Medical X-rays are used in many types of examinations and procedures. Some examples include

• X-ray radiography (to find orthopedic damage, tumors, pneumonias, foreign objects, etc);
• Mammography (to image the internal structures of breasts)
• CT (computed tomography) (to produce cross-sectional images of the body)
• Fluoroscopy (to dynamically visualize the body for example to see where to remove plaque from coronary arteries or where to place stents to keep those arteries open)
• Radiation therapy in cancer treatment.

In addition, many industries and institutions use X-rays:

• To examine constructed materials.
• To conduct sample analyses.
• For security purposes such as baggage screening.

Risks of X-Rays

X-rays can help detect diseases and health conditions but they also have a small potential to harm living tissue. The most significant risks are:

• A small increase in the possibility that a person exposed to X-rays will develop cancer later in life; and
• Cataracts and skin burns at very high levels of radiation exposure.

The risk of developing cancer from radiation exposure is generally small and depends on at least three factors - the amount of radiation dose, the age at exposure, and the sex of the person exposed:

• The lifetime risk of cancer increases the larger the dose and the more X-ray exams a patient undergoes.
• The lifetime risk of cancer is larger for a patient who received X-rays at a younger age than for one who receives them at an older age.
• Women are at a somewhat higher lifetime risk than men for developing radiation-associated cancer after receiving the same exposures at the same ages.

Help Protect Your Health

To help protect your health:

• Be sure to tell the doctor or technologist if you are, or might be, pregnant before having an exam.
• Don't insist on an imaging exam if the doctor explains there is no need for it.
• Don't refuse an imaging exam if there's a clear need for it and the clinical benefit outweighs the small radiation risk.

Helpful Links

• My Medical Imaging History (U.S. Food and Drug Administration - FDA): Use this handy record to track your medical imaging history.
• X-Rays, Pregnancy and You (U.S. Food and Drug Administration - FDA)
• Radiation and Pregnancy: A Fact Sheet for the Public (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC)
• For Parents: Image Gently Website (The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging)
• Nuclear Scans (Medline Plus: National Institutes of Health - NIH)