How to handle an MRI

It is very common that, when faced with hyperacusis symptoms, doctors order an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to try to detect a cause that could explain these symptoms. The noise produced by an MRI is very intense, reaching up to 130 dB, and the duration of the scan can last up to an hour and a half, which can cause irreversible damage to the inner ear without proper hearing protection.

Therefore, the medical center should provide MRI-compatible hearing protection (headphones without metal components) or any other form of protection that ensures the safety of our ears. However, I have encountered too many cases in which the patient is not provided with adequate hearing protection, or no protection at all. I personally experienced this when undergoing an MRI, where they only gave me simple cotton placed in my ears to face that excessive noise.

MRI equipment*

I have known cases of hyperacusis caused by acoustic trauma from MRI noise performed without hearing protection, so this recommendation should be taken very seriously. If you have to undergo an MRI, I recommend that, in case they do not provide hearing protection, you bring your own moldable silicone or foam earplugs and make sure you know how to insert them correctly to offer the full level of protection they are capable of.

With appropriate hearing protection, we can prevent irreversible damage to the inner ear, but once hyperacusis is present, excessive noise—even with protection—could worsen the condition. This largely depends on the severity of the hyperacusis, the exposure time, and the intensity of the machine's noise. As a reference, I can share my experience with an MRI when I had severe hyperacusis. The scan lasted about 30 minutes and did not cause any relapse. To ensure it would not cause any issues, I wore moldable silicone earplugs plus protective headphones filled with cotton for extra protection and to eliminate reverberations that could worsen my condition.

Furthermore, it is very likely that a doctor who truly understands hyperacusis would not order an MRI to determine its cause if it clearly appeared due to acoustic trauma, because they would know that in such cases MRIs provide no useful information and only entail unnecessary cost and risk.

* From Jan Ainali, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MRI-Philips.JPG