Most people come to urgent care centers with issues requiring immediate medical attention, including severe abdominal pain, fractures, swollen joints, persistent cough, and more. These conditions often require X-rays, and in such circumstances, you might be thinking about whether urgent care centers offer X-rays or if you need to go to an ER. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait hours for the ER. At Metro Urgent Care, we offer on-site X-ray services for non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses, including sports injuries.
What Is an X-Ray?
An X-ray is an imaging test that produces pictures of your body’s internal organs to help monitor, diagnose, or treat medical issues. X-ray beams (electromagnetic radiation) pass through your body and are absorbed in different quantities depending on the density of the organs/body parts they travel through. For example, dense parts, such as bone, show up as white on X-rays. The air in your lungs appears black while muscles and fat show up as gray shades.
Why Is an X-Ray Done?
Your doctor may usually recommend an X-ray to:
Types of X-Rays
Different types of X-rays are used for different purposes, including:
Traditional X-Rays
They produce a 2-D image on a conventional film. It is often used for examining bone fractures, chest issues, tooth problems, etc.
Computerized Tomography (CT)
It combines traditional X-ray with digital processing to produce a series of cross-sectional 3-D images with better resolution. It is often recommended to:
Discover heart problems
Mammography
It creates detailed 3-D images of the breast to detect cancerous tumors/lumps or diagnose breast disease.
Angiography
It is performed to examine veins and arteries to diagnose and treat blockages or narrowing of the blood vessels near the brain, heart, legs, or abdomen.
Fluoroscopy
It produces real-time images of the patient’s internal structures on a fluorescent screen, which are recorded for future analysis. It is also used to place a catheter, pacemaker, and orthopedic implants or to view the contrast agent.
Traditional Vs. Digital X-Rays
While traditional X-rays produce images on film, digital X-ray images are captured on digital X-ray sensors that can be immediately processed by a computer, so the results are instantaneous. Also, digital X-rays help to digitally transfer and improvise the images for better clarity and precision.
Digital X-rays eliminate wait times for results, thus enabling prompt treatment.
Signs You May Need an X-Ray
Difficulty Moving a Limb or Walking
An injured leg, ankle, or foot may cause difficulty walking, and an X-ray will tell you whether you have a fracture or sprain.
Trouble Breathing
Pneumonia or lung cancer may cause trouble breathing, and a thorax X-ray will show changes (such as sputum or fluid-filled air sacs) that affect your breathing.
Persistent Pain/Swelling
An X-ray can reveal whether a bone fracture, soft tissue damage, or fluid around a joint is causing the swelling or pain.
Digestive Problems
An X-ray, coupled with a barium swallow will detect the root cause of your digestive problems, including the swallowed non-edible items, such as keys, dice, etc.
Joint Pain/Stiffness
An X-ray will detect whether arthritis or fluid accumulation following a joint injury is causing you joint pain/stiffness.
What You Can Expect from Metro Urgent Care’s On-Site X-Ray Services
Before the Procedure
X-rays are standard imaging procedures that usually don’t require special preparations. However, depending on the area that is examined, you may be asked to:
During the Procedure
Our X-ray technician will help you perfectly position your body to capture clear images. Whether you are asked to stand, sit, or lie, you must stay still while the images are being captured to ensure clarity and accuracy. As soon as the X-ray is done, you can begin your routine activities.
With X-rays on-site, prompt diagnosis of a wide range of illnesses/injuries are possible, so you can begin your treatment on time and recover quickly.
Choose Metro Urgent Care for X-Rays
If you are looking for X-ray services near you, contact us today at Metro Urgent Care or visit us at our clinic in Chicago, IL. We use safe levels of radiation to capture images and have a board-certified physician ready to interpret the results.
