So you need to get a breast MRI. There is nothing to be afraid of if you know what to expect.

When you arrive for your appointment, a member of your health care team will give you a gown to wear and ask you to remove clothing and jewelry during the test. If you have trouble being in a small, confined space, let your referring physician know before your breast MRI. You may be prescribed a mild sedative.

A contrast agent (dye) may be injected into your veins through an intravenous (IV) line in your arm to enhance the appearance of tissues or blood vessels on the MRI pictures.

The MRI machine has a large, central opening. During the breast MRI, you lie face down on a padded scanning table. Your breasts fit into a hollow depression in the table, which contains coils that detect magnetic signals from the MRI machine. The entire table then slides into the opening of the machine.

The MRI machine creates a magnetic field around you, and radio waves are directed at your body. You won’t feel the magnetic field or radio waves, but you may hear loud tapping and thumping sounds coming from inside the machine. Because of this, you will be given earplugs to wear. During the test, the technologist monitors you from another room. You can speak to the technologist through a microphone. You’ll be instructed to breathe normally but to lie as still as possible. Your health care team member can provide you with a selection of music to help make you more comfortable and to help take your mind off the procedure. Our doctors at CBC try all these machines themselves to make sure they are as comfortable as possible for the patient.

The breast MRI appointment may take 30 minutes to one hour. Afterward a radiologist will review your results and get back with you within 48-72 hours to discuss their findings. See, nothing to it!