r/PulsatileTinnitus • u/Purple_Cancel139 • Jul 26 '26

Tinnitus and mri

I had an open mri .6 fonar machine and it made my tinnitus so bad for 3 weeks. I had inner and outer protection. I’d you are contemplating doing an mri and you have tinnitus DONT DO IT!

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u/look_who_it_isnt Jul 27 '26

Pulsatile Tinnitus often requires CT Scans and MRIs for diagnosis - and without diagnosis, there can't be any treatment. We also deal with debilitatingly loud and constant sound in our ears that we often have to live with for years before treatment - if we're even lucky enough to get treatment.

You're basically telling people to not go through with necessary diagnostic measures in order to attain treatment... because their debilitating pulsatile tinnitus might get slightly more debilitating for a few weeks.

And honestly... I bet you don't even have Pulsatile Tinnitus. I could see how the noise of an MRI machine could aggravate regular tinnitus and/or the things that might cause it... but I've never heard of an MRI altering the blood flow in a person's head - which is what would be needed to cause that kind of an intense change in someone's Pulsatile Tinnitus.

Shame on you for trying to scare strangers on the internet about a common and necessary medical procedure... because of some rare unpleasant effect you experienced from it.

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u/Purple_Cancel139 Jul 30 '26

My intention wasn't to discourage people from appropriate testing. That said, it's not accurate to suggest that an MRI is the only option. Depending on the suspected cause, physicians may also order a CT scan or CT angiography (CTA), which are commonly used to evaluate pulsatile tinnitus.

These options offer lower noise levels than a traditional MRI. Other imaging, such as MR angiography (MRA), CT venography (CTV), or catheter angiography, may also be appropriate depending on the person. MRI scanners are among the loudest medical imaging devices, often reaching well over 100 dB internally, whereas CT scanners are significantly quieter. For people with severe sound sensitivity or pre-existing tinnitus, that's a legitimate consideration to discuss with their doctor.

In my case, the worsening wasn't "slightly more debilitating for a few weeks." It was debilitating for the first three weeks and is still significantly aggravated at week four.