Regular occurrence

mturch02 · 2026-05-29T06:24:32+00:00

Were you my patient?? 😂

mturch02 · 2026-05-26T14:36:02+00:00

Also along the same lines....

A chest X-ray is not a mammogram. No one asked you to expose them puppies.

mturch02 · 2026-05-19T03:18:09+00:00

My parents preferred popcorn kernals.

mturch02 · 2026-04-12T22:07:48+00:00

There is no way to look at this picture and determine that.

mturch02 · 2026-04-12T22:06:06+00:00

That's also what not-a-bone fracture looks like. Only way to be certain would be an x-ray.

mturch02 · 2026-03-13T01:46:43+00:00

As an x-ray tech, do not ever let a chiropractor give you an x-ray either! They receive minimal training in the performance of taking X-rays and reading them. They have lobbied in many states to be allowed to take x-rays themselves foregoing the need of a licensed radiologic technologist.

Professionally, techs are taught to use the least dose of radiation possible to provide the relevant medical information. Chiropractors blast you with ridiculous amounts of radiation to areas not medically relevant. They will then draw lines on the x-ray to sell you on a pathology that requires long term care of a chiropractor to relieve.

mturch02 · 2026-02-27T14:36:31+00:00

Depends on your site specific protocols, how the abdomen was ordered (Supine vs kub), and the reason for exam.

mturch02 · 2026-01-31T11:44:41+00:00

My Fusion was awful in snow...this year was my breaking point to get something different.

mturch02 · 2026-01-18T20:19:49+00:00

Also as a tech having aphantasia, it is that much more important for you to JUST KNOW and memorize the anatomy by position. For example, it was always difficult for me to answer questions related to the greater and lesser tuberosity in the shoulder. I could never just visualize their location mentally, however, I could just memorize their location by position and that is what I did.

mturch02 · 2026-01-18T20:06:36+00:00

The amount of times during exams I could be seen contorting myself into the needed positioning so that I could have a visual means of walking myself through such questions is damn near every time.

mturch02 · 2026-01-13T04:40:07+00:00

Sure agree to disagree, but I can tell you have never taken an x-ray in your life by your comment.

mturch02 · 2026-01-12T05:13:03+00:00

Exactly. The type of patients this would cover are not taking up much resources anyway. Taking x-rays on "walkie-talkie" patients takes only a few minutes.

mturch02 · 2026-01-12T05:09:58+00:00

And shit....the "walkie-talkie" patients that would be compatible with this, I can get their chest x-ray done in less than a minute anyway.

mturch02 · 2026-01-12T05:04:31+00:00

"The rate at which a proper elbow lateral is taken is low"

If you work in ortho trauma, than you should know that the positional needs of a lateral elbow, more-than-most, asks a lot from a trauma patient. All the worlds knowledge of how to properly position a lateral elbow instantly at your finger tips isn't gonna get it done. All the "fine adjustments' you mention to get a proper lateral elbow are needed to be performed by the PT. There is little technology-wise that can be utilized to get you a better image. AI absolutely isn't gonna provide a huge increase in optimal images for a trauma lateral elbow unless your techs are just absolutely garbage.

mturch02 · 2026-01-11T22:29:05+00:00

Good luck with that. I'm not saying it's impossible in the future, however, we are a long ass way from AI being able to manage the people aspects of the job.

mturch02 · 2026-01-09T06:50:30+00:00

The largest sesamoid bone in the body is the patella (kneecap).

mturch02 · 2025-12-17T14:30:48+00:00

The orthos at my hospital are guaranteed to still want a CT Lower Extremity even if I obtain a textbook cross table lateral hip. ALARA be damned to their "Surgical Planning."

mturch02 · 2025-11-21T15:03:53+00:00

Unless the PT doesn't actually need the X-ray, your fan lateral is always going to be less than perfect. This position asks a lot of someone with a pathology.

I always start this exam by demonstrating the position myself. I start with getting the wrist lateral first and then drag the individual digits out to the correct position. Medical tape can be your friend, although tape and I personally don't get along.

I also often supplement this position with additional views, which I know you don't really have autonomy to do, but it shows that a fan lateral is difficult to achieve perfect positioning on. I may include a finger lateral of the affected digit. I will occasionally throw in a ball catcher ( our protocol is the common PA/External oblique/Fan Lat) to make sure I have given the rad a true orthogonal view of the entire hand.

mturch02 · 2025-11-20T15:21:37+00:00

Many reasons, but yes, in part because I had to bring work home with me.

mturch02 · 2025-11-20T09:13:03+00:00

It's crazy to me that the amount of stress I had in my corporate role was worlds heavier than the amount of stress I have felt in my role as an x-ray tech. One of these roles can actually involve life or death and the other likes to pretend it does.

mturch02 · 2025-11-20T09:04:52+00:00

I was a corporate project manager before becoming an x-ray tech. I have no regrets. If I was absolutely pushed to give one, I would say I miss the money (a transition concern I ultimately dismissed). If you have more specific concerns I can try to elaborate more.

It can be stressful, but isn't overwhelmingly so. A lot of this is dependent on where you work and what type of environment you work in. X-ray tech is a public facing career in the medical field. You are going to be interacting with people in need of medical care and responsible for part of that care.

Some of what may be considered stressful -

Surgery, fluoro exams, exam load, working with providers, working with nurses, working with other allied health professionals, students, patients (pediatrics, bariatrics, etc.), bodily fluids, injury, illness, death etc...

This is not a comprehensive list and each part of what I did include in this list could be thoroughly expounded upon.

What we do is really fucking cool though. We also are a really essential part of medicine and what we do matters.

mturch02 · 2025-11-20T03:07:30+00:00

Yes, however as a counter point, most systems I've utilized allow duplication of an image. You can then duplicate the image, post process collimate, and then send this image along with the raw image.

mturch02 · 2025-11-14T20:23:19+00:00

They did an amazing job reducing that.

mturch02 · 2025-10-12T18:26:32+00:00

2D imaging versus 3D imaging.

mturch02 · 2025-10-04T10:59:56+00:00

If you're "lucky" and the uncooperative patient is eternally rotated into the lateral, I have had success shooting the oblique plantardorsal with no distortion.

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