You definitely did not see that other car coming. It was dark, and you were tired after a long day at the office. It certainly did not help that the other car did not have its lights turned on. In just a moment, your car had been broadsided, and you were left with a head and neck injury.
Such is a scenario that happens to many people, unfortunately, and they thus have to get a CT scan. When the head and neck are injured, there are many things that could go wrong, such as paralysis. While a doctor can, through various vocal commands such as "Can you feel your legs?" decipher the immediate peril, a CT scan will provide the doctor with the internal component, so that he or she can see the full extent of the damage.
What is a CT scan, anyway? In order to really have a better understanding of the technology behind it, one must first associate it with x-ray technology. Having been in use for decades now, x-rays use radiation to see how badly bones have been injured. However, a CT scan is a form of more detailed x-ray technology. Not only can the bones be seen, but the tissue can as well.
So, for those people who have been in a car accident and suffered an injury, it is very important that this procedure be done to see if the head trauma resulted in any clotting. Or, if the spine was damaged, to see if there is any tissue damage that is hindering nerve function.
It is important to note that this procedure is not done just for people who have been in accidents. It can also be done for people who might have a clot or a tumor. For example, if a person has been experiencing a severe headache for a prolonged period of time, it could be more than just a migraine, it could also be indicative of one of those two things. This procedure, with its detailed view of tissue, will be able to diagnose these things and, thus, have the potential to save a person's life.
How should the patient prepare for the procedure? Well, it is important that the patient does not eat or drink for a couple of hours prior to the procedure, because if he or she has to go to the bathroom during the procedure, that would damage the results! Additionally, the patient has to pay special attention to what he or she wears.
Take a look at what you wear on an average day. Chances are that a zipper or perhaps some metal buttons are included somewhere on your attire. If this is the case, you have to make sure that you are wearing nothing metal during your procedure. If you have a particularly interesting wardrobe in which you own nothing that is without metal on it, then the nursing staff will just give you one of those medical robes to wear. That being said, just relax for the duration of the scan, and stay as still as possible.
