2 ms·

> > hunkering down in small, enclosed spaces is a kind of “swaddling” behavior left over from cuddling up with their moms and littermates when they were kittens

> > hunkering down in small, enclosed spaces is a kind of “swaddling” behavior left over from cuddling up with their moms and littermates when they were kittens. This isn't cat specific. The concept of boundaries is very important in healing trauma, and just in general is a key concept in human being's emotional development. It’s a fine line though. Modify the environment and you get the opposite effect. I’m an MR tech and we sedate about 1 in 20 to get them into the scanner. Obviously an MRI scanner isn’t anything close to a snuggle with mum, but it is a relatively enclosed space.

kstenerud 3y ago
I've been in an MRI scanner. It's not a calming experience by any measure. The shape of the thing is all wrong, the parts that move are unnerving, and it emits a stress-inducing sound. This is one device that REALLY needs a UX person to take a look at its outer design.
- lostlogin 3y ago
  A lot of patients every day end up asleep and a fair few say they wish it was longer. I’d be in that group. The noise is often described as a relaxing ‘white noise’ by this group. The outer shells are different between vendors and the Philips ones I trained on definitely looked more ominous than the Siemens ones I use now. The unnerving movement is partially due to the magnet interacting with the inner ear. It creates a sort of vertigo. Explaining this to someone who is anxious seems to help ‘it’s not you freaking out, it’s what magnets do to your inner ear and it eases after a few deep breaths’. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4409466/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4409466/
  - hansthehorse 3y ago
    I routinely fall asleep during longer scans. It may be because I've become very familiar with the process.
- brewtide 3y ago
  You don't like jackhammers above your head when listening to whatever cassette tape (I'm old!) you brought in being piped to your ears via ... Aquarium tubes? Don't move equates to my face itches, immediately.
  - lostlogin 3y ago
    It really does. And MRI causes peripheral nerve stimulation when run enthusiastically. We love fast gradient switching but hate the movement.
- lampington 3y ago
  Really? I rather like the German industrial techno they play while you're in it.
mikequinlan 3y ago
If mum screamed as loud as an MRI, nobody would snuggle with mum.
garblegarble 3y ago
>I’m an MR tech and we sedate about 1 in 20 to get them into the scanner. Another commenter has noted about the unpleasant sounds and ominous design, but I'm curious about your experience with other patient orientations - it occurred to me that a lot of the discomfort comes from going in head-first and on your back, that way you're losing any sort of autonomy. I assume there are scans that require people be on their front and looking out from inside the machine (or otherwise able to see out of the machine directly rather than via mirror), do you find that patients for those procedures don't require sedation as often?
- lostlogin 3y ago
  Breast MRI is usually done prone, and scans of the sternum or sternoclaviclular joints. It doesn’t seem to make much difference, but maybe I just haven’t noticed? I did have someone who was too claustrophobic to have a pelvis scan request to go in prone (and look out). We for the scan but it was a bit compromised as the hip joints then moved with breathing. Probably relevant, breast cancer and possible outcomes is a lot more scary than a sprained knee. Some things that help include giving a mirror to see out, a blindfold or showing patients that both ends are open. It’s definitely related to control somehow. Patients try to negotiate how far they go in or to come out for a few seconds. I always bring them out at that point, but once that starts it rarely ends with a complete scan. Subjectively, the rate of claustrophobia is going up. This, despite scans getting quicker and scanners larger and more open.
  - garblegarble 3y ago
    Fascinating, thank you!
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

kstenerud 3y ago

I've been in an MRI scanner. It's not a calming experience by any measure. The shape of the thing is all wrong, the parts that move are unnerving, and it emits a stress-inducing sound. This is one device that REALLY needs a UX person to take a look at its outer design.

lostlogin 3y ago
A lot of patients every day end up asleep and a fair few say they wish it was longer. I’d be in that group. The noise is often described as a relaxing ‘white noise’ by this group. The outer shells are different between vendors and the Philips ones I trained on definitely looked more ominous than the Siemens ones I use now. The unnerving movement is partially due to the magnet interacting with the inner ear. It creates a sort of vertigo. Explaining this to someone who is anxious seems to help ‘it’s not you freaking out, it’s what magnets do to your inner ear and it eases after a few deep breaths’. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4409466/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4409466/
- hansthehorse 3y ago
  I routinely fall asleep during longer scans. It may be because I've become very familiar with the process.
brewtide 3y ago
You don't like jackhammers above your head when listening to whatever cassette tape (I'm old!) you brought in being piped to your ears via ... Aquarium tubes? Don't move equates to my face itches, immediately.
- lostlogin 3y ago
  It really does. And MRI causes peripheral nerve stimulation when run enthusiastically. We love fast gradient switching but hate the movement.
lampington 3y ago
Really? I rather like the German industrial techno they play while you're in it.

mikequinlan 3y ago

If mum screamed as loud as an MRI, nobody would snuggle with mum.

garblegarble 3y ago

>I’m an MR tech and we sedate about 1 in 20 to get them into the scanner. Another commenter has noted about the unpleasant sounds and ominous design, but I'm curious about your experience with other patient orientations - it occurred to me that a lot of the discomfort comes from going in head-first and on your back, that way you're losing any sort of autonomy. I assume there are scans that require people be on their front and looking out from inside the machine (or otherwise able to see out of the machine directly rather than via mirror), do you find that patients for those procedures don't require sedation as often?

lostlogin 3y ago
Breast MRI is usually done prone, and scans of the sternum or sternoclaviclular joints. It doesn’t seem to make much difference, but maybe I just haven’t noticed? I did have someone who was too claustrophobic to have a pelvis scan request to go in prone (and look out). We for the scan but it was a bit compromised as the hip joints then moved with breathing. Probably relevant, breast cancer and possible outcomes is a lot more scary than a sprained knee. Some things that help include giving a mirror to see out, a blindfold or showing patients that both ends are open. It’s definitely related to control somehow. Patients try to negotiate how far they go in or to come out for a few seconds. I always bring them out at that point, but once that starts it rarely ends with a complete scan. Subjectively, the rate of claustrophobia is going up. This, despite scans getting quicker and scanners larger and more open.
- garblegarble 3y ago
  Fascinating, thank you!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]