What to Know About MRI Services

Magnetic resonance imaging, more commonly known MRI, is an important arsenal doctors have in helping diagnose disease and illness. MRI exams are used for a variety of different diagnoses, and it is important to know about the scans and what the risks and benefits are.

How it works
An MRI scan is like an X-ray on steroids. Instead of shooting x-rays through your body to see contrasts inside, and

MRI machine uses a magnetic field and radio waves. The magnetic field temporarily rearranges the hydrogen atoms in your body, and the radio waves use the realigned atoms to create cross-sectional three-dimensional images of your insides, which doctors can view from many different angles to get a good look at what is going on in various parts of your body.

Drawbacks
MRI machines are basically big magnetic tubes, although there are open MRI machines that are less confining. MRI scans take a long time, and they can be problematic for people who have metal implants in their bodies. For example, those with implantable pacemakers can't have the scans. The scans also take much longer than regular x-rays and can be very uncomfortable.

Benefits
MRIs are a great tool in helping diagnose illness and injuries. While x-rays work perfectly well for showing a broken bone, MRIs are often needed to definitively diagnose soft and connective tissue damage, such as torn ligaments and tendons. MRI machines also are very good tools when it comes to seeing the size, shape and location of tumors that may be growing deep inside the body. MRIs also can be used to look at the body's critical internal organs, such as the heart, liver, kidneys, blood vessels and arteries. This can help show diseases or the possible risk for things like stroke and heart attack.

If your doctor thinks you should have an MRI scan, you should discuss the procedure and ask questions to make sure you understand the potential benefits and risks of the procedure.