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1. X-Rays, mammography and CT (or CAT Scans)

Conventional X-Rays:

Medical imaging using x-rays includes procedures such as conventional radiography (bones, chests, abdomens, etc.), CT (CAT) scans, tomography, intravenous pyelography (kidney x-rays), venography (veins), lymphography (the lymphatic system) angiography (arteries) and mammography.

X-rays work very simply. The machine shoots a beam of x-rays through your body, and what makes it through to the other side is picked up and made into a picture, either on a piece of film (a radiograph), or on a computer screen. Things in your body have different densities, and very dense objects, like your bones, block more x-rays than less dense objects, like your lungs. Thus bones will show up lighter on the radiograph than your lungs. The varying densities within your body can create an extremely detailed picture.

So anything that is sufficiently dense is going to show up on an x-ray, if it's in the frame of the picture. That includes things like very thick clothing, leather, hair braids or elastics and jewellery of all sorts and of all materials. Depending on the area being x-rayed, and the purpose of that x-ray, this can matter not at all or quite a lot.

Metal jewellery is far more dense than anything in your body. It will completely obscure anything in front of or behind it. This is why the techs want you to remove it. If it's left in, it could potentially block what the doctor is looking for. Other than that, it's being left in is totally harmless. Your ear or facial jewellery is not going to get in the way in your chest x-ray, but in the case of neck, face or skull x-rays it is going to interfere in a major manner.

Jewellery made of non-metallic materials is likely to cause less of a problem, but bone, wood, glass or acrylic can still cause problems. Especially if they only show up a tiny bit, so it is not obvious that the mark is caused by jewellery. If you wear non-metallic jewellery and can't remove it, make sure that the technician knows it's there, and what it's made of so that sie can make a note for the doctor interpreting the radiograph. You don't want your septum plug to masquerade as a spinal fracture!

So take out your jewellery ahead of time if it is at all possible. You're having a medical test for a good reason, and it's silly not to have as good a test as possible. If there is some reason you absolutely can't remove the jewellery, explain this to the tech, and state that you realize it's going to have a negative impact on the results of the test, and that you're willing to take your chances and accept the consequences of a less than ideal test. For piercings that close quickly, or their jewellery is a real pain to remove, it's a good idea to keep a few pieces of acrylic on hand that you could switch with your regular jewellery before you go for your test, these will make less impact on test quality. Just don't forget to tell them that they are there!

The same goes for implants, let the staff know where they are, and what they are made of.

Normally, tattoos should not affect x-ray procedures. There is one exception that is discussed in the mammography section, but guys should read it as well, particularly if they have torso work or heavy coverage anywhere.

Mammography:

Mammography usually uses conventional x-ray techniques, so everything said above applies here. In most cases, nipple jewellery is not going to be in the way, unless there's a specific problem, but it makes the test a whole lot easier and better quality if it's removed. Mammograms are very hard to interpret, techs are very reluctant to do extra shots and quality is exceedingly important, so I expect that staff are generally going to be less willing to leave jewellery alone.

An important note for tattooed women and men: small particles of tattoo ink have been known to be picked up by the lymphatic system and deposited in the lymph nodes. There are lymph nodes all over the body, but they are heavily concentrated in the armpit area. There have been cases of ink particle laden lymph nodes being mistaken as tumours, even upon biopsy. Make sure your tech makes a note of your tattoo if you are having this region examined. Because of the type of picture that the tech is trying for (low contrast and highly detailed), this is more likely to be a problem with mammograms than with other tests.

CT (CAT) Scans:

These work much like conventional x-rays, except the x-rays are shot from all angles and a computer uses the results of many individuals shots to make a cross sectional picture. Your jewellery interferes with CT scans much more than regular jewellery because of the additive effect of the interference. Again, take it out if at all possible.

A last note about dealing with hospital staff: people are all different, and you can meet everyone from the extremely modded to the extremely ant-mod working in a hospital. So yes, you might get really unlucky and encounter a real jerk who gives you a really hard time about your mods. Just be a grown up, and make sure, if you decide to leave your jewellery in, that they realize you're willing to take responsibility for the effect your decision will have on the quality of your test. Also, policies differ from department to department, I have worked in places that didn't care if jewellery showed up on a radiograph, as long as it wasn't in the way, to places that demanded that a tech repeat a shot if there was any jewellery on it at all, even if it didn't technically interfere with anything. The tech might be giving you a hard time because they're required to, not because they're jerks, give them the benefit of the doubt.

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