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What Does My CT Scan Test Report Indicate?
Question: Dear Doctor I have a doubt.... Is head CT scan harmful to health.... Please explain real fact...
Brief Answer:
Almost NO risk of real harm.
Detailed Answer:
Hello there! Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic!
The only minor risk of any kind of CT scan or X-ray is Ionizing Radiation. This radiation can have harmful effects on your body when given in very high doses. The risk is higher in children.
But lets get one thing straight. The dose of radiation from a CT, especially a CT of JUST the head is miniscule! You get more radiation from watching TV for an hour or so or taking a short domestic flight at 35,000 feet!
There have been no cases in the literature of a HEAD CT causing any kind of radiation damage or anything untoward.
So I would not worry about it if I were you. The risks are not worth thinking about.
Vinay
Almost NO risk of real harm.
Detailed Answer:
Hello there! Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic!
The only minor risk of any kind of CT scan or X-ray is Ionizing Radiation. This radiation can have harmful effects on your body when given in very high doses. The risk is higher in children.
But lets get one thing straight. The dose of radiation from a CT, especially a CT of JUST the head is miniscule! You get more radiation from watching TV for an hour or so or taking a short domestic flight at 35,000 feet!
There have been no cases in the literature of a HEAD CT causing any kind of radiation damage or anything untoward.
So I would not worry about it if I were you. The risks are not worth thinking about.
Vinay
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Brief Answer:
The headaches need better evaluation than a CT
Detailed Answer:
Hi. I was looking through your earlier queries and I think I might have some insight for you.
As for your earlier query. I think you were asking about slice thickness in a routine Head CT. Normally I prefer 5mm slices. Depending on which CT scanner and which technician is available then the slice thickness can vary from 5mm to 10mm per slice.
I'm reasonably sure that the CT is clean. Tumors and bleeds and the like don't present with such a specific complaint. On the other hand.. I think you might be suffering from Cervicogenic Headaches.
Cervicogenic headaches are headaches caused by problems in the vertebrae of the neck.. there may be muscle sprains or injury to the discs in between those vertebrae.
There is a simple way to test this assumption.. try a simple home physio exercise. If the pain gets relieved temporarily then you know the diagnosis and can seek help from the appropriate doctor. The test is simple to do and can be done by yourself and from home.
I am including a link to the video of the exercise on YouTube, its simple to understand and they explain the exercise in detail. If you try it, do let me know how you feel.
Video Name: Cervicogenic Headache Treatment
https://youtu.be/Wa6XjHtKhoQ
Vinay
The headaches need better evaluation than a CT
Detailed Answer:
Hi. I was looking through your earlier queries and I think I might have some insight for you.
As for your earlier query. I think you were asking about slice thickness in a routine Head CT. Normally I prefer 5mm slices. Depending on which CT scanner and which technician is available then the slice thickness can vary from 5mm to 10mm per slice.
I'm reasonably sure that the CT is clean. Tumors and bleeds and the like don't present with such a specific complaint. On the other hand.. I think you might be suffering from Cervicogenic Headaches.
Cervicogenic headaches are headaches caused by problems in the vertebrae of the neck.. there may be muscle sprains or injury to the discs in between those vertebrae.
There is a simple way to test this assumption.. try a simple home physio exercise. If the pain gets relieved temporarily then you know the diagnosis and can seek help from the appropriate doctor. The test is simple to do and can be done by yourself and from home.
I am including a link to the video of the exercise on YouTube, its simple to understand and they explain the exercise in detail. If you try it, do let me know how you feel.
Video Name: Cervicogenic Headache Treatment
https://youtu.be/Wa6XjHtKhoQ
Vinay
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Dear Doctor, thanks for your reply... But i could not uderstand second and third paragraph clearly. Please Sir give in simple English. I don't have any pain on neck. last five months I had pain on left side of top middle head. Pain only come few seconds, 1 to 5 times...but not daily... It's comes few days and gone then come.... Some time came only once a week.. I feel that It had started stopping oil bath 5 months before... Any relationship between oil bath and head pain. After pain started I did oil path once a month.... At first two months pain is some what high..now mild pain only.some time left ear also have wave like pain.few months ago I did lead iron soldering for a electronic projects at very first time. I think that would also reason for pain.anyhow I consult a Ent Doctor. He told that I give pain killer tab and coffeen tab. If pain come after that, we go to CT scan. So I did scan about 16 slice last week.scan was normal. But I read some articles in net like that ct scan is harmful to health. So that I asked you about CT scan in first question. Last week fully I had confusion and fear and full head burning and pain.after ur clarification. pain also minimum. I m really feel happy.please kindly give me a good guidelines.
Brief Answer:
Cervicogenic Headaches
Detailed Answer:
Hi there. I'm sorry I was not clear enough. Though given your history, i'm even more convinced that you are suffering from this issue. It's a minor one, so not to worry.
Let me try again. There is an odd quirk of Human anatomy when it comes to the back of our heads and our neck. The NERVES that conduct pain impulses FROM the back of your head actually travel downward and loop into the spinal cord THROUGH the neck. So compression of the bones of the neck as I described before could squeeze these nerves and cause headaches EXACTLY in the spot you mentioned.
If you ever get a chance to learn about all the muscles in your neck, you'll be ASTOUNDED how many there are. There are MORE muscles and ligaments in the neck than there are bones. This is because the neck has a WIDE range of movements and has to support the HEAD, which is pretty heavy!
That means that when these neck muscles are tense, they can actually squeeze the bones they are connected to and in turn squeeze the nerves that travel through the neck. This is a cause of Cervicogenic Headaches.
Your OIL baths may have helped by RELAXING the muscles in your neck as well as the rest of the body. This would relieve the squeezing of the nerves I mentioned.
The pain killer with Caffeine in it must be IMOL Plus. Its a good drug for Migraines and other muscles pains, so it should help. BUT I REALLY THINK YOU NEED PHYSIOTHERAPY for Cervicogenic Headaches, to solve this issue. Drugs won't solve the issue.
Now, I'm not saying you should go to a physio right away. Try the exercise I mentioned in the last message. If it helps... then you can go to a Physiotherapist and rest assured that they know how to handle this.
If the exercise does not help, then we must investigate further into the cause of this pain. Continue the pain killer as advised and remember that whenever you take any pain killers, you have to drink plenty of water and should not take any more than what was prescribed by the doc.
Did I make more sense this time? I look forward to your thoughts.
Vin
Cervicogenic Headaches
Detailed Answer:
Hi there. I'm sorry I was not clear enough. Though given your history, i'm even more convinced that you are suffering from this issue. It's a minor one, so not to worry.
Let me try again. There is an odd quirk of Human anatomy when it comes to the back of our heads and our neck. The NERVES that conduct pain impulses FROM the back of your head actually travel downward and loop into the spinal cord THROUGH the neck. So compression of the bones of the neck as I described before could squeeze these nerves and cause headaches EXACTLY in the spot you mentioned.
If you ever get a chance to learn about all the muscles in your neck, you'll be ASTOUNDED how many there are. There are MORE muscles and ligaments in the neck than there are bones. This is because the neck has a WIDE range of movements and has to support the HEAD, which is pretty heavy!
That means that when these neck muscles are tense, they can actually squeeze the bones they are connected to and in turn squeeze the nerves that travel through the neck. This is a cause of Cervicogenic Headaches.
Your OIL baths may have helped by RELAXING the muscles in your neck as well as the rest of the body. This would relieve the squeezing of the nerves I mentioned.
The pain killer with Caffeine in it must be IMOL Plus. Its a good drug for Migraines and other muscles pains, so it should help. BUT I REALLY THINK YOU NEED PHYSIOTHERAPY for Cervicogenic Headaches, to solve this issue. Drugs won't solve the issue.
Now, I'm not saying you should go to a physio right away. Try the exercise I mentioned in the last message. If it helps... then you can go to a Physiotherapist and rest assured that they know how to handle this.
If the exercise does not help, then we must investigate further into the cause of this pain. Continue the pain killer as advised and remember that whenever you take any pain killers, you have to drink plenty of water and should not take any more than what was prescribed by the doc.
Did I make more sense this time? I look forward to your thoughts.
Vin
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thanks again for your help. Now I understand your explanation. I will try that video you mentioned. If problem should be like this, why my Doctor told me to do CT scan. And sorry for asking another time you Sir, really CT scan can't make any harmful?. Sorry Sir.....
Brief Answer:
Be at Ease, CT scans are SAFE
Detailed Answer:
I'm not 100% sure why your doc told you to do a CT. It may be that they quickly wanted to rule out the most dangerous possible causes of such headaches, but i'm not sure. You should ask them that when you see them next.
But rest assured... you need to literally LIVE in an active CT scanner before you will get cancer. As an adult, your cells reproduce more slowly and ionizing radiation really affects DNA when it is exposed during cell division.
As an Adult, I would have no trouble sending you through a CT scanner everyday (in fact I do with my head injury patients). Children on the other hand are a special case and CT scans shouldn't be done VERY often. An occasional CT scan on a child is just fine, but I would even be nervous putting a child through a CT scanner every day.
I hope this calms your fears. You will be just fine!
Vin
Be at Ease, CT scans are SAFE
Detailed Answer:
I'm not 100% sure why your doc told you to do a CT. It may be that they quickly wanted to rule out the most dangerous possible causes of such headaches, but i'm not sure. You should ask them that when you see them next.
But rest assured... you need to literally LIVE in an active CT scanner before you will get cancer. As an adult, your cells reproduce more slowly and ionizing radiation really affects DNA when it is exposed during cell division.
As an Adult, I would have no trouble sending you through a CT scanner everyday (in fact I do with my head injury patients). Children on the other hand are a special case and CT scans shouldn't be done VERY often. An occasional CT scan on a child is just fine, but I would even be nervous putting a child through a CT scanner every day.
I hope this calms your fears. You will be just fine!
Vin
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
"you need to literally LIVE in an active CT scanner before you will get cancer". This sentence I could not understand from your previous reply. Kindly explain Sir.
Brief Answer:
I meant you have to stay in there very very long
Detailed Answer:
Hi, sorry. I was being hyperbolic.
I meant that you would have to stay in there for a VERY VERY long time, days, months even while the scanner is active and actually emitting x-rays to have any risks in your case.
Vin
I meant you have to stay in there very very long
Detailed Answer:
Hi, sorry. I was being hyperbolic.
I meant that you would have to stay in there for a VERY VERY long time, days, months even while the scanner is active and actually emitting x-rays to have any risks in your case.
Vin
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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