Steel toe cap boots during MRI scan

[Charlotteyoung]

Hi my husband has recently had a MRI scan, he was asked to remove belt, empty pockets... he had gone straight from work so was wearing steel toe cap boots. When the machine started be felt he was evening lifted and a large about of pain in his shins (as though they was being dragged up) he then panicked and the nurse started rushing to turn the machine off. She told him he was lucky he didn't have a serious injury or even die!! He is not suffering with pain in his shins when walking for more than 5 minutes. Can anyone shed any light on the situation I.e is this normal? Thanks

[oldtimer]

You are not supposed to wear any metal as it reacts with the magnetic beams used!

[Nik8210]

Dunno what happened there I wasn't even allowed to wear shoes into the MRI scanner room and the have a wholly plastic wheelchair or walking stick to ensure no metal gets near the scanner. Yes he was a lucky man..

[helixhelix]

If he's suffering pain in his shins then do go and see your GP and explain what's happened. It could be temporary bruising from the vibration, but since it's a result of this incident you need to get it looked at.

[BoneyC]

When I had my lower spine MRI'd earlier this year, in a horrible, outside portable mobile unit (a caravan), I was told to not wear an underwired bra, but the metal fastenings on my trousers was ok. The operator said trousers ok as he was scanning my back. I thought that was odd. I kept shoes on that occasion.

When I had my left ankle MRI'd recently, I took shoes off but nothing else as operator said it was only my ankle she was scanning. Obviously both occasions I told them about metal in my neck and hips.

[nomoreheels]

I'm surprised he wasn't asked to remove them, I would think steel-capped work boots look just like that & not ordinary footwear. There are metals which are ok when having an MRI because they're non-magnetic but for safetys sake all metal objects (obviously except implants, joint replacements etc) need to be removed, you only need to read about or see on the internet what happens if they're not, the nurse wasn't exaggerating!

If his shins are still painful at any time not just after 5 mins of walking he should get them checked out by his GP, explaining what happened, safety guidelines have been breached.