I know MRIs are safe, but I need help convincing my hospital
Hello, everyone. I have a magnetic implant in my left ring finger. I also have some really bad pain issues (they started years before I got the magnet and are unrelated). Lucky me, I finally have health insurance but now I'm having trouble getting a diagnosis because they refuse to let me have an MRI. You can imagine what the radiologist said when I argued that people on the internet say it's safe, and that I saw a picture of a person who claims to have a magnet implant standing in front of an MRI machine.
I have already had a CT scan, but it shows nothing. A few doctors have suggested an MRI instead, but I keep getting refused. I've offered to sign a waiver, told them about the sports tape ... They just keep insisting that it will cook the magnet. Having the magnet removed is something I would like to avoid because the magnet is my wedding ring.
Does anybody have any experience dealing with reluctant technicians? I suppose another issue could be that the hospital uses T3 MRI machines. Are those just too powerful?
Thanks for any feedback!
Comments
Especially powerful machines could be damaged by a small, loose (once it gets pulled out, of course) piece of metal flinging around inside it. Less about you being able to tolerate the pain, more about keeping their equipment from getting wrecked. Even if you could just out of pocket pay the thousands (if not Millions) of dollars to replace it, having it be destroyed in the process would greatly impact all the other patients in line for the machine after you.
Was it on at the time? Do you know the strength of it?