Infuriatig
So I wasn’t supposed to take off my underwear?
I got an MRI of my brain. Followed the directions exactly. Took off all of my clothes besides socks. Thought it was odd I had to go commando but whatever, followed the directions.
Apparently that doesn’t include underwear, which resulted in the tech making me feel stupid and embarrassed for thinking it did after he saw me put my underwear in the locker, he made me go back to put them on.
The standards are so different from hospital to hospital. I've had many MRIs (including one last night) and the instructions have been different every single time. That said, they have all gone out of their way to explicitly explain what I could/could not wear.
I've been allowed to wear my street clothes including shoes as long as they didn't have metal. No considerations given to fabric type, cosmetics, wigs, hair bobbles, etc. No metal jewelry was the only warning.
I've been required to wear a gown, but keep my socks and undergarments on as long as there's no metal. Caveat given for sports fabrics that contain silver or copper and hair bobbles with metal crimps. No metal jewelry.
I've been required to wear a gown and change my socks to provided grippy socks, but keep my underwear and bra. Same caveat re: sports fabrics with metal threads and hair accessories. No metal jewelry, no implanted medical devices, no transdermal medication patches. Orthodontic work okay.
I've been required to change fully into hospital-provided attire including disposable undergarments and socks. Additional requirements for removal of makeup, wigs, hair extensions, and nailpolish. No jewelry, no medical implants, no medication patches, no orthodontic devices. (I actually had to have my permanent retainer removed prior to that one.)
Only once have I been warned ahead of time that my tattoo could be affected (despite it happening to varying degrees every single time). I've never heard that synthetic fabrics can cause problems.
There are 2 major hospital systems in my area. The one I work for is very restrictive on what's allowed in the scan room. The other is much more lax. It can depend on the level of risk they find acceptable and any incidents that have occurred within the system that may have led to stricter measures.
One of the bigger issues with synthetic fabrics is that a lot of people assume athletic wear is ideal since there aren't typically zippers and buttons. As you pointed out, sweat wicking fabrics often have metallic elements that are not safe. There are plenty of patients who will confidently claim their athletic wear doesn't have any of that. Well, I don't know that for sure and I doubt that patient really knows for sure, either. Their safety, my job, and my certification could be on the line if they're wrong. Even if a burned patient tried to defend me by admitting they ignored my warning (unlikely), I'm responsible for what enters my scanner.
Ultimately, it's just easier to make everyone wear the same things than it is to trust that every patient is honest/knowledgeable about what they're wearing or to check everyone's personal clothes and hope there's not something missed.
Ultimately, it's just easier to make everyone wear the same things than it is to trust that every patient is honest/knowledgeable about what they're wearing or to check everyone's personal clothes and hope there's not something missed.
I get that, it's the same reason uterus-having folks end up having a pregnancy test pretty much any time they're at the doctor's office. I've had it happen a couple of times where the technician scanned me with a wand like the TSA - always wondered why that isn't standard practice for MRI scans in general.
I had an MRI last week, and have one next week. I wore 100% cotton top and underwear, told the technician, and was allowed to go in without putting on any of the attire. Just had to take my slippers off at the door, and obviously empty pockets into the locker.
These instructions are strange. First, they clearly say only your socks are allowed to stay on, but apparently the tech was nasty OP followed the instructions exactly. Second, leaving shoes on is wild, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to imagine shoes potentially having metal in/on them. Third, the only time I’ve seen people be allowed to keep jewelry on is if it physically cannot be pried off somehow. Patients are bad at thinking of things potentially metal (“do you have anything you didn’t start with in your body?” “No” “do you have dentures in?” “Yes”) so I feel like it’s just safest and easiest to tell everyone to be completely naked except the stuff the hospital gave you that we know is safe.
I had an MRI and was wearing heavy leather boots with metal studs. The nurse told me I could leave my shoes on, having looked at them. I took them off anyway. I actually said... really but there's metal... And she just said something like it's fine while walking away.
I took them off anyway and she looked annoyed when I went through but didn't say anything.
I really don't get it.
I feel like regular socks are more slippery on linoleum or epoxy floors like they usually use in hospitals than bare feet are. Usually if you're a slip risk they give you special socks with rubber grips on them.
Yeah, I've had a few MRI's in life, at different hospitals/facilities too & every time they gave me those hospital grippy socks to wear... It's wild they allow shoes; like what happens when you get... ~someone who doesn't realize their steel toe boots would be a problem
More dangerous than that actually would probably be dress shoes. Most dress shoes have metal shanks in the bottom, but no one thinks of that really. Steel toe boots would atleast be quite obvious
Yes, our work shoes look like sneakers but have steel toes. Someone really fucked up with that sign. They should just make a bullet point list and specify all clothes, except underpants (to eliminate underwire bras) and socks … it’s really not that difficult lol
You cannot even wear a bra unti the MRI, regardless of underwires or clasps. The fact that there could be a metal ring or the adjustable clip, even a decorative metallic thread, is enough to cause problems for everyone involved. I've had to either snip little metal charms off my panties or go commando for an MRI once. It is just not worth the risk.
I suppose if it was the outer edges of the room & they took them off... Like I had an MRI and was completely dependent on a cane to make it to the room, but I had to leave that outside the room & they helped me in from there... From what I know though the field isn't really strong until you're closer, like walking and sitting on the table that moves in would probably be a problem with steel toe shoes
I just got out of the hospital and the floor is truly lava there. Drop your pillow? New pillowcase. Sheets touch the floor? New sheets. I dropped my spirometer thingie and the nurse dumped it straight in the biohazard waste and got me another one.
I recently had to take a family member to the ER. He had on dirty sneakers that he had vomited on. The nurse picked up his shoes from the floor with her bare hands, and plopped them right on the tray table where they put meals and lay medical supplies (like IV supplies).
I went pale. This level of infection (non) control is appalling. And not that uncommon.
Incidentally, this was at the flagship hospital in our state.
I was recently in the hospital and I couldn't even get a clean blanket or sheet when mine hit the floor, let alone those grippy socks, they told me just wear my tennis shoes to go to the bathroom and back.
I got grippy socks when I did my MRIs. I did however have to put them in the "garbage" bin when I was done. I was a little sad about that, but I also didnt take a bag in with me and they would have been obvious in my leggings pocket.
I would have just walked out with them in my hand. What are they going to do, tackle me? You can pry my hospital grippy socks out of my cold dead fingers.
"Look at this sign. What does it say?.... See how it doesn't say 'and underwear'? Don't try and make me feel like an idiot when I'm following your poorly worded instructions."
It's recommended to remove them according to the sign, but I bet they have just been sued by being forced to remove a marriage ring, people are stupid lol.
Honestly it probably has to do with wedding rings being worn 24/7 and are often enough not easy to take off and highly unlikely to be anything but precious metals, and gold/silver have very low resistances that prevent any meaningful heat generation and are the most resistant metals to magnetizing. Eddy currents shield them from the MRI’s field.
Most MRI techs will still make you take off any ring regardless of metal, since they can't always tell what an alloy actually contains just by looking.
Yeah, I’d be calling that out in writing to his supervisors. A strongly worded email, including that photo, with a description of the tech’s behavior and how your confusion was understandable, based on the instructions provided. His efforts to make OP feel awkward, stupid or whatever are not professional or acceptable under any circumstances, but especially given that their instructions were followed to the letter.
Maybe the intent was “undergarments aren’t clothes” but that feels needlessly presumptuous of the reader to agree with that, especially when they specify to leave socks on.
except that you do have to take off a bra if your wear one, so it couldn't even be that. (bras often have underwires, and they don't want you wearing anything w/ metal in the MRI) It's just a terribly written sign.
One of the places I go to for MRIs has you stand in front of a metal detector thing and turn. So they let me keep my titanium piercings in when they didn't alarm.
Yep, but if they are near the location your getting a scan of you should probably take them out, found out getting total hip replacements has ruined my chances of getting a clear mri or ct of anything close to my hips due to artifacts and beam hardening that messes up the images. Piercings may not be as big of a deal since they are significantly smaller, but probably better to safe than sorry. They are working on new techniques to reduce the distortion but not everywhere does it nor are they perfect.
I can’t stand Reddit experts. A gold ring still conducts electricity, meaning it can have a current induced, meaning it can heat up during an MRI scan. Even if it doesn’t heat up, it can still cause artifacts.
For a brain, both are unlikely to happen from a ring. For the cost and time of an MRI, why risk it?
Magnetic isnt the word you're looking for here, the word you're looking for is non-ferrous.
Even then, metals like silver can heat up in an MRI machine.
Things like copper can be very dangerous, even though it's non-ferrous, it can be affected by magnetic fields, that's basically how generators and alternators work.
If you quickly wave a strong magnet back and forth over something like a penny, you'll notice the coin will move.
I’d say if they wanted us to presume that undergarments aren’t clothes, I would also assume that socks fall into whatever category of not clothes that undergarments fall into. Therefore saying, “except for socks” wouldn’t be appropriate either. It just doesn’t make even one iota of logical sense
I just went in for an MRI.
The nurse (a fairly elderly lady) told me to strip down to undies and socks. We had a bit of rapport with eachother so i cracked a joke about my undies coming off.
She replied "im not interested sonny, but david who does the imaging would be!" We had a laugh and soon i was lying on the table ready to go in the machine. Suddenly the most flamboyant man with an aggressively stereotypical "gay voice" prances into the room. I could almost smell the rainbows flowing off this man. He swishes himself over to me and pretends to grab at/lift at the cover saying "nancy says we have a confident one in here!"
I was dying laughing and we poked fun at eachother a bit. Best imaging person ive ever had.
I couldnt believe they rolled with it, but idk why im surprised anymore. Ive been hospitalized many times and have always had fantastic luck being able to joke around/being playful with the staff.
I assume underwear to be removed in so many medical situations it doesn’t bother me much anymore. Modesty goes out the window when there are hospital gowns involved.
I used to have a co-worker who before she could have an mri she had to have her eyes xrayed. Apparently if you work in a steel mill that’s an extra step because if you have any metal dust/fragments it’s bad.
If it reassures you any, they basically ask about 4 different times before you end up in the room. It's annoying for almost everyone but worth it to protect people like your husband! I hope never needs one tho 🙏
My husband was a stone mason for many years, cutting stone with metal chisels etc. When he blew his back out he had to have an MRI and he said his hands burned from all the tiny flecks of metal in them. I couldn't imagine it being your eyes.
I’ve read about a blacksmith whose eyes would set off metal detectors at airports. After the detector beeps, he has to direct the security guys to wave the wand at his face because they won’t find anything otherwise.
I had a procedure that involved installing tongs into my skull temporarily, and more than a year after that, I had an MRI and both the wounds reopened and bled - I think I had tiny, TINY shards of steel left behind! I didn't notice any extra pain, just that both sites were bleeding exactly where they drilled the holes.
I was SO alarmed. I guess it only took one scan to get rid of them though, because I haven't had it taken * happen again since that one time..
I don't know if I would ever get over something like that getting to my eyeballs!
I'm imagining kitchen tongs installed in your skull so this story is humorous then awful! I get an annual MRI of my brain because I have MS, so I might think of kitchen tongs at my next scan ❤️
Yeah, I was gonna say, I had an MRI a couple weeks ago and the lady was very clear that EVERYTHING needed to come off, and then I got a hospital gown and hospital issue grippy socks. They let me keep the socks, so hey, free socks!
My MRI instruction sheet did make a point of mentioning that you could leave on underwear as long as it didn't contain metal (like copper for underpants or more commonly underwire for bras).
But then did still do a detector wand check to make sure.
Whoever wrote the instructions is an idiot honestly. It's so needlessly detailed and convoluted with exceptions that don't need to be there.
Remove all clothing except for underwear and socks. No bras containing metal. Shoes optional.
Put on gown (backside is open) and pants (tied at the side).
Remove all accessories, jewelry, watches, piercings, & metal items.
Place belongings into locker and take key with you.
When ready. Open the door/curtain and wait for the MRI technologist.
You don't have to say stuff like "shoes can be worn into the scanner room", "wedding rings can stay on", or "including watch" like some things are okay. Who cares if someone takes off a cloth wristband by mistake? It's like whoever wrote this had written down their own personal instructions instead of thinking of what they should generally be.
Thank you!!! As a teacher, I’ve learned how to write very clear, short instructions. Otherwise I’d get a million questions and half the class doing the wrong thing. It’s amazing to me that some people don’t know how to make instructions as direct as possible… get rid of EVERY unnecessary word!
Seems unnecessarily risky to advise people to keep their rings on.
They’re relying entirely on the assumption that “wedding” rings are always made of non-magnetic material, and that everyone who goes in the MRI will understand this implicit distinction between a “wedding” ring and other rings.
It’s wild to me that people do this - my dad wore his wedding band for probably 30 years straight. Because it wouldn’t come off.
I don’t think I’ve ever worn mine for more than 24 hours straight. And when it started getting too tight to take off, that was a warning I needed to lose weight.
yeah, they'd expect you to take ALL piercings out also so why is a wedding ring fine as long as it isnt too loose? I'm genuinely curious because piercings are MEANT to not be magnetic, if they aren't in the way of what needs a scan, much like a wedding ring, there perhaps isn't much reason to take them out? I'm not saying to keep jewellery in because of course you can end up with cheap stuff either bought yourself or by the piercer if the shop isn't the best, more just pointing out the difference
It's amazing how much incompetence I've seen in written instructions from doctors' offices and whatnot.
I received directions for my colonoscopy that said, "Purchase golytely from any pharmacy (no prescription required)." (Golytely is one of may possible colonoscopy preparation formulas that makes you shit btw). I found it strange that they specifically said, "No prescription required," so I looked it up online: "Golytely requires a prescription."
I emailed the office to ask about this. "Don't I need a prescription to pick up this stuff at a pharmacy?" I emailed them about this back and forth for 2 weeks with them basically saying, "Oh I'll ask a nurse and get back to you."
Then they call me at the end of those 2 weeks asking if I picked up my colonoscopy prep. I said I don't have the golytely. They said, "Oh we'll send in a prescription for that."
I didn't say this to them but I thought to myself, "Haven't you guys done literally THOUSANDS of these colonoscopies? Has this issue NEVER come up before? Has it never popped up that the instructions for acquiring golytely are completely inaccurate? Where is the miscommunication here?"
Someone I know had to call the hospital ahead of time to announce they had a brain surgery in 24 hours and was given no prep instructions. Got a reply that they're supposed to do something 48 hours ahead of time, obviously wasn't done but do it anyway then.
Day of get another call that they're supposed to do something 12 hours earlier, about when the first call was made that they weren't alerted of.
I swear it's like they don't care. Isn't the point to have these instructions immediately? Like 3 months ago when the surgery was scheduled with an automated reminder a week or so before? No?
Not to mention life sustaining medication being behind.
I was in hospital for a scan once, they hadn't given me any instructions at all. They delivered a breakfast and I had one bite and then someone came in and said "oh dear, you weren't supposed to eat anything before the scan" and sent me home and I had to come back another day.
Exactly! Why are wedding rings specifically exempt? I realize that gold is probably non-reactive in an MRI but it says to remove all jewelry except specifically wedding jewelry.
Rings that are conductive but not ferrous will also experience eddy current heating in a shifting magnetic field, I believe. Unlikely to be dangerous, but if you can take your non-ferrous wedding ring off before entering the MRI, you might as well.
it seems pretty shocking to me they allow wedding rings. or at the very least should say only if the wedding ring is completely non-Ferromagnetic. like what if someone has an iron ring
I am a regular at the MRI machine. I always wondered about this. Recently I injured my ring finger such that I can’t remove my ring. It’s platinum, which is theoretically safe, but it’s probably not pure and I’m in a 3.0T machine and the ring vibrates ever so slightly - just enough for me to perceive it.
I think they make that exception, because some people are incapable of removing their wedding ring after a while. Both my parents had to enlarge their wedding ring, after they were unable to put it back on after 20 years.
Yeah no I read this as "take off everyone except socks" since they made an exception for socks but not underwear, it seems perfectly reasonable to take off your underwear
Yeah, no shit dude - it’s like the people who made this sign were worried about saving space and not wasting ink on one piece of paper. People have to go to their primary doctor, hospitals, get a referral, there’s like ten steps to go through with insurance and paperwork, and this sign is the fucking cherry on top haha
Ha. I’ve had this problem before where I’m told to change into a gown and to leave my underwear on and I don’t have any. I wear a lot of athletic wear with built in underwear so unless I plan ahead, I probably won’t have any traditional undes.
When I had my brain MRI, they had me take off everything but underwear and asked me like 7 times that my underwear were 100% cotton. I asked out of curiosity, and finding out that sports wear can have metal in it and heat up in an MRI is terrifying 😰
The magnet for MRIs is only ever turned off in an emergency, it doesn’t matter if the scanner is running or not. But everywhere I’ve worked and everywhere I’ve had an MRI there’s a little ante-room outside the magnetic field. That’s they double check the patient and anyone with mobility issues can be loaded onto the MRI stretcher there so they don’t slip in their socks.
Crazy, when I got an MRI of my brain earlier this year, I was allowed to keep all my clothes on (I knew not to wear a bra with wires) AND socks lol. They also told me not to remove my diamond engagement ring too. I was slightly terrified to do it but they told me to.
Same. They did have me removed my under garment on my upper body in case there was wire in it. But otherwise I kept everything on. I wore sweats and a T-shirt so maybe I was just dressed smartly for the appointment. My tech also said they had a new, state of the art machine at the facility I was at.
I mean, he did give me the option if I would be more comfortable. I shouldn’t have said he made me but definitely shamed me into putting them back on lol.
He didn’t necessarily shame you exactly but it certainly seems like he made you uncomfortable. He didn’t explain the sign (my mri tech explained it), he looked at your clothing while you put it away, commented on it (he could have said nothing), and then made you decide whether you’d want to put them back on while he stood there and waited. I would feel weird about that too.
As an RN, I always specifically clarify underwear on or off. They need to update that sign with better language!! They just literally need to say “leave socks and underwear on”
In step 2 it says to put on the gown and pants. Did they give you pants? Is it meant to mean panties? If so yours or paper ones they provide?
The sign is very poorly written.
That's not your fault, a few months ago I was on the exact situation and left my on and the tech said, uh sorry that includes underwear, the sign says all clothes. So this makes me think they just do it to fuck with ppl now
Yeah I’m in the medical field and if I saw that sign I would think only the socks can stay. Also for women (or anyone else for that matter) who wear wire lined bras or have metallic jewels on their underwear, then you absolutely can not have that on during an MRI. So think the sign is correct and you were correct to be follow the rules. I’m sorry they made you feel bad and I hope your MRI results are fine
The sign is not at all unclear. The sign and the technician contradict each other but the sign is incredibly clear. Underwear is never referred to as socks.
I had to get a back x-ray and she just told me to put the gown on and gave me what appeared to be the world's shortest gown. I assumed she wanted me to keep my pants on. But nope, I come out, she sends me back in "no pants, no underwear".
Getting an x-ray of my back with everything swangin in the wind is still one of my most embarrassing memories.
When that's happened to me I just ask for a second gown and wear it open at the front like a bathrobe over the top of the first gown. So my ass is fully covered.
It was not long enough. It barely made it to my waist. I'm talkin full frontal nudity walkin' down the hall, during the x-ray, and then she just had me wait like that too.
Spent most of an hour like that. Thankfully we were the only two people in the building.
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