anyone have a mri while having a scs (spinal stimulator) still in your body?

my scs is off now cause it did not work for me in fact it caused more pain.

i have had ct scans but need a mri and was told that it would be safe for my body but might scramble the scs. i was told that no mri tec would give me an mri with the scs in, is this true?

You CANNOT have an MRI while having a SCS in you. the MRI uses magnetic fields to create the image and it can pull on ur lead/battery. you can't have any type on metal on you while having one, they make you remove all jewelry while having one because earrings or piercings can be ripped out of you.

when i had my scs they could only do ct scans on me.

Yeah, no MRIs when you have ANY metal in your body. It will rip it out. I did fMRI research after having my SCS put in, and I had to make sure that I was way way outside the magnetic field. My doctor said that it wouldn't rip right out, but if I felt any "warmth" in that area, I needed to get even further quick! The metal will heat up and obviously this will create a bit of an issue. (Bursting into flames is never a good thing, in my opinion.)

Lynns

I didn't have the SCS in me but I had the VNS for depression and my Dr. and I decided to have it out for that very reason. If your SCS is off and you aren't going to use it again, why not have it removed?

The Catscans and ultrasounds don't show enough at times when we have certain problems going on and I have an ongoing problem that doesn't show otherwise so when I get ready to deal with it again then I can have the MRI.

I know with RSD surgeries aren't always good but if the do a block or fill you full of Lidocaine in those areas it's removed, it could keep the RSD from spreading.

Ada

MRI has become so common-place that many doctors forget that not everyone is a candidate. I had a very early MRI and, at the time, they almost excluded me because I was a truck mechanic/welder and MIGHT have had metal slivers somewhere. Those slivers could move or pull out during the scan, causing damage.

If someone has said that newer stimulators use completely non-ferrous materials (won't be pulled by a magnet) and that is why it is OK, you would need to verify that with the manufacturer. But I believe that the MRI Tech would probably refuse to do it simply because of the liability risks.

Mike

thanks for the replys.

i asked cuz others have had mri's with scs in and was wondering how they got away with that since i was told you cant have one. i asked this same question on other websites and they did have mri's with scs in.

i asked doc again and he said its not the generator but the paddle. because i have the paddle in, it will be difficult to find a place to allow mri.

because the generator is causing me so much pain i think i am going to get the whole thing taken out soon.

i found out you can have mri with drug pumps but have to go to docs office after mri to make sure the programming did not get scrambled.