What Is Radiography and Who Needs It?
Medical radiography is a term that encompasses a wide variety of subjects. To put it simply, radiography is a technique through which medical professionals can generate and record an X-ray pattern in the body.
It significantly helps medical professionals to visualize the internal workings and structure of the body. It will provide a static X-ray image of a certain body part which doctors and other clinicians will use to make diagnoses.
A radiographer is also known as a medical imaging technologist. The images are used to identify foreign objects, diseases and structural anomalies in the body.
Radiography used to record its images on film. However, due to technological progress, they can now be recorded electronically with greater clarity.
There are many uses for radiography including:
Dental Examinations
When you go to the dentist, they will perform a comprehensive examination of your oral cavity. Though the surface can be clearly observed with the naked eye, radiography is used to get images of the internal parts of the mouth.
A dentist operates on some of the smallest organs in the body so getting a clear image of the internal structure of teeth is paramount. A radiography test in dental examination will reveal everything about your teeth including the smallest of cracks.
It is especially important to have radiographic images when you have repeat procedures at the dentist for example a root canal. The images will help the doctor have an understanding of where to start the procedure.
Surgery
Before you go under the knife, the surgeon will have to conduct a fair bit of planning. The planning stage will include placing surgical markers where the surgeon will make the incisions to go deeper into the body.
The surgeons use radiographic images to find the exact location to place the surgical markers. Otherwise, they may make an incision in the wrong place which can have serious repercussions.
The more accurate the image, the more accurate the placement of the incision markers. Therefore, radiography is needed by surgeons as well as their patients for successful surgeries.
Mammography
Mammography is a method of using radiography to identify tumors or cancerous cells in the breasts of women. Feeling for lumps is a vague indication of the presence of cancer so more accurate images are needed.
If you think that you may have a lump in your breast, then you should get a mammogram right away. You will find a mammogram specialist at Globe Locums. The test involves standing at a mammography machine and placing each breast on a flat surface for imaging.
As you know, the earlier a tumor or cancerous growth is discovered, the higher the chances of successful treatment. In this regard, radiography can make the difference between life and death.
Orthopedics
Orthopedic evaluations are particularly difficult because children may be unable or have a hard time expressing themselves. it makes diagnosing illnesses or injuries extremely challenging.
The way to overcome the obstacle is through radiography. The child will simply get the X-ray images taken and the doctor will know what the problem is.
Orthopedic evaluations are one of the hardest things to do in medicine. Without radiography, chances are that the child mortality rate would be higher.
Chiropractic Exams
A chiropractor can be of great benefit to your overall health especially if you suffer from back pain. However, the chiropractor will only effectively perform their job if they can find the source of the pain.
Therefore, during a chiropractic exam, the chiropractor will use radiographic images to get a better understanding of what is causing the pain. It may be due to misaligned vertebrae, nerve damage or other factors that are difficult to ascertain.
It is especially vital for the chiropractor to get a clear picture of the structure of your body since they use their hands for adjustments. It substantially reduces the margin of error involved in their treatments.
Disease Management
All doctors who treat various ailments need radiography for disease management. There are many serious diseases in the world right now and a disease management plan is essential to properly curing them.
The detail-oriented nature of radiography gives doctors as much information about illnesses as possible. It helps doctors understand diseases better giving them a better chance of curing them.
It is particularly important in long term diseases like cancer where management of the condition is paramount. They can see the effects of treatment and whether the tumor is growing or reducing in size.
As you can see, radiography is critical in the field of medicine. Things would simply be worse without the field. There are many people, both medical professionals and patients, who cannot do without radiography as we can see above.
