X-rays allows us a literal look inside your body to locate the source of your pain. We’re not always looking for “broken” bones. Orthopaedic specific x-ray views allow us to paint a picture of how you move throughout the day.

We’re looking for joint space narrowing, loose bodies, tumors, and other acute/chronic changes that occur in active people so we can determine the best course of treatment.

Our providers like to treat you as though you have never been seen for the injury before. Orthopedics is a specialty office, so there are some different views the doctors like to utilize that vary greatly from the original X-ray you had performed elsewhere. (However, it is still beneficial to bring your original X-ray to your appointment, or call the office to have it sent to us). There are specific views we require in order to properly diagnose and plan a course of treatment for you. For example, our doctors may want to incorporate weight bearing images to better visualize the integrity of your joints.

You’re right in thinking that an MRI is more advanced than an X-ray but consider this, do you have pain while walking, or in a specific position?

Orthopaedic X-ray views are designed to obtain a snapshot of the body part in positions that mimic everyday activity. MRI’s are excellent at looking at soft tissue integrity but typically won’t tell us how you use your body. Bony abnormalities, such as arthritis or spurs, are better visualized on an x-ray. These abnormalities can be what attributed to the tear or other damage to the tendon/ligament. When X-ray and MRI are used together, it allows the doctor to better diagnose the cause of your pain and plan the proper treatment.

Your doctor has prescribed this x-ray examination to help in the diagnosis of your injury and/or illness. All radiation doses—including background radiation (this is radiation received from the earth), are considered to be harmful.

Radiation accumulates in your body over a very long period of time and is not something that a single X-ray will impact. You actually get radiation from many places in the environment and an X-ray is less radiation than you would get from a plane ride or a cell phone (that said, you wouldn’t want to get an X-ray every day). The digital x-ray equipment we use in our office is so technologically advanced that it significantly reduces radiation emission.

Your body absorbs approximately 0.001mSv of radiation during an X-ray. To put it into perspective you absorb 0.03mSv of radiation during a coast-to-coast flight.

As a diagnostic tool, the benefits of medical x-rays (a highly controlled dose) greatly outweigh the small, possible harmful effects that may be induced. However, you do have the right to refuse the x-ray examination.

Dose limits have been defined for radiation workers and the population by the government, but there is no specific permissible level recommended for patients having diagnostic x-ray examinations. The risk must always be compared to the medical necessity for an accurate diagnosis. There is no minimum or maximum number of x-rays allowed in one year or accumulative in a lifetime.