Know anyone who was helped by getting a CAT scan and has had no ill side effects?

Me!
A bulging disk in my neck and 5 in my back.

I got in a car accident in september of 08, afterwards I was experiencing tons of back and neck pain. I went from dr to dr each one telling me I was ok and it was just muscles hurting from the crash and I would recover. I beg and fought with each dr to get a cat scan but all kept telling me it wasnt medically justified and i was over reacting. Finally I found a dr 5 months later who signed off to get me one and it turned out that i was right all along and my back was indeed fucked up.

As per neg side effects non that I know of. I mean I am in pain every waking (hell even sleeping) moment of my life but thats just my back,and id say unrelated to the scan.

You are glad you got the scan because it showed the damage. That’s good and I understand the relief that must bring you. But has knowing what happened caused the doctors to be able to make you more comfortable? Do they suggest surgery?

I had a symptomatic kidney stone found by CT scan (which was subsequently pulverized by laser) and a test similar to CT found blood clots in my lungs, for which I was hospitalized for a week and am on blood thinners.

The kidney stone was incredible painful and rendered me unable to do anything short of crawling on the floor to go to the bathroom, and I easily could have died from the blood clots… so I’m grateful for the use of technology despite the risks.

It found blood clots in my right leg in in my groin area. I wouldn’t be writing this if they hadn’t used the CT scan.

I operated a CT scanner for years (about 15) and now teach students who will operate them. I have seen it as one of the most important diagnostic tools in the history of medicine. I do not believe it should be used as a check up, as it does deliver quite a high radiation dose, but if you do have symptoms, it will help in finding the cause in a lot of cases. Sometimes ultrasound or MRI is more appropriate- it depends on the history.

@Aster before i knew what was wrong every doctor was essentially telling me to suck it up and ill heal in time. Now that i actually know exactly what is wrong I can get treatment for it. And yes , some surgery but nothing invasive.

this information totally freaks me out. I don’t even know how many cat scans I’ve had in my life.