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Try to avoid wearing jewellery and clothes containing metal (such as zips), as these will need to be removed. It's a good idea to wear loose comfortable clothes, as you may be able to wear these during the X-ray. X-rays aren't usually recommended if you're pregnant unless it's an emergency. However, you may need to stop taking certain medications and avoid eating and drinking for a few hours if you're having an X-ray that uses a contrast agent.įor all X-rays, you should let the hospital know if you're pregnant. You can eat and drink as normal beforehand and can continue taking your usual medications. You don't usually need to do anything special to prepare for an X-ray. For example, during a coronary angioplasty – a procedure to widen narrowed arteries near the heart – X-rays can be used to help guide a catheter (a long, thin, flexible tube) along one of your arteries. X-rays can also be used to guide doctors or surgeons during certain procedures.

lung problems, such as pneumonia and lung cancer.

non-cancerous and cancerous bone tumours.

scoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine).

tooth problems, such as loose teeth and dental abscesses.

Problems that may be detected during an X-ray include: They're mainly used to look at the bones and joints, although they're sometimes used to detect problems affecting soft tissue, such as internal organs. X-rays can be used to examine most areas of the body. Softer parts that X-rays can pass through more easily, such as your heart and lungs, show up as darker areas. They can't be seen by the naked eye and you can't feel them.Īs they pass through the body, the energy from X-rays is absorbed at different rates by different parts of the body. A detector on the other side of the body picks up the X-rays after they've passed through and turns them into an image.ĭense parts of your body that X-rays find it more difficult to pass through, such as bone, show up as clear white areas on the image.

X-rays are a type of radiation that can pass through the body. X-rays are usually carried out in hospital X-ray departments by trained specialists called radiographers, although they can also be done by other healthcare professionals, such as dentists. It's a very effective way of looking at the bones and can be used to help detect a range of conditions. An X-ray is a quick and painless procedure commonly used to produce images of the inside of the body.