MRI arthrogram

I was really nervous about the MRI because I get panicky when I am stuck and/or have no control over a situation. Obviously an MRI could bring out some of those panic feelings. So, I took a Xanax before the appointment, and then decided maybe I needed another one. Needless to say, I was really out of it when it came time for the actual MRI. I didn't have a care in the world. I was however surprised at how much the arthrogram part aggravated my hip. They poked me with a needle to numb me and then injected a big needle into my joint capsule. I was surprised with where the needle is actually injected. I was envisioning it on the outer part of my hip for some reason. It is very enlightening to realize exactly where your hip joint is! It is closer to your groin/bikini line. So...this is where the needle is injected. It isn't comfortable of course but it isn't terrible either. It took a looong time for them to get the dang needle in the right place. I swear I was laying there for 10 minutes with this big needle in me. You can watch on a tv screen that is an xray of where the needle is in relation to your hip. They have to get it in the exact right place and then they inject contrast dye for the MRI. I felt okay after the injection and the MRI wasn't that bad. My hip felt really full and almost bloated for the rest of the day. I was expecting to feel normal within a couple of days but I didn't. It seemed to get more painful and aggravated. I think they really bothered my joint capsule by trying so many times to get the needle in the right place. They told me it was super tight in my hip joint, as everything was "hanging on for dear life" to compensate for the misalignment of my hip. So, since it is so tight in there I guess it wouldn't take a lot to really aggravate things. I was limping around for about 3 weeks! I think I am in the minority for it hurting for so long. It made me realize that something really is not right in there but I was worried that I had started myself on a downward spiral with the arthrogram. I asked Dr. Peters about it about 1 1/2 weeks later at my appointment with him and he wasn't concerned. He said things were probably just irritated and should feel better within a couple weeks. I was surprised to hear it could still be another couple weeks before it felt better but eventually, the pain subsided.