X-Rays you have had...
Not counting dental x-rays--I've had many of those since childhood--I can't recall ever having any x-rays until the past 15 years or so. It's been since I got added to my wife's medical insurance after we got married. Prior to that I never had medical insurance and fortunately no incident where an x-ray was required.
Getting older often means feeling pain. Inexplicable pain until medical examinations are done. When I was first covered under medical insurance I was already nearing fifty which means I was heading towards getting old. I was getting older and feeling more pain.
During these past years of coverage I've probably had 7 or 8 x-rays. Maybe more--who's counting really. If I hurt and the doctors can't immediately determine why, they order x-rays. I've had x-rays of my feet, my abdomen, my chest, my head, and my lower back. Maybe there were more places x-rayed, but like I said--who's counting.
They never seem to find much of consequence in those x-rays, which I suppose I should be thankful for. There is a lower back issue--some kind of disc problem--but they said it would be better not to mess with it because surgery could cause worse problems. The back problems have gone away for the most part. So did everything else they x-rayed.
I say the problems are gone, but I don't know for sure. Right now I don't hurt and that's the main thing. Besides, the diagnosis typically is that I'm getting old. That's what the doctors usually end up saying, "You're getting older and sometimes you're going to feel pain."
I guess I don't need x-rays to tell me that. For that matter I don't really need a doctor to tell me that. Still, sometimes an x-ray and a doctor checking me out is kind of reassuring. I'd rather be getting older than have something really bad be wrong with me.
How often do you go to the doctor? Have you ever had an x-ray where something serious was discovered? Do you think x-rays are harmful to the extent that it's better not to have them?
