Warning Welders, Cutters and MRI's

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Minercar

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Just wanted to pass on a (possible) danger to anyone who is a fabricator and may be getting an MRI in the future. I went to the Doc yesterday for hip and back problems and he wanted to schedule a MRI, but one stipulation or question was if I had done any cutting, welding or grinding. It seems that in these activities there may be metal fragments get into your orbital sockets and the danger with a MRI is eye damage including optic nerve damage. To mitigate this they have scheduled orbital x-rays prior to the MRI. I haven't heard of this possible danger and do not know of the veracity of it but wanted to pass on the information.
 
Good to know since I've been doing a lot of that lately.
 
I had a few MRI's last year and once I told them I welded and worked with metal, they gave me a X-ray and also put some dye into my eyes and then looked at them to make sure I did not have any metal.
 
Occupational welder here. My last MRI was about a year ago. They asked, but didn't seem too concerned.
Been welding for 10 years and was a little concerned about what might happen to my lungs with as much metal smoke I've breathed in. lol

Could you imagine the look on the MRI technician's face at that mess. lol
 
Makes sense to me because the M in MRI stands for Magnetic and that would be a horrible experience.
 
And insurance companies often refuse to pay for the eye x-ray. And next time you need a MRI , one wrong answer will get you another eye x-ray. I learned to just say no when they ask if I could have metal in a eye.
 
And yet...........I have a big pin from my knee to my ankle, and several screws in my angle, these don't seem "to bother" me or the MRI

And yeh, I KNOW it's "non magnetic" material, but it is STILL subject to magnetic fields, and what is referred to as "magnetic heating."
 
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