--- title: Does my size matter if I need an MRI? description: Yes you can get a high-quality MRI scan in a comfortable setting The short answer is yes However weight can impact the ability to perform some MRI image: https://info.shields.com/hs-fs/file-13766704-jpg/images/f--siemensespree-espree_business_sm11783_mr_04_207x163.jpg --- Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Scottish Gaelic Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala SlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSudaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu Search for: [![Shields Health Care Group](https://info.shields.com/hubfs/Shields_February2019/Images/logo_main.png) ](https://shields.com/) Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Scottish Gaelic Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala SlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSudaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu # Does my size matter if I need an MRI? 9.16.10 ![F SiemensEspree Espree business sm11783 MR 04 207x163](https://info.shields.com/hs-fs/file-13766704-jpg/images/f--siemensespree-espree_business_sm11783_mr_04_207x163.jpg)Generally speaking you can get a high-quality MRI scan in a comfortable setting regardless of your body size. Access to care is not driven by body size though your personal comfort may come into play. In fact, professional athletes of all shapes and sizes have completed an MRI scan or two!  The opening of the MR unit, called the bore, varies in width and this may directly impact your comfort level. If you have serious concerns about space you should ask the facility if they have an "open" MRI. The scan time on an "open" MR unit may be longer because it can take longer to acquire the images of the particular body part. The more confined the space or the pain associated with your injury may also impact your ability to remain still during image acquisition and therefore, the scan will take longer. But be assured plenty of  patients fall asleep and enjoy a power nap during the scan.  Recent technological advances have led to the high-field open bore MRI that can accommodate a patient up to 550 lbs and deliver high quality diagnostic images.  As a patient, ask about ways to increase your comfort level. The little things, like music, may make you more comfortable and less focused on space.  I have accompanied my daughter and my mother into the scan room to help reassure them. So ask if a guest can come into the scan room (provided they have been properly screened). Some patients like to cover their eyes to relax.  Medical care is a personal experience so try what works for you.    Do you have suggestions? ### Archives - [August 2010 (10)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/08) - [September 2010 (8)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/09) - [November 2010 (4)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/11) - [October 2010 (3)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2010/10) - [December 2012 (2)](https://info.shields.com/archive/2012/12) ### Latest Posts ### Posts by Category - [MRI (40)](https://info.shields.com/topic/mri) - [Shields MRI (20)](https://info.shields.com/topic/shields-mri) - [PET/CT (19)](https://info.shields.com/topic/petct) - [sports (15)](https://info.shields.com/topic/sports) - [radiology (14)](https://info.shields.com/topic/radiology) - [MR (11)](https://info.shields.com/topic/mr) - [Shields (11)](https://info.shields.com/topic/shields) - [cost (10)](https://info.shields.com/topic/cost) - [imaging (10)](https://info.shields.com/topic/imaging) - 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