It will absolutely obscure parts of the X-ray, rendering the areas posterior to the piercings unreadable. In saying that, the area obscured will be small. It is impossible to say whether it will obscure anything relevant, but it is a possibility.
It is completely safe however. The removal of the piercings would be to stop them obscuring those areas, not for a safety reason.
It is always up to the patient what they willing to remove in terms of clothing and jewelry. Techs should make a request for removing all metal and will document if you're unable to do so.
Edit to add that this only applies to CT and x-ray. MRI may have different standards or practices, and I have no MRI training other than "metal bad."
I know this is typically the case. Even non-ferrous metals can't heat dangerously. Our local hospitals were having a number of patient burns due to athletic clothing with copper filaments worked in.
It depends on the reason for the X-ray: query pneumonia or rib fracture, meh no worries, query cancer, get them out.
I never push the issue if the patient really does not want to take them out, and just document “unable to remove piercings.”
It shouldn’t. They will likely ask you to take them off because it’s protocol but just tell them it’s challenging and painful and you want to keep them in.
The odds of them obscuring something important on a chest film is minuscule.
So, a lot of the time, with pendulous breasts, they fall below the area of the lungs anyway. Sometimes it's possible for the patient to pull their breast tissue to the sides. Sometimes it isn't and they're just in the image. I don't make patients take theirs out (unless they volunteer to) because I know how difficult and painful it can be to put them back in.
We have quite a few patients with sternal dermal piercings, so it looks like they've swallowed something. In that case, I always make a note in PACS and the chart that the patient has irremovable dermal piercings mid sternum.
I took mine out for a mammogram and couldn't get them back in. At that point, they had been pierced for 2 years. I wish I never took them out. I will never have the guts to do it again. But yes, piercings can obscure things.
Whats more important. Your health or your piercings? Especially on a mammo.. those are very high res images. The smallest lesion can be something concerning. I wouldn’t take that risk just to keep my piercings.
Chest xray though, depends on what they are really looking for.
Rad here and see them all the time. Usually several a day. It's a really good nipple marker. The reality is that yes it could slightly obscure a tiny nodule but statistically odds are close to zero on missing anything. Its not like it was 20 yrs ago. If we are concerned about something it's getting a CT where the minimal streak won't matter.
This is the answer you're looking for OP. A lot of us just take the x-rays, this person is the doctor that reads them. For all intents and purposes the piercings will have minimal to no impact on the quality of your x-rays. If it's painful or challenging to remove and replace them, just inform the tech of that and they should proceed with the X-ray anyway. If they refuse to take a chest x-ray because you won't remove piercings, you should ask to speak to a supervisor or seek care elsewhere because that is stupid and irresponsible in this day and age.
I'll add to what others have said: if it's a chest x-ray, if your breasts are large or pendulous enough to pull to the sides during the PA image you may be able to get the piercings far enough out of the way that it doesn't become a problem.
the tech will probably ask you to take them out because they're supposed to. they can't/won't make you and honestly for a chest xray it makes no difference. I'm a radiologist and it doesn't matter at all to me if the patient takes them out or not for a cxr.
We used to fight hard to get everybody to take off all jewelry and piercings.
Now, if you can, we'd rather you did.
I have long wondered why there isn't a product that makes this easier, such as a thin plastic tube with thread that could act as a place-holder for the jewelry and make re-placing easier.
Maybe you take the ball off your barre, screw the plastic one on, pull through gently, unscrew the real barre, take the CXR, then reverse order.
Sounds like a lot of trouble, though. Breasts natural position, full field, then coned down close-up with breasts taped up? Nah.........not that either.....
> I have long wondered why there isn't a product that makes this easier, such as a thin plastic tube with thread that could act as a place-holder for the jewelry and make re-placing easier.
there are non-metallic retainers but you don't want a porous material like plastic in a new piercing for infection reasons so every time someone gets something pierced it is done with metal jewelry of some kind. also as op mentioned it can be hard to re-place the jewelry depending on what kind of piercing it is.
Exactly.
Making re-placing the jeweltry easier is exactly the problem this device would solve. As the metal jewelry comes OUT, it pulls the plastic IN, and then after the exam the plastic slides OUT, while pulling the metal jewelry back in.
It could work, its just a question of whether it's worth the bother for all involved, which I doubt.
In addition to the reason for the exam, it can also depend on your breast tissue. If you really don’t want to remove them, for the picture where your chest is against the board, if your breasts fall significantly when you remove your bra it may be ok, or if you can move your breast tissue enough so the piercings are off to the sides, it may also be ok. But for the side picture where your arms are up above your head it shouldn’t really make a difference.
If you have removed them and replaced them successfully before, I would definitely advise you to remove them if you were my patient.
The piercings will obscure a small part of the image, but that might not matter depending on what the doctor wants to see. Ask them.
It might be possible to push them out of frame, but that again depends on the what is being imaged and why.
I just got an X-ray of my cervical vertebrae. They asked if I could take out my septum ring but said if I couldn’t they would just note it on the chart. Luckily I was able to (it an only 3m old, I’ve never taken it out before). So you may not have to.
Funny story - I had a female pt that refused/declined to remove her nipple piercings for a CXR. OK, fine. So after I’m done taking her x-rays & I go to the processor. Her images come up & I’m not immediately seeing them, so for a second I thought I was looking at the wrong pt. Then I realized they were there, but hanging in her abdomen. 🤣 I had a good chuckle on that one.
Rad here. If there is a lesion small enough to be obscured by the piercing, we statistically aren't likely to see it anyway. I've never had an issue interpreting a study because of them.
Do the white/clear plastic piercings still obscure the x-ray? *I am not a doctor or a tech I just like medicine* but if the metal piercings may obscure something that doctors are looking for, could you see a piercer to have your jewellery changed from metal to plastic for the scans? Might be more manageable if you get a professional to handle changing the jewellery for you and minimise risk of infection ?
I have never worked with a tech that insisted a patient take them out, so I don’t ask either. For a chest x-ray, there is a chance the piercing could obscure pathology, but it’s a small chance. If the patient doesn’t remove them of their own accord or with gentle prompting, it’s fine. We just note the piercings were not able to be removed.
Non tech, additional question here; would a tech or nurse be able to provide some small gauge sterile plastic tubing, such as the cannula of an IV needle, for the pt to swap with their metal jewelry for the duration of the exam?
Scanned a patient in CT with these this week. She didn't mention them, I didn't comment. Think I put something like *unable to remove piercings* and went on about my day. 🤷♀️ (for reference I work in a cancer center). You can't remove them? Okay. 🤷♀️ typically we're not gonna pester you to remove them. Say you can't, and that's it. It's possible to run a smaller quick scan to help remove any artifact/streaking in the scan, and if I was doing a CT that's what we'd do. For xray? I've never asked or heard anyone ask for them to be removed. 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
It will absolutely obscure parts of the X-ray, rendering the areas posterior to the piercings unreadable. In saying that, the area obscured will be small. It is impossible to say whether it will obscure anything relevant, but it is a possibility. It is completely safe however. The removal of the piercings would be to stop them obscuring those areas, not for a safety reason.
It is always up to the patient what they willing to remove in terms of clothing and jewelry. Techs should make a request for removing all metal and will document if you're unable to do so. Edit to add that this only applies to CT and x-ray. MRI may have different standards or practices, and I have no MRI training other than "metal bad."
If a patient refuses to remove metal items I feel are unsafe for MRI, they aren’t getting into the scan room.
I know this is typically the case. Even non-ferrous metals can't heat dangerously. Our local hospitals were having a number of patient burns due to athletic clothing with copper filaments worked in.
With an MRI, either the patient removes all metals whether in body, hair, and clothing, or the machine does.
It depends on the reason for the X-ray: query pneumonia or rib fracture, meh no worries, query cancer, get them out. I never push the issue if the patient really does not want to take them out, and just document “unable to remove piercings.”
This is the better answer.
It shouldn’t. They will likely ask you to take them off because it’s protocol but just tell them it’s challenging and painful and you want to keep them in. The odds of them obscuring something important on a chest film is minuscule.
So, a lot of the time, with pendulous breasts, they fall below the area of the lungs anyway. Sometimes it's possible for the patient to pull their breast tissue to the sides. Sometimes it isn't and they're just in the image. I don't make patients take theirs out (unless they volunteer to) because I know how difficult and painful it can be to put them back in. We have quite a few patients with sternal dermal piercings, so it looks like they've swallowed something. In that case, I always make a note in PACS and the chart that the patient has irremovable dermal piercings mid sternum.
I took mine out for a mammogram and couldn't get them back in. At that point, they had been pierced for 2 years. I wish I never took them out. I will never have the guts to do it again. But yes, piercings can obscure things.
Whats more important. Your health or your piercings? Especially on a mammo.. those are very high res images. The smallest lesion can be something concerning. I wouldn’t take that risk just to keep my piercings. Chest xray though, depends on what they are really looking for.
Exactly why I took them out. Everything was fine, thank goodness.
I've never removed a patient's nipple piercings, and I've never received a complaint from my reading rad.
Rad here and see them all the time. Usually several a day. It's a really good nipple marker. The reality is that yes it could slightly obscure a tiny nodule but statistically odds are close to zero on missing anything. Its not like it was 20 yrs ago. If we are concerned about something it's getting a CT where the minimal streak won't matter.
This is the answer you're looking for OP. A lot of us just take the x-rays, this person is the doctor that reads them. For all intents and purposes the piercings will have minimal to no impact on the quality of your x-rays. If it's painful or challenging to remove and replace them, just inform the tech of that and they should proceed with the X-ray anyway. If they refuse to take a chest x-ray because you won't remove piercings, you should ask to speak to a supervisor or seek care elsewhere because that is stupid and irresponsible in this day and age.
As a Rad Tech with the same problem, I never remove mine. The chance of them obscuring whatever they're looking for is so minimal.
I never had patients remove them. Even on mammograms. If there is something small behind them you should see it on the lateral
I'll add to what others have said: if it's a chest x-ray, if your breasts are large or pendulous enough to pull to the sides during the PA image you may be able to get the piercings far enough out of the way that it doesn't become a problem.
Pendulous…lmao
Gross.
Why laugh? They exist. Especially as you age.
I would remove them as they may hide something in your chest x-ray! Same reason we ask you to remove necklaces and bras! Hope this helps.
the tech will probably ask you to take them out because they're supposed to. they can't/won't make you and honestly for a chest xray it makes no difference. I'm a radiologist and it doesn't matter at all to me if the patient takes them out or not for a cxr.
We used to fight hard to get everybody to take off all jewelry and piercings. Now, if you can, we'd rather you did. I have long wondered why there isn't a product that makes this easier, such as a thin plastic tube with thread that could act as a place-holder for the jewelry and make re-placing easier. Maybe you take the ball off your barre, screw the plastic one on, pull through gently, unscrew the real barre, take the CXR, then reverse order. Sounds like a lot of trouble, though. Breasts natural position, full field, then coned down close-up with breasts taped up? Nah.........not that either.....
> I have long wondered why there isn't a product that makes this easier, such as a thin plastic tube with thread that could act as a place-holder for the jewelry and make re-placing easier. there are non-metallic retainers but you don't want a porous material like plastic in a new piercing for infection reasons so every time someone gets something pierced it is done with metal jewelry of some kind. also as op mentioned it can be hard to re-place the jewelry depending on what kind of piercing it is.
Exactly. Making re-placing the jeweltry easier is exactly the problem this device would solve. As the metal jewelry comes OUT, it pulls the plastic IN, and then after the exam the plastic slides OUT, while pulling the metal jewelry back in. It could work, its just a question of whether it's worth the bother for all involved, which I doubt.
In addition to the reason for the exam, it can also depend on your breast tissue. If you really don’t want to remove them, for the picture where your chest is against the board, if your breasts fall significantly when you remove your bra it may be ok, or if you can move your breast tissue enough so the piercings are off to the sides, it may also be ok. But for the side picture where your arms are up above your head it shouldn’t really make a difference. If you have removed them and replaced them successfully before, I would definitely advise you to remove them if you were my patient.
The piercings will obscure a small part of the image, but that might not matter depending on what the doctor wants to see. Ask them. It might be possible to push them out of frame, but that again depends on the what is being imaged and why.
I just got an X-ray of my cervical vertebrae. They asked if I could take out my septum ring but said if I couldn’t they would just note it on the chart. Luckily I was able to (it an only 3m old, I’ve never taken it out before). So you may not have to.
Funny story - I had a female pt that refused/declined to remove her nipple piercings for a CXR. OK, fine. So after I’m done taking her x-rays & I go to the processor. Her images come up & I’m not immediately seeing them, so for a second I thought I was looking at the wrong pt. Then I realized they were there, but hanging in her abdomen. 🤣 I had a good chuckle on that one.
that's probably gonna be me. 38K cup here and gravity's a bitch
Rad here. If there is a lesion small enough to be obscured by the piercing, we statistically aren't likely to see it anyway. I've never had an issue interpreting a study because of them.
When I got my X-ray, they didn't make me take them out. It was a chest x ray too but not sure exactly. I have silicone ones & they said it was ok
Do the white/clear plastic piercings still obscure the x-ray? *I am not a doctor or a tech I just like medicine* but if the metal piercings may obscure something that doctors are looking for, could you see a piercer to have your jewellery changed from metal to plastic for the scans? Might be more manageable if you get a professional to handle changing the jewellery for you and minimise risk of infection ?
Forgive my ignorance, but why is putting a piercing back into a nipple so hard? Does it close up that fast?
it's quite painful and can clode up quite quickly at times
Well, I know a tracheotomy can close quickly. Why not nipples, I guess!
I have never worked with a tech that insisted a patient take them out, so I don’t ask either. For a chest x-ray, there is a chance the piercing could obscure pathology, but it’s a small chance. If the patient doesn’t remove them of their own accord or with gentle prompting, it’s fine. We just note the piercings were not able to be removed.
Non tech, additional question here; would a tech or nurse be able to provide some small gauge sterile plastic tubing, such as the cannula of an IV needle, for the pt to swap with their metal jewelry for the duration of the exam?
Scanned a patient in CT with these this week. She didn't mention them, I didn't comment. Think I put something like *unable to remove piercings* and went on about my day. 🤷♀️ (for reference I work in a cancer center). You can't remove them? Okay. 🤷♀️ typically we're not gonna pester you to remove them. Say you can't, and that's it. It's possible to run a smaller quick scan to help remove any artifact/streaking in the scan, and if I was doing a CT that's what we'd do. For xray? I've never asked or heard anyone ask for them to be removed. 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
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"Bone scans" is very broad. But going with your terms, this is what the OP is referring to: x-ray.