One of the most commonly asked questions about X-rays is about their safety. It is normal to be concerned about being exposed to radiation. However, digital X-ray is a safe diagnostic procedure. Even though it works with radiation, the level of electromagnetic radiation in X-ray imaging is very low. 

The amount of radiation in digital X-rays has decreased over the years due to technological advancements. The total radiation a person absorbs during a single X-ray imaging session is similar to the amount of radiation absorbed from the environment in about a week..

A provider at Urgent Care + TeleHealth will recommend an X-ray only after weighing its benefits and costs.

Many people are confused about whether they need a referral from their primary care physician prior to visiting Urgent Care for x-rays.

If you are covered by a PPO or an HMO which we accept, then your insurance is considered to be in-network, and no referral is needed for the x-ray and visit. Keep in mind that co-pays may be required depending on your insurance coverage.

If you are paying out-of-pocket with a debit card or your health care coverage includes an HSA or FSA account, we offer a self-pay discount.

We also see patients for just an x-ray when the primary care doctor doesn’t have x-ray in-house. In these cases, your physician can refer you to us and we would take the x-ray only and provide the report back to your primary care physician.

Digital X-rays are painless and only take a few minutes, depending on the treatment area. You can relax in a comfortable exam room while the X-ray technician sets up the equipment around you.

During the X-rays, you must remain as still as possible to get an accurate result. You might need to reposition your body several times during the test, based on the reason for your X-ray.

Once the imaging test is over, your Urgent Care + TeleHealth provider reviews the results to give you a proper diagnosis before your appointment ends. The medical team creates a customized treatment plan to address your injury or condition, or they can refer you to a specialist for further treatment. 

Many times your treatment can begin at our clinics immediately after the diagnosis.

The most common use of X-rays at our clinics is to diagnose pneumonias, or  fractures, dislocations and sprains caused by injuries from sports or in the workplace. We’ll look at bones and joints to detect fractures and breaks.

However, X-ray imaging also helps diagnose many other conditions. Some of the important health conditions requiring X-ray for diagnosis include the following:

• Skeletal Problems X-ray helps in the diagnosis of bone-related problems over a wide range. Diagnosing congenital bone structure problems such as skeletal deformities (kyphosis, scoliosis), skeletal fractures, and bone tumors are required.
•  Respiratory Disease Several respiratory diseases can be diagnosed and differentiated using X-rays. These include pneumonia, pneumothorax, atelectasis, emphysema, bronchitis, airway obstruction, and lung cancers. 
•  Dysphagia Dysphagia refers to the difficulty in initiation or propagation of swallowing. There are numerous causes of dysphagia, such as esophageal cancer, obstruction, or infection, and an x-ray may help diagnose the cause of dysphagia. 
• Breast Cancer Mammograms: X-ray is very useful for diagnosing breast cancer because it helps differentiate the type and extent of the tumor. This differentiation subsequently helps decide the treatment procedure. 
•  Abdominal and Pelvic Diseases The disease of the abdomen, such as constipation, intestinal perforation, intestinal obstruction, often presents with non-specific symptoms. X-ray helps differentiate diseases of the abdomen and pelvis according to their specific findings on X-ray.

In X-ray, electromagnetic radiation is passed through the body from an angle according to the requirement. These rays pass through the body and are detected by a detector on the opposite side of the body. Different parts/organs of the body absorb different amounts of rays.

The dense parts such as bones absorb more radiation and transmit fewer rays creating a white area on the image. The detector detects the level of transmitted rays through different tissues and creates an image accordingly. The hollow areas appear dark in the image, while dense tissues appear white.

Other technologies like X-rays used in medicine include CT scans and MRIs. CT scans and MRIs are more advanced than plain X-rays which take images from different angles, generating a 3D image. CT scan is more appropriate for bones, muscles, and brain, while MRI is better for visualization of soft organs of the abdomen such as the liver and spleen. If you need further advanced imaging, we at Urgent Care + TeleHealth, will order these specialized tests for you.

References

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3. Chen, H., Rogalski, M. M., & Anker, J. N. (2012). Advances in functional X-ray imaging techniques and contrast agents. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 14(39), 13469–13486. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3569739/
4. Parveen, N. R., & Sathik, M. M. (2011). Detection of Pneumonia in chest X-ray images. Journal of X-ray science and technology, 19(4), 423–428. https://doi.org/10.3233/XST-2011-0304
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