questions regarding CT scans

jjreddick · Guest

I am having a real hard time finding out info on CT scans and the inherent dangers of them on the internet. I only find things that say it is excessive radiation and that really scares me. I had a CT of my chest, or possibly my lungs for embolism (I'm 26, but this was a precaution because I was having chest pain) in the ER this past week. The doc didn't tell me any reason to be concerned due to the radiaiton, but if I knew it was a significant amount there was no way I would have gone through with it, I didn't even know enough to ask about it. Now I am pretty scared that A) I could have done irreperable harm by under-going a completely unecessary exam. B) I am worried about it even more because it was done through the ER at an obscene time at night, and the tech could have over-exposed the film. C) it looked like the scanner was going well past my "chest region" I could see the red laser beams at one point and it went down close to my pelvis... which also concerned be about radiation of my reproductive system. I know I sound paranoid, but I have found nothing to disuade me into thinking that I should not be worried and that I did not make a grave mistake by refusing the test. I am sorry about ranting on a message board but I am at my wits end, and I would really appreciate any feedback or comments from people in the know. Thanks for your time!

Guest · Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:25 pm Post subject: Radiation

You probably get more radiation on a 5hr flight than you did from that CT. Radiation produced by a CT exam does not harm any of your cells. So, don't worry. They won't do any type of imaging that would create irrepair :Dable damage and not warn you. In this day and age with everyone being so sue happy. Plus the tech could not have over-exopsed the film because it is a computer generated image thus the name CT (computed tomography). The image is manipulated through the use of a computer. So relax and smile-no harm was done to you! Very Happy