Anyone had x rays as a baby/child?

[yellowmeerkat]

Hi

I posted previously in a different category regarding my concerns at my baby girl’s exposure to some x Ray radiation at a very young age - grateful to all those who replied.

I just wondered specifically if anyone has had x rays / Ct scans as a baby/young child and all has been ok now they are an adult? I have had bad health anxiety since becoming a Mum and really worry about the long term effects of the radiation on my daughter in terms of cancer risk.

Thank you

I had a pelvic X-ray in late pregnancy with DD, and she had X-rays at birth due to a problem. She’s fine as an adult.

I had several as a child (from baby to teenage!) and I'm fine and healthy smiles

One of my Dc had a condition which required multiple xrays- I couldn't even tell you how many, but must have been getting on for 20.
He's one of the healthiest people I know, rowed in the first eight at Uni, goes on cycling holidays, has lived in a city for 8 years but hasn't 'got round to' registering with a Dr, because he's never needed one.

A return transatlantic flight exposes you to around 0.1 mSv or around five times the radiation of a chest X-ray.

I have had a few X-rays, but I have done so many flights. I have been exposed to more radiation through flying than X-rays.

My child only had one X-ray when they were 10wks, but they have flown at least three times a year every year since birth.

If you keep travel to car/train/boat only then you will definitely limit the radiation risk in the future.

There is an extremely small risk with any examination involving radiation, and it does vary with the type of exam and age. That’s why we have regulations and for every X-ray it will have been decided that the benefit of you having the test outweighs the risk. If anyone is ever worried about the radiation risk please do ask the radiographer at the time and they will explain. And mumsnetters please stop saying that pp should ‘insist’ on a scan or xray in other threads, it doesn’t work like that for the above reasons!!

Thanks all so much, really reassuring.

@WhatThenEh thanks I’ll have a look online. My daughter had pelvic x rays to check for DDH so could be a similar condition to why you needed yours. So sorry to hear about your mcs, must have been a really difficult and upsetting time for you. I’m glad you have 3 healthy children now.

@DiamondLily thanks for your reply. My main anxiety is because I felt the x rays (pelvic, 9 month old girl) were unnecessary - was referred due to a couple of isolated incidents of unusual crawling (99% time normal). We had to have the imaging before the consultant would see us, and turns out just a normal variation of crawling. Had he seen us first the imaging may not have been needed so I just feel my baby has been exposed to some risk unnecessarily :(

I've had loads throughout my life, including for a broken leg when I was eleven months old and broken wrist when I was 8. Had others for suspected broken bones. I'm 54, in good health and any cancer risks I have are genetic which are mitigated by lifestyle and regular checks. She'll be fine.

Yes I had a ct scan on my head as a child and lots of head x rays. 41 and very healthy. Am also a radiographer so word with radiation a lot. We are very cautious in this country with x-rays in comparison to others. Very much about risk versus reward. Had your child been in the us for example they would probably had a lot more. I digress. The risk is minuscule anyway. Chest x ray is the equivalent of a transatlantic flight. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it was my child. In places like Cornwall where there is more background radiation there are actually studied health benefits.

I grew up with an orthopaedic problem which my sister also had. X rays regularly (every three months or so) from 9 to 15. Neither of us appear to have had any issues, both are in our 50s now.

Oh, I also (forgot this!) had 'clicking hips' ad a baby and was in a cast for a while, so there would have been plenty of x rays then, too.

@yellowmeerkat sorry to hear of your experience but do be reassured that the dose is very low and as @Emeraldsrock points out, we are very careful with radiation in this country. Also with baby hip issues they can cause ongoing problems if not sorted early and so I would think the threshold for organising a precautionary X-ray is quite low, if that makes sense.

@DiamondLily thank you very much for your reassurance.

@Emeraldsrock thanks so much for your input, really reassuring. I think as I mentioned to @DiamondLily I have mainly been upset due to the situation as had we been seen before the imaging it probably could have been avoided.
I didn’t know radiation can have health benefits so that’s really interesting!

@MrsGhastlyCrumb im sorry to hear you and your sister had some orthopaedic problems growing up, I hope you are both all recovered now. Thank you so much for coming on to share your experience, I’ve found it really reassuring :)

X rays, ct and mri myself - remain cancer free in middle age.
Youngest daughter has had cray and ct scan. She is perfectly healthy.

These interventions are very safe! They take all precautions to limit any risks to patients and themselves.
No need to worry.

Loads. I had scoliosis and braces so, lots of spine and head x rays in my tweens/teens back in the 80s when doses were less refined. My brothers too.
So far, at age 52, I’ve not had cancer. Hopefully that will remain the status quo.

Are you getting support for your health anxiety? Being mum can be worrying but if you start worrying about everything that can cause cancer it's going to blemish your DDs whole childhood. There are risks in everything we do, whether that's driving your child in car, taking them on holiday, eating processed food (and most food is processed one-way or another), eating/drinking from plastic items, going to countries like the US that don't have as stringent food rules as we do. Having an X-Ray to rule out potential medical issues even if it turned out to be unnecessary in the end shouldn't even factor in as a worry really. Your DD may choose to deliver a radiographer when she's grown or a flight attendant or.......

Unless the consultant was Superman working a second job since the demise of big print edition newspapers, he wouldn't have been able to say for sure there was nothing to worry about without an x-ray. So the x-ray was necessary.

She'll be fine.

I must have had over a hundred x-rays since infancy, covering everywhere from my feet to my neck, one with contrast and one with radioactive tracer. Plus <thinks carefully> two CTs, two DEXAs, multiple ultrasounds and I think I'm on my 8th or 9th MRI in a couple of weeks.

If I get cancer at some point in the next thirty years, it'll be down to genetics, cigarette smoke, sun exposure, pollution, the asbestos in my secondary school being removed whilst we were there, food or the long term medications I have taken - not the number of times doctors have weighed up the risks of not knowing what is going on under my skin against taking a guess that there isn't something nasty.

These days, x-rays are even less likely to be taken unless there is a definite need, as there are all the other forms of imaging, so I promise you that there will be absolutely ZERO chance of your daughter developing cancer as a result of a single, entirely necessary x-ray.

Some countries routinely xray every baby for hip disease (or at least did in the past).

Kindly, the issue isn't the xray.

I suffer a bit from health anxiety so kind of appreciate where you're coming from, but you should try and get therapy rather than focus on the inconsequential xray.

Please don't worry. My DD had a lot of x-rays in her first 12 months. She is now a happy, healthy 35 year old with children of her own and hasn't seen a doctor for years apart from when pregnant.

Were the 7 replies you had yesterday not enough?

Do you want people to tell you that you've irretrievably damaged your baby by her having 2 X-rays to rule out hip dysplasia in a symptomatic 9 month old?

I stand by my comments on that thread. You need help as your anxiety is more harmful to your child than 2 X-rays

Baby x ray www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childrens_health/5087360-baby-x-ray sorry forgot
To link the thread from
Yesterday

I said this on her last thread and she ignored me and made a pointed comment about 'helpful mummies comments only'

@ilovevinyl im sorry you’re so upset about all this. The comment I made on yesterday’s thread was ‘thank you for the replies and reassurance.’ That is all. Aimed at everyone who took the time to reply, including you. I mentioned a few others specifically to clarify things asked etc.

I openly made a different thread today (as mentioned on the opening post) as I realised the question I specifically wanted to ask would have been lost in the wrong forum.

you are right, I do have anxiety, which I am aware of and am working on. You clearly have issues too if you think there is some sort of personal ‘pointed’ comment against you.

and for what it’s worth, if you choose to answer on these forums, it’s worth having a little empathy for others and speaking in a kind way as what may seem ridiculous or inconsequential to you clearly isn’t for the person asking.

I really don't have issues. You clearly do sadly for your child.