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On October 5, 2013 I had an MRI of my right wrist and left hand for joint pain. No abnormality was noted and the pain is almost gone but I was exposed to the loud noise of the MRI machine for 1.5 hours. Headphones were given to me but these did not seem to lower the noise at all. I noted ringing in my ears (Tinnitus) as soon as I got out of the machine. To this day (October 31), ringing has not changed. I saw an Ear Nose Throat specialist and read about Tinnitus. There is no specific treatment.

Am I destined to live like this for the rest of my life? This is driving me crazy.

I went shooting with friends about 50 years ago. One of the guys brought along a 45 automatic and it caused nerve damaged in my ears. I've had the ringing in the ears ever since. You get used to it. After a while, you won't even notice it unless you are very tired. In my case there was some good news: the high-frequency hearing loss kept me from getting my ass shot in Vietnam.

Hey. I have tinnitus as well. Mine is in one ear off and on for the past couple years, and probably has to do with a history of ear infections as a kid and sinus infections as an adult that left some scarring in my ear and changed the ability of my head to deal with pressure changes on that side because of my anatomy. Airplane flights, mountaineering trips, indoor allergy season can all make it worse for me. I've been to an ENT specialist and saw 2 family practice docs about it. It drove me crazy when it first started happening, I guess I'm lucky because the tone is not too high pitched and during much of the year it is quiet enough to where I don't really notice it. I usually have to sleep with a fan to cancel out the noise in the winter though, when mold allergies make my head swell and the ringing gets worse.

Tinnitus is weird. From what I've read it can disappear randomly one day, or stick around for a long time. Sorry you have to deal with it. In my experience, the first few months were the hardest and I got used to it after that. At this point it's something I don't think about very often anymore.

Thanks for the replies,

I am afraid of it staying with me forever but at least it sounds like it might become less noticeable. I get upset that I was perfectly fine before the MRI and now have to deal with this. Am still waiting for it to go away.

I also have the joy of dealing with this. Mine starting when I was a little kid and I've had it as long as I can remember. Sometimes it's better or worse but like said above you usually get used to it, especially if there is any other noise in the background. If I'm stressed or tense I notice that it gets a bit worse at night and sometimes will keep me up. Sorry you have to deal with it! Hopefully yours goes away.

I'm sure you've seen this:
http://www.ata.org/sites/ata.org/files/ ... _NOISE.pdf

I've never had to be in the tube more than 45 minutes, with a 1.5 Tesla machine. I have had at least 4 MRIs I was given headphones (which also gave the instructions from the technicians), and was able to ignore the noise. But 115 dB for that long is pretty bad.

I'm sure you've seen this:
http://www.ata.org/sites/ata.org/files/ ... _NOISE.pdf

I've never had to be in the tube more than 45 minutes, with a 1.5 Tesla machine. I have had at least 4 MRIs I was given headphones (which also gave the instructions from the technicians), and was able to ignore the noise. But 115 dB for that long is pretty bad. Properly used, the headphones should reduce that to a "tolerable" level.

Thank you everyone and thanks for the link.

I'm a MRI Technologist and I can tell you that none of my patients have ever complaiend about permanent tinnunitis as a result of having an MRI. Yes, it can be loud during the exam but tinnunitis can be caused by many different conditions, and is not necessarily the result of your MRI. Have you been worked up for anything else? I'm sorry to hear you had that experience--I hope it goes away!

Thank you Skyward,

I have seen a regular doctor and an ENT. I will also see a tinnitus specialist in a couple of weeks. Can you tell me if 90 minutes in an MRI machine is an unusually long time? Are headphones standard protection or are ear plugs more appropriate?

Thank you for your concern

Hi Nader,
You are not an isolated case. I had an MRI for my lower back and noticed the ringing as soon as they pulled me from the tube.....it has been almost 2 years and it hasn't stopped. I've done a ton of research and have found that what you and I have experienced is not uncommon. Do a search for "MRI Safety", "MRI acoustic noise" etc
and you'll find lots of documentation. Industry, scientific and government publications all list hearing damage as one of the top occurring MRI accidents. Most radiologist don't implement proper safety procedures.
Everyone, including doctors, will tell you they haven't heard of an MRI causing tinnitus....don't listen to them. I've been trying to find legal help, but lawyers are just as ignorant about this problem as everyone else.
DK

Have you gotten any answers?

Thank you Katie and dk17,

I sent you both e-mails.

I had an mri done last year and had ringing in my ears the very next day. It was constant but at times I wouldn't notice it if there was other noise in the room (t.v., radio, conversation, etc). About a month later, I was placed on a prescription of methadone for chronic forefoot nerve pain. Methadone is said to be one of the few opiates that can help with that.

Well, unfortunately the pain is something I still am wrestling with but the tinnitus went away within a month. I don't know if it's gone because of the methadone but it might be worth a try. It wasn't a particularly high dose I was on, about 30mg a day. One thing you should do when taking the methadone is load up on fiber. The stuff will bind you up like nothing I've experienced before.

Hope this helps and please let us know if it does. By sharing what works, we can all live a better life. Best of health to everyone.