Ask These Questions to Avoid Unnecessary Radiation from Medical Scans

X-rays and CT scans use radiation to make their pretty pictures.

Some scans, however, are unnecessary, and some give bigger radiation doses than you might realize.

A single x-ray isn’t going to kill you, but lifetime exposure matters.

Mammogramsuse low doses of radiation.

(Laws exist to limit your radiation dose from mammograms.)

CT scanscan vary from minimal to very high doses, up to the equivalent of 200 x-rays.

PET scansinvolve putting a small amount of radioactive tracer material in your body.

These range from medium to high exposure.

Not all scans are medically necessary.

Some experts sayup to one third of CT scans are unnecessary.

How much radiation will I be exposed to?

Is there an alternative scan that uses less radiation?

Are we using the lowest effective dose?

Have you taken my body size into account?

Did you check whether I’ve already had this scan recently?

Surprising Dangers of CT Scans and X-Rays| Consumer Reports

Photo byIcethim.