Two things worry people about an MRI. The tube, and what the results will say. The first is manageable and the second is more complicated than anyone tells you.
An MRI takes 15 to 90 minutes depending on the body part. You lie still on a table that slides into a tube, wearing no metal, while the machine makes loud knocking and banging noises. There are no needles unless contrast dye is ordered, no radiation and no pain. You go home immediately afterwards and can drive yourself.
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. It uses a strong magnet and radio waves rather than X-rays, which is why the screening around metal is so strict and why there is no radiation exposure to worry about.
What do you have to do before an MRI?
You will complete a screening form, and it matters more than most forms you fill in. The magnet is always on, and it is powerful enough to move metal inside the body.
Tell them about a pacemaker or defibrillator, any implant, surgical clips or coils, a joint replacement, a stent, an insulin pump, a cochlear implant, a nerve stimulator or an IUD. Tell them if you have ever done metal grinding or welding, because fragments in the eye are a genuine risk and a scan of the eye is sometimes done first. Tell them if you are or might be pregnant.
Most implants placed in the last twenty years are MRI safe, so declaring something rarely cancels the scan. Not declaring it is the problem.
You change into a gown and leave everything metal in a locker. Jewellery, watch, glasses, hearing aids, hair clips, underwire, belt, coins and phone. Some makeup and some older tattoo inks contain metal, so mention them.
What does an MRI feel like?
You lie on a padded table. A coil, which looks like a plastic frame or a small cage, is placed over the part being scanned. The table slides into the tube.
Whether your head goes in depends on what is being imaged. A knee, ankle or foot usually goes in feet first with your head near the opening or outside it entirely. A shoulder, neck, back or head goes in head first.
Then the noise starts. Knocking, banging, buzzing and thumping, loud enough that earplugs or headphones are provided as standard. It is not gentle and it is not a sign anything is wrong. You will be given a call button to hold, and the technologist speaks to you between sequences.
The one demand is stillness. Movement blurs the images and can mean repeating a sequence, which lengthens the whole scan. This is the hard part when you are in pain, and it is worth naming before you start.
What if you are claustrophobic?
Say so when you book, not when you arrive. There is more that can be done in advance than on the day.
Options that exist at most centres include feet-first positioning where the body part allows, prism glasses that let you see out of the tube, a cloth over the eyes so you never see how close the ceiling is, a wide-bore machine, an open MRI at some facilities, and a friend or family member permitted to stand in the room with a hand on your leg. Your doctor can also prescribe a mild sedative, in which case you need someone to drive you home.
Ask how long your specific scan is and whether it is broken into sequences. Knowing you have to hold still for four minutes at a time rather than forty is often the whole difference.
What is contrast dye and will you need it?
Some scans use a contrast agent called gadolinium, given through an IV partway through. It highlights blood flow, inflammation and certain soft tissue detail.
People often report a cool sensation moving up the arm and sometimes a metallic taste. Tell the technologist if you have kidney problems or have reacted to contrast before. Many injury scans need no contrast at all, so ask when you book whether an IV is part of yours.
How long does it take to get MRI results in Canada?
The scan itself is read by a radiologist, who sends a report to the doctor who ordered it. Depending on urgency and the facility, that report commonly reaches the ordering doctor within one to two weeks, and sooner when the request was marked urgent.
The technologist will not tell you what they saw. That is not evasion. They are not permitted to interpret images, and asking puts them in an unfair position.
Book a follow-up with the doctor who ordered the scan rather than waiting to be called. Reports sometimes sit in an inbox, and the person most motivated to chase yours is you.
What does it mean if your MRI comes back normal?
This is the section that matters most and the one that is almost never written, so read it before your results arrive.
An MRI shows structure. It does not show pain. Those are different things, and the gap between them has undone a lot of people's confidence in their own bodies.
A clear MRI does not mean nothing is wrong with you. Soft tissue injury, nerve irritation, concussion and the whole category of pain that persists after tissue has healed can all be invisible on imaging. People are told their scan is normal and hear that they have been imagining it, which is not what a normal scan means.
The reverse is equally true. Reports frequently list degenerative changes, disc bulges, mild arthritis or wear consistent with age. These findings are extremely common in people who have never had a day of pain, which means a finding on a report is not automatically the cause of your symptoms and is not automatically evidence that your injury was pre-existing. Insurers sometimes read it that way. A treating physician can put it in context.
Take the report to your doctor and ask two questions plainly. Does anything here explain what I am feeling? Would you expect to see this in someone my age without symptoms?
What should you write down after an MRI?
- The date, the facility and which body part was scanned
- Whether contrast was used
- Which doctor ordered it and where the report is going
- How you felt during and after, especially if lying flat for that long triggered symptoms
- The date you received the results and who explained them to you
- What your doctor said the findings mean, in your own words
That last one protects you more than people expect. Months later, a report gets quoted back at you by someone who was not in the room when your physician explained it.
The Medical Appointment Tracker, Free Starter Edition gives you a page for the scan and a page for the results conversation.
Read next
- What happens at an independent medical examination
- What happens at a functional abilities evaluation
- How to document injuries after a car accident
Last verified August 2026. This article is general information for people in Canada and is not medical advice. Questions about your own scan or report belong with the doctor who ordered it.