Is radioactive injection harmful?!
Question: I have to get a bone scan for my back tomorrow and they said I am getting a radioactive injection. It sounds kind of dangerous. Isn't anything radioactive bad, especially if its put right into your body?
Answers: I have to get a bone scan for my back tomorrow and they said I am getting a radioactive injection. It sounds kind of dangerous. Isn't anything radioactive bad, especially if its put right into your body?
Essentially radiation is dangerous but, the risk is minimized as much as possible by the dosage and type of radiation you are given.
Radiation is only dangerous when it ionizes body cells.
Radiation is also divided up into three different types alpha beta and gamma.
Alpha radiation is the most ionizing therefore the most dangerous but it would not be used in this kind of scan because it cannot be detected outside of the body.
Beta radiation is the second most ionizing but again it may not be possible to detect outside of the body.
The most likely type of radiation you will receive is Gamma simply because it is the LEAST dangerous to body cells and EASIEST to detect outside of the body.
A hospital will carefully calculate the ideal dosage of the radiation you receive limiting the risk to you but still ensuring it is detectable outside of the body.
A radioactive scan is usually only given where the benefits of the scan outweigh the risks so i really wouldn't worry about the radioactive trace as the risks are minimal.
Good answer!
Anyway, you already are exposed to radioactivity in everyday life. If you breathe the air, eat food, drink water, fly in a plane, get an xray...Low-level radiation is not without risk, but it is a very minor risk, like the risk you take driving on the freeway. You could get killed or horribly maimed, but normally this will not happen.
If you were getting serious radiation from the injection, you would be warned to stay away from family members at home, because you would be radioactive! This actually happens in certain medical treatments for serious diseases.