Everything You Need To Know About X-rays

Dr.Meinal Chaudhry, 4 mins read

We’ve all heard of “X-rays” at some point in life and in case you were still unsure; X-ray is a very common and efficient imaging test that has been in use for decades now. It helps your doctors  take a look at what’s happening inside your body without the need to make any incisions. These tests help them diagnose, monitor, and treat a whole range of medical conditions and various types of X-rays are used for different reasons. For example, a doctor may call for a mammogram to examine the breasts or they may suggest an X-ray to get a closer look at your gastrointestinal tract.

There are minuscule risks associated with getting an X-ray but for most, the potential benefits far outweigh the risks. If you’re considering an X-Ray in Delhi, speak with your doctor to know more about it and in case you’re thinking of getting an X-Ray in Dwarka, you can drop by Aakash Healthcare for a safe and infection-free X-Ray process at one of Delhi’s best X-Ray facilities.

Why is an X-ray

You could be asked to have an X-Ray by a doctor to:

• Better examine and assess any area where you’re facing pain or discomfort
• Monitor the progression of any disease diagnosed earlier
• Check the progress a prescribed treatment is making on you

Some conditions that may require an X-ray include breast tumors, bone cancer, blocked blood vessels, bone cancer, infections, fractures, arthritis, osteoporosis, tooth decay, and some others.

Preparing for an X-ray

X-rays are common procedures and usually, you will not need to take any special steps to prepare for them. Depending on the area being examined by a radiologist, you may want to wear comfortable and loose clothing that you can move around in. You may have to change into a hospital gown for the test and you may be required to remove any jewellery or metallic items before your X-ray is taken.

Please tell the radiologist/doctor if you have any metal implants from surgeries you had before as they can block X-rays from passing through the body and creating clear images.

In some cases, people may have to take a “contrast dye” before the X-ray. This substance helps improve the quality of the images. The contrast dye can be given in different ways:

• Via a liquid that you swallow
• Via injection
• Given as an enema before the test

If you’re having an X-ray for examining your gastrointestinal tract, you may be asked to fast for some amount of time before

Here are some questions and concerns people have about X-rays, and we’ve tried to answer the most common ones below.

• What are X-rays and what is their function?

X -rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation that passes through the human body and create shadowy images of bones and some organs and can reveal signs of disease or injury.

X- rays are used in procedures such as radiography, which produces still X-ray images

fluoroscopy, for certain diagnostic and treatment procedures, and computed tomography, which produces better, more detailed still images.

Our body does absorb some of the X-rays’ energy and these really low radiation doses absorbed during the procedure generally have no ill effects, but we still try and keep the doses at an absolute minimum. Very large radiation doses are meant for radiation oncology or therapy to stop the spreading of cancer cells.

• How safe are X-rays?

Adverse effects from radiation absorbed in the X-ray are rare. For example, the radiation dose absorbed from a conventional X-ray examination of say, a chest X-ray (radiograph) or an X-ray of the abdomen, arms, or knees is 4” really very low and it is lesser than that which our bodies get from natural sources. Still, even at these low levels, it cannot be ruled out that the doses do not cause cancer or genetic side effects. As such, we have no practical evidence of such effects from any human studies to date, and that’s many decades of studies, but the theoretical possibility cannot be ruled out as means of good medical consideration.

• Which X-Ray procedures come with higher radiation doses?

Computed tomography (CT) and interventional procedures like angiography and cardiac catheterization are associated with higher doses of radiation, about 100 to 1000 times more than a chest X-ray.

• What are the potential effects of radiation on health?

Most diagnostic investigations do not have adverse effects but procedures with higher doses such as a CT could cause biological effects in some cases.

Naturally, higher absorbed doses mean a higher risk of adverse effects but there are no reports of radiation exposure in diagnostic and interventional procedures leading to infertility or cataracts.

• Can I have an X-ray while I am pregnant?

Yes, but with certain precautions, and the aim is always to minimize the unborn child’s radiation exposure

If you have any more questions or feel unsure, feel free to call us and we’ll help you as best we can.

Patients visit Aakash Healthcare, Dwarka to get the X-ray test done. We are one of the best X-ray centers/hospitals in Dwarka, Delhi. We use the most recent innovations to help people recover from their illnesses. The radiology department provides an array of advanced imaging services which includes all radiological services. We have one of the best radiologists in Dwarka, Delhi. We are aware that it is difficult for common people to pay for life-saving diagnostic scans so we come up with various schemes from time to time to reduce the cost/charge/price of X-ray tests in Delhi. Our offerings are X-ray abdomen/abdominal X-ray, Chest X-ray, X-ray PNS, knee X-ray, foot X-ray, and shoulder X-ray, teeth X-ray apart from CT & MRI scan, Ultrasound, Mammography, and Dexa scan among several other radiological services.

Also, Read: MRI Scan - The procedure, uses, and side-effects