A General Overview Of X-Rays
An X-ray examination uses electromagnetic radiation to make images of your bones, teeth and internal organs. Simply put, an X-ray allows us to take pictures of the inside of your body for diagnostic purposes.
One of the oldest forms of medical imaging, an X-ray is a painless medical test that we use in order to assist in understanding the cause of your symptoms, as well as how to help resolve them — even in emergency situations. It’s a fast, and safe way us to view potential conditions ranging from broken bones to pneumonia to cancer. Many different types of X-rays, such as bone or chest X-rays, exist. The type we may perform depends on what part of your body is being examined and for what purpose.
X-rays are safe and effective for people of all ages, even young children. X-rays are particularly useful for examining the chest, bones, joints and abdomen. An X-ray exam may:
- Determine whether a bone is chipped, dislocated or broken (fractured)
- Evaluate joint injuries and bone infections
- Diagnose and monitor the progression of degenerative conditions, such as arthritis and the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis
- Screen for heart and lung diseases
- Find artery blockages
- Diagnose the cause of persistent coughing or chest pain
- Check for broken ribs or a punctured lung
- Evaluate abdominal pain
- Locate objects that may have been accidentally swallowed by a child
- Determine whether you have injured a bone or disc in your spine
- Detect scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, and other spinal defects
- Evaluate infection of the sinuses (sinusitis)
- Locate dental problems such as cavities, abscessed teeth, and other tooth and jaw abnormalities
X-ray exams also play an important role in the detection and diagnosis of cancer. Cancer may appear lighter in color on an X-ray than does normal, healthy lung tissue. X-rays may also be used to examine cancers of the intestines, stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys and breasts.
You may worry that X-rays aren’t safe because high levels of radiation exposure can cause cell mutations that may lead to cancer. But the amount of radiation you’re exposed to during an X-ray is so small that the risk of any damage to cells in your body is extremely low.
For most X-ray examinations, the benefits of a medically indicated examination are thought to far outweigh the small risk. In addition, great care is taken to use the lowest radiation dose needed to produce the best images for the radiologist to evaluate. No radiation remains after an X-ray examination.
However, if you’re pregnant or suspect that you may be pregnant, inform the office before having an X-ray. Though the risk of most diagnostic X-rays to an unborn baby is small, we may consider whether it’s better to wait or to use another imaging test.
An X-ray machine produces an X-ray beam using a tube that is carefully focused on the body part being examined. The machine produces a tiny burst of radiation, at a safe level, that passes through your body and records an image on film or on a specialized plate.
As X-rays pass through your body, different tissues absorb different amounts of the radiation. This creates varying levels of radiation exposure on the X-ray film. For example, your bones are dense and absorb radiation well, so bones appear light on the film. But soft tissues, such as your skin, fat, muscles and organs, allow more radiation to pass through them, which makes them appear in varying shades of gray. Structures containing air, such as your lungs, appear dark.