children's x-rays

[AliAmble]

Hi.
My daughter who is just over one was referred for an ultrasound of her hip. when I arrived at the hospital I was told that she was too old for an ultra sound and should have an x-ray.

As the specialists were fairly confident that she did not have a hip problem but just wanted the x-ray to be 100% sure I questioned whether she should have an x-ray as I was concerned about radiation of her ovaries. The doctor assured me that a shield would be put on her ovaries but the person carrying out the x-ray said that it was not appropriate and took the x-ray without using a shield. The result of the x-ray showed that her hips are fine, as thought.

I now regret having had the x-ray done. I just didn't have the time to properly think about it as I had been told that my daughter would be having an ultrasound. When I got home and googled whether the x-ray could have done any long-term damage of course I found mixed opinions but one article said that an x-ray of the ovaries could lead to future miscarriages and birth deformities and that has sent me into a panic! Has anyone had x-rays of their hips (and ovaries) when they were kids and gone on to have healthy pregnancies and children? Or has anyone had problems?
I just can't shake off the feeling that i have let my daughter down by exposing her to an unnecessary risk.
Thanks for your help.

Yup u r rite chest x rays of v low dose , 0.01-0.02 msv , i dont wana give u tension but when they x ray for chest thyroid also gets radiation n its v sensitive in kids n teenagers , n my son had one chest x ray n 4 mandible i.e lower jaw views so his thyroid got irradiated 5 times which makes me feel sick , let me attach my son’s chest x ray whole of his neck also got radiations

I worry about my DD. She had about 20 x rays done on her broken arm last year. It was a very complicated break and there were complications with casts and we ended up the hospital every 2-3 days for new x rays and casts. It was necessary so she could regain the use of her arm but it’s not nice to think of all those x rays.

If I remember correctly, I was looking at the x-ray and it was only the chest part that got x-rayed.

Hayaa, you got me very worried now.

Lovetoholiday Awww m sorry for that but if u already saw ur dd ‘s x rays n it was just chest then u shouldnt be worried and there were just 2 images with least radiation dose, so plz dont take tension and just relax , everything ll be fine
Nomorecakes dear all the kids who get fractures of limbs get multiple x rays before n after pop n the dose of those x rays is damn low 0.005 msv which is so less n in limb there r no vital organs like thyroid liver kidney lungs stomach etc etc so u shouldnt even think abt these images coz they can never do anything bad to anyone

Hayaa, my dd said her chin was resting on a metal so I guess they did x-ray her neck. (It was a standing up x-ray) Now I'm very worried.

Reports from Japan say drinking miso soup get rid of radiation from body.

Nopes my dear there r different techniques either lying down or standing up. Ur dd had chest x ray not neck x ray. In chest x ray while standing we hav to place our chin where xray tech ask us to place, they want us to be stationery so that we dont get repeated images. so dont worry plz even i hav stopped worring or u can say i m
Worring less now about my kids xrays.
I have had loads of x rays of my chest abdomen joints teeth u can say xrays of all body parts and one ct scan abdomen 2 yeras back for intestinal obstruction n that has the most radiations around 10 msv but i am above 30 yrs so i m least concerned abt all these radiations but wen it comes to our kids we worry alot, thats what mothers cant stop doing,
I wish our kids safe healthy and long life

Hayaa, when it comes to my children's health I do worry a lot. Being a mum is such a hard job.

So your son had his x-ray lying down?

I never had a x-ray myself so don't know much on the subject. With chest x-ray, is it only one image taken from the front, and none from the side?

One last question and I will stop worrying. The metal that my dd's chin rested on, is it not a x-ray plate where the part of the body is being x-rayed?

The UK has some of the strictest medical radiation legislation in the world. (IRMER) Every exposure must have a valid reason for doing it. The small risk of the radiation is outweighed by the information gained by the x-ray. In many other countries they x-ray/scan much more frequently.
Just to put the figures quoted by Hayaa into context the background radiation level for the UK is an average of around 2.5 mSV. As this is an average some parts of the country will be higher as background is variable depending on radon levels. yes some parts of the body are more affected but overall most people are exceeding medical exposure with background radiation.
Also the poster who asked why they don't do a side chest view it's because years ago there was research showing it didn't add any worthwhile extra information to the back to front view so it stopped being done routinely. It is still used for certain examinations eg to check pacing wires.

My son’s xray was in standing position but he was 2 yrs only so his body was small n image includes upper abdomen n neck too, thats not the case with all kid’s x rays so dont u worry plzz, 2 x rays r just nothing n they wud have not causes any harm to ur dd.
Pesky elephant u r right in uk background radiations n human made artificial radiations both are less and radiations should be the last resort fist should be the history and physical clinical findings but in some countries its just normal to give radiations even when they r not required.
Better safe then sorry
Being a mother its like ur beating hearts r moving around u , being moms we can never stop worrying about them.
I say i dont worry anymore about the radiations my kids got but after sometime i m again worried , it happens to every mom i think.

Caused*

My DD was 11 at the time so she's a bit taller. I asked for a lead apron but she wasn't offered one. Did your DD get a lead apron?

Like you, sometimes I worry a lot, after a while I relax a bit then I worry again. I do suffer from health anxiety though.

For her chest x-ray.

X-rays are collimated or limited to the area of interest. For a chest x-ray, do you mean lead over the lower half of her body? It makes a negligible difference to the dose received by the reproductive organs as the x-ray is not in that area.
All x-rays are done keeping the radiation dose as low as possible to the patient.

Pesky, yes a lead apron over the lower stomach to protect the ovaries. The didn't give my daughter one as said it's not needed. They had not got any in the room, if I remember correctly, so I guess it's not routinely used unless you're pregnant?

But as Hayaa pointed out, she said her son's chest X-ray also included the upper part of the stomach and the neck because he's small. I just wonder why wasn't it limited to only the chest area, regardless of how tall, short you are against the x-ray plate?

Every effort is made to localise accurately but you have to include the whole lung field. If you miss a bit off a repeat is needed which would increase dose. How far down the lungs go is a little variable between patients and there is no way of knowing without a previous x-ray. The stomach is directly below the diaphragm so impossible to exclude. Small children are also wriggly which makes it more challenging. The x-ray posted by Hayaa is technically good as it is very straight, on inspiration (breath in) and there isn't any movement.
There will have been lead aprons available if needed. For most examinations they are not. Supporting people have to wear them as they are not the patient. And there are some examination where they are used. For an extremities xray you should be able to request lead but he risk really is very very small. Chest xrays are a difficult one as there is some evidence saying they can actually increase internal dose due to scatter but that is getting a bit too far into radiation physics to explain here. There is a chance you could put the lead over the very tip of the lung if it is too high up.

Peskyelephant is right in saying even if there is a lead apron radiations do scatter internally , but regarding my son’s x ray i think he was too small thats y his x rays has other areas as well. Infants too hav more exposure. N the machine wasnt digital so i cudnt get to know the radiation dose for that chest xray.
I most cases if the x ray is of chest or face or head they cover kid’s reproductive system.
Lovetoholiday i can sense that feeling which u hav after u got to know all this scary radiation thing n the love for ur kids, i m in the same boat with more worrisome days that i let my kids go through all this but to be honest kids r undergoing ct scans even for v simple things like appendicitis which hav far more radiations and studies like barium swallow and fluoroscopy etc but not every kid who ll be irradiated ll get cancer its just the risk involved increases , secondly u said soup can clear the radiations, for that i wana say radiations dont stay in our body they just do the damage (ioninzation) and they leave the body, most of the damage is repaired by our body but if God forbid damage is not repaired then after decades it may exhibit in the form of a malignancy.

Instead of feeling reassured, the more I read this thread the more worried I am. But that's me, I'm a total worrier.