X ray increased risk cancer

[MumToBe1980]

Hi, my 3 year old had a pelvis xray today, she has an unusual gait and hip dysplasia in the family so doctor suggested xray even though she seemed fine on examination. He told me the xray dose was equivalent to a long haul aeroplane trip, however I've made the mistake of looking into it and actually there is an increased risk of childhood and adult cancer, and long term impact to reproductive organs, I'm so angry at myself for putting her at this additional risk and that I wasn't informed of this. Especially as the doctor said it was just for my peace of mind. My mum is currently battling stage 4 cancer and have cancer history in family so am familiar with devastation of this disease. Any radiologists on here who can comment on the increased risk please?

Not a radiologist but I have a medical science background and didn't want to read and run.

In your situation I would have chosen the X ray for my DC. The risk of cancer is very low and I would want to know if there was any thing I should do to support DC with the unusual gait/possible hip dysplasia. I think you made a good decision

I'm sorry about your mum 🌷

My DD had her whole body xrayed when she was 1 year old, due to a condition she was born with. I never think about it, it was needed.

@MumToBe1980 can I ask where you found out information on childhood x rays and possible increased cancer risk?

From what I've briefly seen, a single x ray is equivalent to an extra 2 or 3 days worth of normal background radiation. Or indeed the equivalent of one long haul high altitude flight. So barely anything at all in the grand scheme of things.

I'd let this thought go.

We live in a world that is full of carcinogens and one x-ray really won't make much of a difference.

It would definitely be worse to refuse an x-ray and leave a potential developing problem to get worse.

Honestly the risk from a single xray is absolutely miniscule I wouldn't give it a second thought. The regulations for the uses of xrays are very tight and doses are kept as low as possible. They are never done for no reason so ruling out a hip dysplasia is well worth the tiny risk.

Also, asking for information from anonymous people claiming to be radiographers online is not going to be a reliable source of information. Certainly not compared to the actual doctor who spoke specifically to you about your DD. You think that doctor might have lied to you but you'd believe randomers on the internet?

A single X-ray is not a significant risk. If it were, they would not do it.

Honestly 1 x-ray is not going to make any difference to your daughters chance of getting cancer! Please forget about this

A long haul aeroplane trip gives you a small dose of radiation that would lead to an equivalently small increase in cancer risk. Your doctor didn’t lie or miss anything out. You’ve just misunderstood that the radiation from a longhaul flight and associated increase in cancer risk is equivalent to the radiation exposure from one xray.
It sounds like it was very important for your daughter’s health to check for hip dysplasia.
I am not a radiologist, but you made the same decision I would have done in agreeing to the xray.

I wouldn’t worry either.

We all have a lifetime cancer risk of 1 in 3, and the dose for your child is minuscule. We get background radiation dose anyway, from radon in rocks and cosmic rays.

Getting the diagnosis correct for your daughter is more important than a clinically insignificant radiation dose from a pelvis X-ray, so please don't worry, you did the right thing.

I think the increased risk is very small, and when taken alongside other things that increase risk like breathing in second hand cigarette smoke from passers-by, car exhaust fumes, eating processed red meat, getting sunburned, toxins in foods, then it is relatively small and you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Don't bear yourself up about this, it is done now and you found out if your daughter had medical issues that would seriously affect her later on. Hip displasia can take many surgeries to treat and cause lots of pain if not found until adulthood and that could have seriously affected her.

I think you did the right thing by her.

Don’t be ridiculous

The doctor told you it was equivalent to a long haul plane flight which millions of people do every year. If there was any kind of linked risk, wealthy and expat families would have a much higher incidence of cancer but they don't. Don't believe in doctor google - people can write all sorts of shit on the internet.

I'm sorry about your mum.

I must be riddled with cancer if your theory is true, I was born with hip dysplasia & had regular
X rays from when I was diagnosed age 1 to when I was finally discharged age 15, I had at least one every 6 months.

I think there has been a gradual shift in the use of xrays to be more cautious. When my dad was young, they would xray his feet in shoes in the shoe shop to check the fit. That stopped years ago. When I was a kid, I had xrays every time I went to the dentist. I don't think my kids have had any dental xrays - because there's no indication for them being essential.

Given that move to a more cautious approach, I'd be pretty confident that a doctor would only recommend medically necessary xrays.

1 X-ray? Not 100 X-rays? They wouldn't have been able to diagnose hip dysplasia without the x ray so I wouldn't feel bad.

My DD has hip dysplasia. I have lost count of the number of xrays she must have had for that. Must be 20+ also she has broken her leg and foot and had multiple xrays for that as well.

You are panicking over nothing, let me assure you if she did have hip dysplasia and hadn't had an xray to check you would be kicking yourself when she may have needed a full hip replacement on her 20s.

Thanks for your replies, have a tendency to beat myself up as a mum so good to have some kind reassurance. I read about information about increased risk on nhs website, I guess if there is any increase in risk however small they must report it.

I wouldn’t worry at all about this OP. Both of my DC have had an x-Ray each which both times helped to diagnose serious respiratory issues needing urgent treatment. No more radiation than they would experience on an aeroplane.

I totally understand your worry. I had ALOT of guilt and worry when my son needed a head ct at 18 months after a nasty head bang and vomiting. I know it was totally necessary but the worry consumed me for a long time. I hope your feeling okay OP, motherhood is a worrying thing x

I have full blown hypochondria and am specifically terrified of cancer due to how it has impacted my family. But you are being pretty ridiculous! The NHS website says “an X-ray of your chest, limbs or teeth is equivalent to a few days' worth of background radiation, and has less than a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of causing cancer”. Less than 1 in a million is just not worth worrying about. There are so many more dangerous things I bet you do without a second thought. By the time your DD is older, maybe we will have cancer vaccines or something anyway.

@sahm9 this is exactly how I feel? How long did it take you to get over the guilt? My rationale brain is not working despite reassurance from radiologist and doctor who undoubtably know alot more than me. I asked for meds today to help me through but doctor would not prescribe me anything as said it wouldn't help but I don't I know I am being ridiculous but my mind is torturing me

You asked for anti-anxiety meds to help you get through today’s Xray with your daughter? I’m not a dr but I can guess why your dr said they wouldn’t help. There are basically 2 kinds, long term anti-anxiety meds are often the same drugs that are used for depression - SSRIs. They raise the level of serotonin in your system over time by making your body reabsorb it more slowly. I was told by my dr that these drugs can work very well for generalised anxiety but they take time to make an impact-at least a couple of weeks, could be a month (although it was a while ago and medical science might have moved on since then).

The other kind of anti-anxiety drug are ones people take one in a while to help them through a particularly stressful anticipated experience - like a flight or a dental appointment. Diazepam and Xanax are examples of these drugs. These ones come with side effects like making you feel dopey or spaced out - not what you want to prescribe a mother driving/accompanying her child to a planned hospital appointment.
So basically there isn’t a drug suitable for controlling your anxiety about an Xray for your child that’s happening tomorrow.

X-ray was last Wednesday. Have been thinking that I may have been suffering some sort of anxiety for a while, worrying that when my husband takes our daughter out something bad will happen, not letting other family members look after her. I've always thought this was normal thinking however now I'm thinking maybe not.