What happens if you have a tattoo and you get a MRI?
Asked by
Gigi (
53
)
June 7th, 2008
I was thinking of getting a tatoo. Periodically I need to get a MRI scan. They always ask if I have tatoos. It made me wonder what would happen if I did have one.
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8 Answers
They did his on Mythbusters, nothing happened, Now I don’t know if there is something else that they didn’t find out, or if there is something else that someone might know.
Out of curiosity, what do people say happens if you have a tattoo and get an MRI? There must be some kind of myth behind this if they tested it on Mythbusters. What is it?
Ok, so I Googled it and got this article. Apparently, old school tattoo ink has some tiny fragments of metal in it and patients who got MRIs reported slight to severe pains while the MRI was in process. The strong magnetic force of the MRI pulled on the metal fragments in the tattoo ink and the patients felt a burn where the tattoo was located. At the end of the article it says that in most tattoo inks 20 years or younger it’s unlikely that they contain metal.
My thinking would be that it’s ok for you to go and get your tattoo and still have a safe and pretty painless MRI. Hopefully. =]
I would check with the tatoo artist and at the hospital before getting a tatoo, check that the inks have no metallic content and check with the hospital if it’s okay to get one now :) MRI’s are quite interesting and I went to a lecture on them before heh.
I have had several MRIs and never been asked about tattoos or had any problems with mine.
Prison tattoos also often contain metals, which is another reason they ask.
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