When I had my shoulder trouble I had an MRI done with no dye and the docs couldn’t see anything wrong. They did the injection MRI and found my labrum was torn as well as a ligament.
The injection is right into the shoulder capsule. It is uncomfortable and was sore for a few days. It showed the docs all that was wrong though. I had a surgery called a “capsular shift” as well as the ligament repaired. My shoulder has been 100% for years. I can lift, work, throw, etc. no pain and my shoulder is totally stable. Before the surgery I had incredibly freaky range of motion. Now I have normal ROM and a healthy shoulder. Good luck, it’s a long road but well worth it.
[quote]tumbeh wrote:
When I had my shoulder trouble I had an MRI done with no dye and the docs couldn’t see anything wrong. They did the injection MRI and found my labrum was torn as well as a ligament.
The injection is right into the shoulder capsule. It is uncomfortable and was sore for a few days. It showed the docs all that was wrong though. I had a surgery called a “capsular shift” as well as the ligament repaired. My shoulder has been 100% for years. I can lift, work, throw, etc. no pain and my shoulder is totally stable. Before the surgery I had incredibly freaky range of motion. Now I have normal ROM and a healthy shoulder. Good luck, it’s a long road but well worth it.[/quote]
Thats what I was afraid of. The doctor said something about it being extremely painful but I wasnt sure if I heard him right. I was really hoping the dye was injected into a vein, not my actual shoulder.
It is called an MRI arthrogram. A regular MRI does not always allow diagnosis of labral problems. So they inject dye into your shoulder joint and then repeat the MRI. This way the labrum is better outlined and one can evaluate the labrum better. The dye is injected into the empty space around your e.g. labrum, bones, etc and it outlines them better.
[quote]WhiteLable412 wrote:
I have injured my left labrum and have already had an MRI. The doctor said he could not see what is wrong and that I have to go for another test.
I am not sure what it is called or how it is done, but I do know that they inject a dye into me to get a better picture.
Right now Im thinking its just another MRI done but with them putting a dye into my blood.
If anyone knows what I am talking about I would like to know what it is called.
Also if the dye is injected into my blood or into my actual cartlige.
Thanks for the help
EDIT- Will the area be numbed first? Anesteic? for something like that
[/quote]
What you are describing is MRI with contrast. The dye does not go into your blood, but rather into the joint capsule. In a nutshell, and in layman’s terms, the dye changes the color of the joint space so as to make visible any material which would otherwise blend in and be difficult to see. Think of black text on a black background- you have to highlight it in order to read it. The dye is basically a highlighter… if that makes sense.
Get your labrum repaired soon. I tore a labrum in my teens, but didn’t get it fixed for several years because it didn’t bother me. By the time I finally got it fixed at 21, early degenerative changes (osteoarthritis) had set in due to instability.