At What Cost Does Trying to Preserve the Ears Come?

Hi all,

I have been having pain in the lower back and left leg for close to 2 months. Physio helped but I just can't seem to resume my exercise activities without triggering the pain.

So I went to see my Ortho Dr today and expected him to order the dreaded MRI. I went to the appt with the intention to settle for a CT scan and so he ordered 2 spine XR and lumbar CT even though he asked why can't I be sedated for the MRI if I cannot tolerate the noise.

Whilst waiting for the scan, I went to read up on the radiation effects of CT scan. I don't know why I didn't do so prior to the appt but my heart dropped when I read a CT scan to the abdomen area is equivalent to 200 CXR. After completing the scans, I felt horrible. It feels like I have offered myself up to be fried just so I could preserve the ears. I had actually decided to try MRI this time round but naively thought the radiation level of CT Scan is more or less similar to an XR.

I just wonder as I age, how am I going to navigate the various health issues that are going to pop up? With the limited medical knowledge that I have, will I make decisions that are detrimental to my health like today and suffer unnecessarily? For this back issue, the physio has been asking why am I so against taking NSAIDs for possible inflammation. Even though I have largely habituated to my temperamental tinnitus and my hyperacusis has improved, I feel trapped at times. I worry about med effects, air pressure, loud noises such that I make adjustments to my lifestyle.

Sorry for the rant but I am just feeling very lousy. People around don't understand my struggles. Any other perspectives are welcomed.

 

Unfortunately, pretty much everything in life is about tradeoffs. The good news is that you generally are the deciding party when a fork comes on the road. The bad news is that you may not be educated enough (I mean this in a non-negative way - this is a general statement to all, not to you in particular) to understand the tradeoffs well enough to make a decision with confidence. That is why, more often than not, people just follow the doctors' advice.

Your case in point: yes CT is quite a lot of ionizing radiation, if you compare it to a regular X-ray shot for example, but it's also not the end of the world. Did you know that flying from New York to Los Angeles would also expose you to radiation: it's actually 8 times an X-ray. Do you also think twice before you eat a banana? I'm asking because that also exposes you.

I've attached a chart I like to look at for reference.

The irony of this is that most of us are concerned about the medical tradeoffs that appear in front of us, but don't realize that the biggest tradeoff of all comes from something we do naturally and without too much thinking: eating.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/heal...dy-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f814b0582b8a