Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

What You Need To Know About MRI

Learn how MRI helps us see inside your foot and ankle to guide focused treatment.

Understanding Foot and Ankle MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the fastest and safest non-invasive method to get the clearest pictures of your foot and ankle condition. Since their invention in the late 1970’s, MRIs have grown to become an indispensable part of practice for podiatric and orthopedic physicians. MRI allows us the ability to see inside the body, visualize a structure, determine the extent of injury, and provide focused treatment.

MRIs do this all without using X-rays. Instead, an MRI uses a magnetic field that absorbs or deflects the electric charge given off by the cells themselves and creates a picture from that deflected charge. This makes MRI especially useful for looking at soft tissues, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone marrow that other imaging methods may not show as clearly.

While MRI has universal applications, not everyone qualifies for its use. Those with brain aneurysm clips, metallic foreign bodies in the eye, recent surgery with orthopedic implants, pacemakers, or cochlear implants should not use MRI. Our technologists are trained to determine if MRI will be allowable for use before your scan begins.

If you have persistent foot or ankle pain, a suspected soft tissue injury, or a condition that has not been fully explained by an exam or X-ray, your provider at SoCal Foot Care can discuss whether an MRI is the right next step for your care.

Our Open MRI Experience and Process

We use industry-leading Extremity OPEN MRI machines to offer advanced imaging technology to our patients. Our MRIs are open machines, so you do not have to lie in a tube. You comfortably sit in an attached chair and simply place your leg in the machine while the MRI takes its pictures.

Aside from being open, our machines are much quieter than traditional MRIs, making the experience more comfortable for patients who feel anxious about enclosed spaces or loud noises. This design is especially helpful for foot and ankle imaging, where only the affected limb needs to be positioned inside the scanner.

The MRI process typically takes around one hour. All of our MRIs are read by a board-certified musculoskeletal MRI radiologist who will provide a report within 24 hours of your scan. Having a specialist review the images helps ensure that subtle findings in the foot and ankle are identified accurately.

Once the report is available, an appointment will be made with your doctor to review the MRI and discuss treatment based on the findings. From there, your provider can build a focused plan to address exactly what the imaging revealed, so you can move forward with clear answers and next steps.