When the doctor says someone has to get an MRI scan, a lot of people would immediately give you certain looks of concern.
Is MRI really that serious? Or maybe people just don’t understand what an MRI is all about and how it works.
So if you’re scheduled for a private MRI scan soon and you’re worried about it, allow us to shed some light on the issue.
What does MRI stand for?
The letters M, R, and I in MRI Scan mean Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Pretty big words, right? But trust us, it’s a lot easier than it seems.
To understand what’s going on inside a child’s brain, doctors sometimes need to see what the brain looks like and how it’s working.
Since a person’s head is not like a Lego piece that you can easily take apart and put back together, they need the help of a high-tech machine to see your brain without cracking your skull open.
Just imagine if your doctor would have to do that just for a check-up. That would hurt a lot, right?
Why is it important?
An MRI scan allows your doctor to freely see inside your head and check if your brain is working well.
What it does is it takes snapshots or pics of your brain using radio waves and a magnet. It shows any sign of abnormality that can cause seizures or delays in development in ways that an x-ray or a CT scan cannot.
Is it safe?
Getting an MRI scan is fairly safe, even for kids. No radioactivity is present so you don’t need to worry about that.
You just need to make sure that you do not have any piece of metal on your body when you’re about to get an MRI scan. Watches, hair clips, earrings, and other similar objects need to be removed from your body because the machine used for scanning will be using magnets to take pictures.
Do not get scared when the machine becomes noisy because that just means that it is working properly and is doing what it’s supposed to do. It can be quite noisy.
Don’t worry, though, because your doctor will give you a set of earplugs before scanning since the entire process will take anywhere between 20 to 90 minutes. During the procedure, you need to be as still as possible, which is the hardest part for kids.
Other than that, there’s absolutely no need to get scared. It doesn’t hurt and it’s completely safe.
Why should a person get an MRI scan?
Sometimes, some things happen inside a person’s body and that person may not be completely aware of it. They may not feel anything wrong but the problem will persist.
Only when something strange is felt that’s the time people go to the doctor for a check-up. While doctors can guess what the problem is based on what they see, sometimes they need the help of machines to take a closer look inside our bodies.
This way, they can accurately pinpoint what the problem is so that they know how to treat certain conditions. MRI scans are one of those ways that a doctor can make a well-informed and factual decision about your condition.
So put your fears aside and be confident that getting an MRI scan is safe and painless.
