| Some CT scans for sinuses (with allergists or ENTs) are lower radiation. |
Define "safe"? There is no "safe" level of ionizing radiation. Every bit you are exposed to harms you a little more. |
Exactly. |
Those are mostly used in CT not MRIs. |
Meant to add this chart showing comparisons.
The URL if picture isn't large enough to read. https://infobeautiful4.s3.amazonaws.com/2011/03/2552_IIB_Radiation-Chart_Feb19.png There are many similar charts online to make comparisons. Of medical procedures, CT's are one of the most radioactive due to the tracers such as Barium dyes they use. |
Thank you. |
Seriously. Particularly when a huge % of cancer patients have radiation therapy. |
This is not true. Radiation is in our everyday environment. If you wear a dosimeter inside a building and walk outside, it will start ticking from the radiation from sunlight. We have evolved to live with radiation. Environmental regulators decided that, unlike any other substance known to man, the curve for damage from radiation was "linear no threshold" (meaning there is no dose that is harmless) based upon zero scientific evidence. How do I know this? I talked to one of the guys who wrote the regs. They had no evidence of harm from radiation at lower doses, so they just drew a straight line to zero. Every other substance known to man has a threshold beneath which there is no harm, and he agreed that is the case with radiation. If no level of radiation were safe, people who live in Colorado would have a higher incidence of cancer, not a lower one. This is just used to scare people. If you really believe this, then never fly in an airplane or live at altitude (or go inside any building in DC made of granite, which are literally radioactive). |
+1 |
You don’t know what you’re talking about. CT’s use ionizing contrast and MRI’s these days (especially for head things, breast things, and pelvic organ things) are given with the contrast gadolinium, a toxic heavy metal that doesn’t fully leave the body and can cause long term issues. Some people become incapacitated after just one dose, others after several doses as it builds up. |
I mean then don't go outside or fly on a plane? Being exposed to ionizing radiation is 100% inevitable and you weigh risks. Like getting a dental X ray to diagnose needing a root canal rather than letting your teeth rot. |
This 100% |
You really don't. Not unless you are treating cancer. You won't know or feel the consequences until a few years out. The fact is, a large percentage of cancers are caused, directly, from CT scans in prior years. Please stop having your son get the unless it's for a very very serious reason. OP: I realize this thread is days old, but you are right to question. Doctors get commissions for use of machines or are lazy. MRI would be the best logical next step. My FIL has sinus cancer and has yet to get a CT--they do MRI. So close to the brain, CT scans of the head should be avoided at all costs. |
If you think that the radiation of a dental x-ray is anywhere near the level of a CT scan, you really need to educate yourself. And by the way, you should limit the number of dental x-rays you have in your life. The dentists have to pay for those machines somehow, so unnecessary scans it is! |