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Let's Do MRI Immediately

  • Writer: Madhukar Dama
    Madhukar Dama
  • 1 day ago
  • 9 min read

How a rare emergency tool became an everyday addiction



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1. What is an MRI?


MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. It is a machine that takes very detailed pictures of the inside of your body. It shows things like muscles, nerves, brain tissues, organs, and even small changes inside the spine.


It works without using X-rays. Instead, it uses very strong magnets and radio waves.


In many ways, it is one of the most advanced medical tools today.


In India, a single MRI scan can cost between ₹6,000 and ₹15,000, depending on the body part, location, and whether contrast dye is used.



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2. Who invented MRI — and why?


Most people think MRI came from hospitals, but it was actually developed by physicists, not doctors. Scientists like Isidor Rabi, Felix Bloch, and Edward Purcell first explored how atoms behave in magnetic fields. Later, Raymond Damadian, Paul Lauterbur, and Peter Mansfield helped turn those ideas into machines.


The first medical use of MRI happened in the 1970s and 80s. But it was never meant to be used casually. It was created to solve rare and difficult cases, when other tests failed.


Originally, MRI was used as a last resort—only when symptoms were serious and other scans couldn’t help.



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3. MRI is powerful — and that’s not always a good thing


MRI machines are incredibly strong. They use magnets that are 10,000 to 30,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field. That’s why no metal is allowed in the room.


It can spot tiny problems: a soft swelling, a small nerve pinch, or a minor bulge in the spine.


But the problem is: not every change is dangerous.


Normal aging can look scary on a report. Words like:


“Degeneration”


“Disc bulge”


“Lesion”


“Cyst”



… often make patients believe they’re sick — even when nothing serious is going on.


A study from Michigan Medicine (2022) showed that whole-body MRIs in healthy people often lead to unnecessary follow-ups and treatments.



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4. How MRI became common in India


Earlier, MRIs were rare. Government hospitals had long waiting lists. Private hospitals used it carefully.


Now, many private clinics own MRI machines. There are over 5,000 private diagnostic labs across India offering MRI. Some even advertise scan packages like:


"Whole-body MRI: ₹21,000"


"Early detection MRI package"



Many doctors refer patients for MRI even before doing basic checks. Sometimes to save time. Sometimes due to fear of legal trouble. Sometimes for referral commissions.


Today, even patients ask for MRI themselves — without symptoms.



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5. People now believe MRI is a magic wand


Now MRI is treated like a super-tool:


Headache? MRI.


Mild backache? MRI.


Fatigue? MRI.


Anxiety? MRI.


No symptoms? Still MRI — to be "sure."



Some companies even offer MRI as part of executive health packages. Ads say:


> "Scan your entire body in one hour. Find hidden threats before they grow."




But this belief is wrong. MRI does not guarantee peace of mind. It often creates new confusion.



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6. Consequences for the patient


🔻 a) Financial damage


Each scan costs ₹6k–₹15k.


Many people do it 2–3 times a year.


A family of four can spend ₹50,000+ a year — just for fear.



🔻 b) Mental stress


Most reports use medical English. Even harmless findings sound scary. People Google them and imagine the worst.


They run to multiple doctors for second opinions. Many develop health anxiety and stop trusting their body.


🔻 c) Unnecessary treatments


Doctors often respond to MRI reports with:


Extra painkillers


Steroid injections


Surgery referrals



Many of these were not needed.


A 2021 study in the Indian Journal of Orthopaedics found that over 30% of spine surgeries were done because of MRI findings alone, not due to physical symptoms.


🔻 d) Physical side-effects


MRI contrast dye (gadolinium) can cause nausea, rashes, and in rare cases, kidney damage.


Repeated contrast use may leave metal traces in the brain (FDA safety bulletin, 2017).


Patients may feel claustrophobic, dizzy, or stressed during scans.



🔻 e) Addiction to scanning


Once people start, they can’t stop:


> “Let’s scan again in 6 months.”

“Let’s scan the other organs too.”




MRI becomes a habit, not a tool.



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7. MRI can create more health problems


It shows normal age-related changes as if they are dangerous.


These findings lead to fear, treatment, and loss of peace.


Even if nothing is wrong, people worry they might "develop something" soon.


Slowly, they lose confidence in their own body.




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8. MRI as modern proof of love


In urban Indian families, people now use MRI to show concern:


> “If you really care, get the scan done.”

“I booked an MRI for you — I love you.”




Some couples give MRI packages as birthday gifts. One Bangalore clinic ran a Valentine’s Day ad:


> “Couple MRI Scan — for the Health of Your Love.”




But scanning someone is not love. It is fear disguised as affection.


True care is:


Observing your body


Taking rest


Eating right


Avoiding unnecessary panic




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9. When MRI is truly useful


There are times MRI is essential:


Sudden loss of strength or sensation


Serious, unexplained headaches


Suspected tumour or internal bleeding


Fits or seizures


When X-ray, ultrasound and clinical exam all fail



If your doctor explains clearly why an MRI is needed, you should do it. But always ask:


> “What will change based on this scan?”




If the answer is “nothing” — maybe wait.



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Conclusion


MRI is a powerful invention. It has saved lives when used wisely.


But in today’s India, it is being overused — sold in fear, packaged in emotion, and normalised through marketing.


It does not prevent disease. It does not bring peace. It is not love.


Scan if needed. Don’t scan because of fear, trends, or pressure.


And remember —


MRI cannot heal you.

Only your body, your choices, and your peace of mind can do that.




Let's Do MRI Immediately – A Dialogue with Madhukar


Scene: A rural home in South India. A large family sits on a long bench under the neem tree. The sun is still soft. Madhukar has come with a steel tumbler of buttermilk and a cloth bag.


Characters:


Madhukar – Natural healer, mid-40s, calm and warm.


Ramesh – Government clerk, 48.


Leela – Ramesh's wife, 44.


Bhaskar – Their son, 26, IT employee in Bangalore.


Nandini – Bhaskar’s wife, 25.


Amma – Ramesh’s mother, 78.


Jaya – Ramesh’s sister, 40, teacher.


Vinay – Jaya’s son, 16, science student.


Dr. Murali – Distant cousin, 50, runs an MRI lab in a nearby town.




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Ramesh (pouring tea): Madhukar, you must help us today. We all are confused. These days it feels like MRI is the answer to everything.


Madhukar (smiles): You tell me, Ramesh—what made you feel that?


Leela: Last week I had mild back pain. Bhaskar called from Bangalore and said, “Amma, please go do MRI immediately.”


Bhaskar: I was just being careful! Everyone I know does full-body MRI once a year. It’s normal now.


Madhukar: Is it?


Bhaskar (confidently): It helps catch problems early, before symptoms start. Right?


Madhukar: Let’s go slow. First—what do you know about MRI?


Vinay (enthusiastic): It uses magnets, uncle. Very powerful magnets. No radiation. It gives full-body internal images.


Madhukar: Correct. Do you know who invented it?


Vinay: Some American doctor, maybe?


Madhukar: No. It was physicists. They studied how atoms behave in magnetic fields. Only later it was adapted for medicine.


Jaya: So it wasn’t invented for health?


Madhukar: Not at all. It was a physics discovery. First used in research labs. Medical use came much later.


Ramesh: But now it is everywhere. Every hospital has it. So what’s the problem?


Madhukar: The problem is in how we use it. Let me ask—do you remember when MRI used to be rare?


Amma: Oh yes. It was big news when someone in our village had to go for MRI. That too only if all other tests failed.


Madhukar: Correct. It was meant as a last resort. For hard cases. When other tests and exams couldn’t explain the suffering.


Nandini: But now even our HR gives discount coupons for annual full-body MRI.


Madhukar: And people take it like a festival offer.


Bhaskar: But what’s the harm in catching things early?


Madhukar: Let’s look. You pay ₹10,000 for a scan. The report says: “Mild disc desiccation. Early degeneration.” You panic. You go to three doctors. One suggests rest. One says surgery. One says physiotherapy.


Leela: All that because of one word?


Madhukar: Yes. Because reports use serious-sounding language. Even normal ageing is written in medical Latin.


Jaya: I saw one line in my husband’s report: "non-enhancing lesion in right parietal lobe." We didn’t sleep for three nights.


Madhukar: And what did it turn out to be?


Jaya: Just a small blood vessel variation. Common in 1 out of 10 people.


Madhukar: This is what I mean. MRI sees everything. But not everything it sees needs fixing.


Bhaskar: But at least we know. Isn’t that better?


Madhukar: Knowing without understanding is dangerous. MRI shows shadows. But it can’t tell which shadows matter.


Vinay: I read that contrast dye can cause reactions.


Madhukar: Yes. Gadolinium-based contrast is injected in some scans. It can cause nausea, rashes, and rarely, kidney issues. And repeated use can leave metal traces in the brain.


Amma: Aiyo. Why don’t doctors say that?


Madhukar: Some do. Some don’t. Sometimes even they don’t know long-term effects. And some are in a hurry.


Dr. Murali (interrupts): Madhukar, I run an MRI lab. Let’s be fair. We don’t force anyone. People want certainty.


Madhukar: I respect your work, Murali. But tell me honestly—hasn’t the number of scans increased tenfold in ten years?


Dr. Murali (quietly): It has. Because demand has grown.


Madhukar: And why has demand grown?


Dr. Murali: Fear. Convenience. And yes, sometimes commissions.


Bhaskar: Wait. Commissions?


Dr. Murali: Some doctors refer to specific labs and get a cut. It’s common.


Jaya: That’s terrible.


Madhukar: This is why you must ask: “What will change based on this scan?” If nothing will change, maybe wait.


Nandini: But what if something is hidden? Silent cancer or tumour?


Madhukar: Rare things exist. But scanning healthy people every year hasn’t reduced death rates. It has increased anxiety.


Ramesh: And expenses.


Leela: We spent ₹24,000 last year on three scans. All reports said 'mild this, minor that.'


Madhukar: That money could’ve bought better food, rest, and quiet.


Bhaskar: My friend gifted his parents MRI packages on their anniversary.


Madhukar: This is the new trend. MRI as proof of love. But love is not scanning. Love is staying present. Observing. Listening.


Amma: In our time, no one scanned unless they couldn’t walk.


Vinay: So when is MRI really needed?


Madhukar: When there is strong reason. Sudden paralysis. Fits. Suspected tumour. Or when X-ray and exam don’t explain the pain.


Dr. Murali: I agree. But people don’t like uncertainty. They want images, not patience.


Madhukar: True healing is slow. Scans don’t replace time. Or attention.


Ramesh (nodding): I understand now. We’re not against MRI. We are against abusing it.


Madhukar (smiling): Exactly. Let’s not make MRI a habit. Let it remain what it was meant to be — a rare, powerful, careful tool.


Amma (quietly): May our children learn to trust their bodies again.



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End of Dialogue



MRI FETISH


They lie there— silent, breathing in the stale, magnetic coffin, wearing a paper gown, head first, soul last.


This is not love, this is not care, it’s an obsession, a fear-fueled ritual of steel, 3-tesla overconfidence— they want images, not answers.


She had a headache, and he said— “Let’s scan your brain.” No exam, no conversation, just an appointment, a display of concern— like flowers, like chocolates, like a thousand-rupee scan coupon.


People don’t know where their liver is, but they want a report.


Nothing hurts until they’re told what might be hurting.


Fatigue becomes a lesion, aging becomes degeneration, bones become shadows, and peace becomes a prescription for panic.


Once upon a time, MRI was the monk, the final whisper in the temple of confusion— now it's a loudspeaker, a shop announcement, “Full-body scan ₹9999 only!”


Wives ask husbands, “Don’t you care enough to get an MRI?” Kids gift their parents couple scans. Executives reward themselves with a dose of magnets and call it wellness.


It's not diagnosis anymore— it’s decoration. It’s display medicine.


They queue up, in temples, in malls, and in diagnostic labs. Same clothes, same face, same fear.


And when the report comes— “Early signs of mild disc protrusion” which means you’re alive, which means you're human, but they treat it like a sentence.


They take pills, they take rest, they take pity, they take photographs of the report and send it to ten doctors.


No one touches them. No one examines them. Everything is remote, scanned, digitalized, outsourced.


The lab gets a cut, the doctor gets a cut, the chemist gets a cut, and the patient gets confusion.


Children learn to say “lesion” before “lung,” mothers learn to say “cyst” before “cook.” The disease vocabulary expands while their own language shrinks.


Nobody listens to their body— everyone listens to the scan.


Even when it’s lying. Especially when it’s lying.


Truth is, MRI is a half-truth that arrives in full confidence.


But we want answers that sound scientific. We want disorders to explain our dullness. We want proof that we are broken so we can feel taken care of.


And if nothing shows up? We feel insulted. We scan again.


Some have 5 MRIs by age 40. Some never needed even one.


Some people marry after blood tests, now they date after sharing MRI reports.


MRI is the new horoscope.


We used to check our pulse. Now we check our download folder.


Doctors used to talk. Now they forward scan PDFs.


Even disease has become corporate. Even fear has a catalog. Even death has EMI.


You aren’t healing, you’re subscribing.


This is not medicine. This is theater.


And the worst part?


When something real finally happens— when pain knocks loud and stays— no one listens, because the scan looks normal.


And they say, “Maybe it’s in your head.”


Yes, maybe, but even your head was scanned last month and it came back clean.


MRI is not truth. MRI is not love. MRI is not healing.


It’s an obsession. A factory. A fear machine. A fascination with the visible.


And it’s winning.


But not for long.


Somewhere, someone still listens to their breath. Someone presses their belly, feels their heartbeat, and trusts the silence within.


And they will never need to lie inside a giant, metal, million-rupee machine to believe they are alive.




 
 

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