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[Robot Parade Leader]

After a follow up appointment with my doctor, because he says it is possible there is soft tissue damage. He wants an MRI.

I went to schedule it and they asked me if I had any metal in my body, a pacemaker, or anything. I was informed that there are strong magnetic fields in an MRI that can erase credit cards, and make metal implants a potential issue. I do not think so but the technician said to be sure beforehand.

I had an inguinal hernia repair with mesh in 2015. Does this or a "plug" used for hernia defect have metal in it or how do I find out? It was not a recurring hernia if that helps. I don't know and this is just "mesh" and a "plug" they put inside me to make sure the hernia was dealt with like 9 years ago or something. Never felt exactly the same but yeah.

I also had a metal rod and screw inserted into my broken arm way back in 1999, that was removed a year later. I physically, externally had the metal rod and screw in like a bag they gave me when they took it out. I don't know where it is now but it is not inside me. How do I make sure they did not leave anything in? I don't think they did but I do not want to find out I am wrong in an MRI. I don't think the surgeon who did the work on my broken arm way back then is still alive. Even if he did, that was like 26 years ago.

Any ideas on how I can find this out to be safe and not end up wrecked when I get the MRI? I don't know. I'm just trying to do what I'm told and being safe. I'm in America if that helps, because different countries have different medical systems and rules.

[StrawBarrel]

I am not an expert. I just googled and looked at 1 of the first search results:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/mri-scan/who-can-have-it/

Having something metallic in your body doesn't necessarily mean you can't have an MRI scan, but it's important for medical staff carrying out the scan to be aware of it.

They can decide on a case-by-case basis if there are any risks, or if further measures need to be taken to ensure the scan is as safe as possible.

For example, it may be possible to make a pacemaker or defibrillator MRI-safe, or to monitor your heart rhythm during the procedure.

You may need to have an X-ray if you're unsure about any metal fragments in your body.

My wild guess is that you could try contacting the medical staff and asking them for help. You could also ask if you need an x-ray for the arm.

[ChairmanPoo]

It should be in your clinical notes. Pacemakers and other electronics are the obvious problematic ones as they can malfunction. But make sure they know about any potential implants. Also let them know if you ever did metalworking.

[nenjin]

My boss just went in for an MRI and they discovered a metal sliver in his thumb even he didn't know about. One would think that stuff would come up on an xray.

[Funk]

Do they not run you thru a big metal detector first?

[Robot Parade Leader]

They don't run you through a metal detector. Fortunately, nothing seems to have gone crazy in my case, but yeah. I guess one of the many things nobody tells you is that you need to be careful about knowing if there is an y metal in your body. Having done metalworking, yeah.

Keep track of what they put in you and when and stuff and also what they take out. Although I asked the MRI tech this and he said, "You're too young to have non MRI safe implants in you."
I asked him how old would be old enough. He said "50 unless you got it in Mexico or somewhere else." I'd still generally be careful but yeah. At least there's that I suppose.

[StrawBarrel]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's positive to hear that the MRI worked out for you.

[Robot Parade Leader]

I hope this helps someone else. I know those machines are noisy and honestly something the average person has no real understanding of. I get it and I get how it works, but I don't really get it. Neither do most people. So knowing if you have a metal implant or something is just a thing most people just don't consider. I guess it is just something you need to keep track of that nobody tells you. Or at least they never told me.

[Djohaal]

Take what I'm gonna say with a grain of salt since it's been a decade since I was in medical school and I metamorphosed to a psychotherapist with a prescription pad which doesn't care about anything below the cerebellum (included).

The metallic implants that mostly matter for MRIs are pacemakers (because they can fry in the magnetic field and stop keeping you alive), cochelar implants (also delicate) and metal clips/metal shrapnel in your head, especially eyes and brain. While the magnetic field could in theory traction those objects elsewhere in the body, its usually harmless. Not so much somewhere as delicate as the brain or your eye where a milimeter could fuck up a lot of things. Usually for 99% of the people around you can have a good memory if you have had metal shrapnel entering your skull and lodging in your brain, in the absolute messed up doubt such as if you already had a bullet in your head, but it was removed but there might be metal residues, one could run a person trough a CT scan first to screen for metal (easy peasy to detect), and then do the MRI for the delicate job.

Bone plates pins are OK, except they'll fuck up the imaging so depending if what you are imaging is close to the metal it might mess up. Braces are OK too, it won't tear your teeth out of your mouth or shock you. Hernia meshes aren't commonly metallic if I recall correctly, but even if so they shouldn't pose a problem.

[nenjin]

There is of course this tale but I'm not sure anyone has ever verified the veracity of it.

[Funk]

But im sure that i sollowed a coin years back an an have spent years with the "if it dont hurt 'im not trying to dig the wire from the wire wheel out of me" school of dealing with it.
How did they fix my broken arm 28 years ago? it was novel to less my school class draw on the cast (string is not rope an the back garden is not that safe..)

It geting back to the bit where i have move then my body weight in blood trasfusions (easy when you weight near nought)

[Djohaal]

There is of course this tale but I'm not sure anyone has ever verified the veracity of it.

The metal mass in that thing sure seems a tad bigger and potentially enough to cause traction. I did share this freak story with a radiologist friend of mine and he said the injury and artifact patterns in the image are compatible with a potential CT done after the mishap. The image displays the dildo lost in the abdominal cavity and a small collection of free gas in the cavity, what is to be expected from a punctured bowel.