Breast MRI Pain

I'm so sorry you went through this,RedWeasel. It always burns me up when I find out people have painful procedures. My good friend, a nurse, said 'There should not be painful procedures." It doesn't matter if anyone else did or did not have a painful time. Your comfort matters, even if you were the first one!

Red - my first MRI was painful - they usually put padding or a cushion right under the breast bone, but they removed it to position me better. It took well over an hour, and by the end of it, I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me, and I had to cough when I breathed.



In followup MRIs, I always make sure that the cushion is in place.



Hope you get good news from the results. In the mean time, spend the weekend keeping busy -- find something to distract yourself from thinking and worrying too much.

Redweasel-----I've had 3 breast MRIs and 3 totally different experiences with it.  The first one I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep.  During the 2nd one, I had neck and shoulder pain from staying in the one position for so long (but I do have a history of neck and shoulder pain).  The 3rd one (the most recent--March) I had chest pain even though the table was very well padded; not quite sure why since I never had it before (but it was a new facility and they are all a little bit different), but the techs did try very hard to get me comfortable.

I had a painful breast procedure (wire insertion), and I wrote 2 letters to the radiologist, including a survey here and professional journal references. (He never inquired if I was in pain, and I was told not to move.) My co-worker encouraged me to do so, after her friend had the same procedure and called the procedure 'barbaric'. (I work at this facility.) In the letter, I pointed out that pain of this magnitude does not make women want to go through this again. One poster here said she didn't get any mammos for 10 years after her procedure, at which time she was diagnosed with bc. This does not help with patient compliance with monitoring and screening. The rad left a message on my answering machine that patient comfort is important. I thought I'd get at least 5 seconds of praise when I told my breast surgeon, but nothing doing. But I know I did the right thing.





Of course, every person is different, and some of us have painless procedures. But EVERY person's experience is VALID, and NO PATIENT should have painful procedures.

I had a breast MRI and thought it was inhumane to treat a woman like that. It was embarassing thru the procedure with two girls laughing but the pain was unbearable to be overweight and all my weight resting on my breast bone that felt like stone holding me in place for so long and didn't dare move. I felt like I had been abused when I was done. There was no empathy or helping me thru it that still makes me very angry. I would never go thru another one but don't have to. I had to have a double mastectomy which was two years ago. I still have that vivid anger at just having to take the pain unassisted.

I had my breast mri yesterday, 7/28.   Although I experienced pain during the procedure (did want to push the alarm several times), it wasn't until they were done and I stood up that I felt like an Elephant was sitting on my chest.  This extreme heaviness lasted about 15 minutes. When I told this to the tech., her response was just 'that's from lying on your breast bone'. (which of course I knew that already)  Not sure why she did not offer any type of cushion as I did let her know it hurt from the beginning. I just don't understand why they wouldn't cushion that hard plate for everyone?  Why make patients suffer if there is no good reason?

My breast bone was sore/tender the rest of the day and I was very tired.  Now waiting for the Surgeon to call me back with the results.

Deb

I had my third breast MRI today and it was terribly painful. The pressure on my forehead was intense and I still have the headache. The breast bone pain was very difficult to bear. It goes way beyond discomfort. You have to wonder if the people who invent these machines nd tortuous positioning have ever laid on one for 45 minutes. I also have cervical stenosis and my arm and shoulder were in such horrible pain. I got through it by moving my arm a bit from time to time, trying to lift the weight off my forehead and praying. At least this MRI did not also involve a biopsy. Im grateful to be a two year cancer survivor but this is no way to celebrate the anniversary

nope I knew it was an old thread but it came up when I searched for Breast MRI pain on google so I wanted to post so others who search might find it. I was not expecting a reply.

Hi Sleepymommy,

Welcome to the BCO community!

Sorry to hear that you've been experiencing such pain after the MRI.

Have you spoke to your doctor about it yet?

Thinking of you

The Moderators.

Yes, I had my third MRI today. And it was a miserable experience. Laying directly on my sternum for half an hour, was very painful; not to mention I almost got sick on several occassions. Now my sternum is bruised and sore.

You are not alone in this feeling of discomfort.

I'm sorry you had a difficult experience with your MRI. I just found out I have invasive ductal carcinoma this week and had my first breast MRI last night. It was AWFUL!! I was not prepared mentally. I've had MRI's in the past, that were no big deal to get through, but never for the breast. The tech positioned me so poorly that I was not aligned right and he kept me in the tunnel for about an hour pushing it and jerking me around to get it set. By the time we did the actual images I was in so much pain from the bars gauging into my sternum and face that I felt like I was going to have a panic attack.....and I'm not prone to panic attacks. The tech barely spoke to me during the images and at points I felt like I was in an alternate universe with the siren sound and beeps. Minutes felt like forever. When I came out I sat in my car and cried for 15 minutes to let out the stress. Today I feel like someone beat me up. It was very helpful to read so many posts with others who had a difficult time with it and not feel alone with my reaction.

I have to say the MRI was very uncomfortable. My biggest problem was my arms being over my head for that long. Then the result that said I had to have an MRI biopsy, because some things lit up that turned out to be false positives. That pretty much made my BMX decision for me

I had a breast MRI yesterday. When I got back to the changing room I had red marks on my forehead, across the top of my chest and across my ribs. While laying face down my ribs were very uncomfortable but I toughed it out. I woke up this morning barely able to move my shoulders and I feel like my ribs have been punched and bruised. There has to be a better way.

I take the Valium they offer. I also go to my happy place in my head. I also sing songs in my head verse by verse. I had a shoulder injury before an MRI a couple years ago and it was really tough to be still. The tech packed extra towels under that arm and that helped.

My mri hurt too. I have large breast and they had them both hanging down through the holes in the table. The little padded bar that was directly on my sternum holding all my upper weight for 30 minutes sucked. I felt like a heavyweight boxer had punched me in the chest. Unfortunately, I have no tips just lots of sympathy.