What to Wear for an MRI: Clothing and Safety Tips

The safest choice for an MRI appointment is loose-fitting, lightweight clothing made of plain cotton or basic synthetic fabric, with no metal fasteners, zippers, snaps, or decorative elements. Most imaging centers will offer you a hospital gown, and changing into one is the most reliable way to avoid problems. But the reason the clothing question matters goes well beyond the obvious “take off your belt and empty your pockets” advice. Modern fabrics, cosmetics, and wearable devices contain hidden metals and heat-trapping technologies that can cause real burns inside the scanner, and the risks are less intuitive than most people expect.

Why What You Wear Actually Matters

An MRI scanner uses powerful magnets and radiofrequency (RF) energy to create images of the body’s interior. That RF energy is what makes clothing relevant. When RF waves interact with metallic materials, those materials can heat up rapidly, sometimes enough to burn skin. Thermal burns are the most common injury sustained during MRI, and textiles like clothing and blankets are emerging as key factors in those injuries.¹ The burns happen fast and can catch both patients and technologists off guard because the source of the problem is often invisible to the naked eye.

Beyond burns, metal in clothing or on your body can distort the images the scanner produces. These distortions, called artifacts, can obscure the very anatomy the scan is trying to examine, potentially requiring a repeat scan. So the clothing question is really two questions wrapped into one: what keeps you safe, and what keeps the images clean.

The Hidden Metal Problem in Modern Fabrics

You might assume that if a garment does not have obvious metal components like a zipper or rivets, it is fine for an MRI. That assumption is increasingly wrong. A growing category of athletic and “tech” clothing contains metallic microfibers woven directly into the fabric. Silver threads, for instance, are embedded in activewear and base layers for their antimicrobial and odor-fighting properties. These fibers are invisible to the eye and often undetectable by touch, but they interact with the scanner’s RF energy just like any other metal.

A documented case of a patient experiencing a thermal burn during an MRI was attributed to invisible silver-embedded microfibers in an undershirt. The patient and the imaging staff had no reason to suspect the garment contained metal because it looked and felt like ordinary fabric.² As these materials become more common in everyday athleisure, the risk grows. Copper-infused socks, silver-threaded compression shirts, and similar products rarely advertise their metal content prominently on the label.

This is one of the strongest arguments for simply changing into a facility-provided gown rather than trying to determine whether your own clothes are safe. If you prefer to wear your own clothing, stick with garments you are confident contain nothing but plain cotton, linen, or basic polyester. When in doubt, ask the MRI technologist. They screen for these issues routinely and would rather spend a minute checking your shirt label than deal with a burn.

Heat-Trapping Fabrics and Thermal Clothing

Even clothing without any metal content can pose a risk if it is designed to trap and retain body heat. A reported case involved a patient who wore thermal base-layer clothing into the scanner. After the scan, the patient experienced a heating and sunburn-like sensation across their back. The clothing technology itself, engineered to absorb and retain moisture-generated warmth, appeared to amplify the thermal effects of the RF energy.³

Fabric can trap heat and sweat close to the body even when no metallic fibers are involved, and that retained warmth combined with the RF energy in the bore of the magnet creates conditions for thermal injury.¹ Thick layers, heavy fleece, and insulated garments all fall into this category. If your MRI is scheduled during winter and you are bundled up, you will almost certainly need to strip down to lighter layers or change into a gown. The scanner bore is temperature-controlled, so you will not freeze.

Undergarments, Fasteners, and Zippers

Most imaging centers ask patients to remove bras with underwire, and for good reason. The metal wire sits directly against skin and is an efficient antenna for RF energy. But underwire is just the most obvious offender. Metal hooks, snaps, clasps on bras and shapewear, and even the small metal grommets on drawstring waistbands all carry some risk. Sports bras without any metal hardware are generally fine, and many patients wear them without issue. The key is to check every closure and decorative element.

Pants with metal zippers, jeans with rivets, and belts with buckles all need to come off. Elastic-waist cotton or knit pants with no hardware are a good option if you want to avoid wearing a gown for a scan of the head, neck, or upper body. For lower-body or full-body scans, the gown is usually unavoidable. If you are wearing scrub-style pants or loose sweatpants with nothing metallic, many technologists will let you keep them on, but they will check first.

Makeup, Cosmetics, and Skincare Products

Cosmetics are a frequently overlooked source of metal in the MRI environment. Many makeup products contain iron oxide as a pigment, and iron oxide interacts with the scanner’s magnetic field. A study testing 38 commonly used cosmetics at a 3-Tesla MRI found that artifact sizes ranged from small for products like eye shadow to very large for items like hair loss concealers, and the artifacts tended to be associated with iron oxide or other metal-based ingredients.⁴

The practical concern here depends on what body part is being scanned. If you are getting a brain or head MRI and you are wearing foundation, mascara, eyeliner, or eye shadow containing iron oxide pigments, those products can create dark voids or bright spots on the images that obscure the anatomy your doctor needs to see. For a knee MRI, your mascara is unlikely to matter. But for any scan of the head, face, or neck, arriving with a clean face is the simplest solution. Metal-containing cosmetics are unlikely to cause burns in the small quantities applied to skin, but they absolutely compromise image quality in the scan region.

Hair products deserve a mention here too. Metallic-based hair dyes and especially hair loss concealers, which use iron-based powder to create the appearance of thicker hair, produce some of the largest artifacts seen in cosmetics testing. If you use these products regularly, wash them out before a head or neck scan.

Tattoos and Permanent Makeup

Tattoo ink, particularly older formulations and certain colors, can contain iron oxide pigments. These pigments can react to the RF energy in the scanner. A case report of a professional football player documented a skin burn during an MRI attributed to the ferromagnetic metallic compounds in tattoo pigments.⁵ In a survey of people with permanent cosmetic tattoos who underwent MRI, two subjects reported sensations during scanning: one described slight tingling and another described burning, though both sensations were temporary.⁶

Research into the specific mechanism has identified magnetic impurities in cosmetic tattoo inks made with iron oxide pigments, including magnetite, goethite, and hematite. Magnetite is considered the primary culprit behind the burning sensation some people experience.⁷ The proposed mechanism involves electrical stimulation of nerve fibers near the pigment particles when those particles are activated by the scanner’s magnetic force.

Having a tattoo does not disqualify you from getting an MRI. The vast majority of tattooed patients undergo scans without any incident. But you should always tell the technologist about your tattoos, especially large ones or those containing red, brown, or black inks, which are more likely to contain iron-based pigments. Permanent makeup like eyeliner or lip liner tattoos also falls into this category. The technologist may place a cool compress on the tattooed area during the scan or check on you more frequently. If you feel warmth, tingling, or discomfort over a tattoo during the scan, alert the staff immediately using the call button you will be given.

Hair Accessories and Extensions

Bobby pins, metal hair clips, and barrettes are straightforward: remove them before entering the scan room. But hair extensions secured with metallic microbeads are a less obvious hazard. These small metal beads can be made of ferromagnetic materials, creating a risk of the beads being pulled or dislodged by the magnet’s force. They also produce significant image artifacts that degrade scan quality.⁸

If you have extensions attached with metal beads or clips, you should contact the imaging center before your appointment. Removing and reinstalling extensions is time-consuming and expensive, so knowing in advance whether they need to come out saves frustration. Some extension methods use non-metallic attachment points like keratin bonds or tape-in adhesive, which are generally MRI-compatible. Wigs without metal clips are also fine. The concern is specifically with ferromagnetic attachment hardware close to the scalp.

Contact Lenses

Standard soft contact lenses are safe to wear during an MRI. The issue arises with specialty or cosmetic lenses. Circle contact lenses, the oversized cosmetic lenses popular for creating a wide-eyed look, typically contain iron oxide pigment in the colored portion. That iron oxide creates susceptibility artifacts on MRI, meaning it distorts images in the eye and orbit region.⁹ If you are having a brain or orbital MRI, remove decorative colored lenses beforehand. Regular prescription lenses and non-tinted soft contacts are not a concern.

Transdermal Patches and Medication

If you use a medication patch, such as a nicotine patch, fentanyl patch, hormone patch, or nitroglycerin patch, check with the imaging center before your scan. Some transdermal patches contain metallic backing that can heat up during MRI. The landscape of which patches contain metal and which do not has changed over the years as manufacturers have reformulated their products, and notably, most manufacturers have not specifically evaluated the safety of their patches during MRI scanning.¹⁰

The safest approach is to contact your prescribing doctor and the MRI center in advance. In many cases, the patch can be removed before the scan and a new one applied afterward. But do not remove a medication patch without medical guidance, especially for patches delivering pain medication or cardiac drugs. The MRI technologist and your doctor can coordinate timing so you are not left without medication for longer than necessary.

Wearable Medical Devices

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are increasingly common, and patients often wonder whether they need to remove them for an MRI. Research on this is evolving. Testing of several CGM sensors in a simulated 3-Tesla MRI found that the displacement forces exerted on the sensors were more than a hundred times smaller than the force required to dislodge them from the body, and data stored in the sensors remained intact after exposure.¹¹ A separate study found that RF-induced heating in CGM components was less than 2°C during a 3-Tesla simulation, and the electrical current induced was minimal.¹²

That said, most CGM manufacturers still instruct users to remove the device before an MRI, and imaging centers generally follow manufacturer guidelines. Check with both your device manufacturer and the MRI facility ahead of time. The same applies to insulin pumps, which almost always need to be disconnected and left outside the scan room. Hearing aids, smart watches, fitness trackers, and any other electronic wearables also stay outside.

Face Masks and Respiratory Protection

This became a pressing concern during the pandemic, when both patients and staff were wearing masks in the MRI suite. Testing of eight FFP3 respiratory masks found that five contained ferromagnetic components and were considered unsafe for MRI. Only two were deemed safe for both staff and patients.¹³ The metal nose clips in many surgical and N95-style masks are the main concern. If you need to wear a mask for infection control reasons, the imaging center will typically provide an MRI-safe mask. Do not assume your own mask is fine just because it looks like a standard disposable one.

Body Positioning Inside the Scanner

Even after you have removed every problematic item, how your body is positioned inside the bore matters. When skin touches skin or touches the bore wall, particularly in areas where the body can form loops with itself, such as crossed ankles, arms touching your sides, or thighs pressed together, the RF energy can concentrate at those contact points and cause localized heating. The commonly believed mechanism involves the formation of conductive loops by the patient’s posture, though the exact physics of burns at contact points like the bore wall and the elbow remains an area of active research.¹⁴

The technologist will position you with padding between your legs, arms, and the bore walls. This is not just for comfort. Those foam pads and blankets create insulating gaps that prevent skin-to-skin and skin-to-bore contact. Keep your arms at your sides but slightly away from your torso, do not cross your ankles, and do not clasp your hands together during the scan. If the padding shifts and you feel a warm spot developing, use the call button. A brief pause to reposition is far better than a burn.

What to Actually Bring and Wear

If you want to minimize hassle at your appointment, the ideal outfit is a cotton T-shirt and elastic-waist cotton or knit pants with no metal anywhere. No zippers, no rivets, no decorative studs, no underwire, no metallic thread. Skip the jewelry entirely: rings, necklaces, earrings, watches, piercings all come off. Leave them at home or locked in your car rather than in a changing room locker if you are worried about losing them. Arrive with a clean face if your scan involves the head or neck. Bring your regular glasses to the waiting room but expect to leave them outside the scan room.

Shoes come off before entering the magnet room. Most people wear socks during the scan, which is fine as long as those socks are not copper- or silver-infused athletic socks. Hospital-issued non-skid socks are a safe alternative. If you use orthotic inserts with metal components, leave those with your shoes.

For children being scanned, the same rules apply. Costumes with metallic thread, light-up shoes with batteries, and clothing with sequins or metallic screen-printing should all be swapped for plain cotton pajamas or similar. The simpler the outfit, the faster the check-in process and the sooner the scan can begin.