Q: How much radiation is used in x-rays?

A: There are diagnostic x-rays and therapeutic x-rays. In general, medical x-rays done to check for certain conditions are also called 'diagnostic x-rays.

Diagnostic x-rays use very small amounts of radiation. If you're sick and your doctor needs an x-ray to find out what's going on and to properly treat you, you should have the x-ray.

Therapeutic x-rays on the other hand are done to treat certain conditions, usually cancer. The amount of radiation associated with therapeutic x-rays is many times more that that associated with diagnostic x-rays. Therapeutic x-rays often have many 100-times the amount of radiation compared to diagnostic x-rays.