeaways are make sure that you. answer the questions during scheduling truthfully and clearly. Make sure you arrive early enough for your scan time to complete necessary paperwork where it doesn't go over into your scan time or someone else's scan time. Make sure you change completely as instructed by the MRI technologist and inform them if you are claustrophobic or anxious or anything, or if you have any questions and you're never alone doing an MRI is safe, pain free. and can be done fairly quickly and it gives the best images, very detailed. So thank you very much for listening to this podcast. And until next time, thank you. Be sure to follow. And if you want to learn more about MRI, what it takes to become an MRI technologist, check out one of my other podcasts. And if you're on YouTube, be sure to watch the other videos.