10 Things To Know Before You Get An Ultrasound: A blog where I try to answer some of the scariest questions around an ultrasound.
1. Ultrasounds are safe.
When ultrasound was first developed in the 1940s it was used mostly to detect submarines, so you can imagine why people would be concerned about whether or not it is safe for human use. However, after years of research and testing, doctors have determined that ultrasounds are completely safe for use on humans. The FDA has even approved them as a safe tool for expectant mothers. Ultrasounds use nothing more than sound and light waves (no ionizing radiation) which makes them safer than x-rays and CT scans. Additionally, ultrasounds are non-invasive and painless, making them a very appealing diagnostic tool for physicians and patients alike.
2. They take less than 5 minutes.
An ultrasound is a quick procedure that should take no more than 5 minutes total. The actual scanning process should only last a few minutes but you’ll need to spend a few extra minutes getting ready and undressing/redressing afterwards. If you want to watch the process there will be an additional video monitor facing you so you can see what the technician is seeing
I’ve been to my fair share of ultrasounds. I have a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist and I’ve had an ultrasound every time I’ve been pregnant (and you will too if you’ve got a pre-existing condition). So I know what it is like to be on both sides of the wand.
10 Things To Know Before You Get An Ultrasound: A blog where I try to answer some of the scariest questions around an ultrasound.
1. We do not want to scare you. If we do happen to see something of concern, we will tell you right away, but we are not looking for that specifically. We are just looking at your baby’s development, which is pretty amazing!
Ultrasounds are a common procedure in the medical field. They’re often used to check on babies during pregnancy, or for other diagnostic purposes. It’s a safe procedure with few risks, and a primarily painless one at that. However, there are some things you should know before you get an ultrasound.
1. How long does it take?
The length of a typical ultrasound differs depending on what kind of ultrasound you’re having done. A standard ultrasound will probably run anywhere from 10-45 minutes long. The procedure itself is largely painless and non-invasive, requiring no incisions and only mild discomfort. But this can vary greatly depending on what part of your body is being examined and what they’re looking for.
2. What kind of prep work is involved?
This depends entirely on what kind of ultrasound you’re having done. Your doctor will probably have given you instructions ahead of time, but it’s not uncommon to be instructed to drink 4-6 glasses of water prior to the test to fill your bladder with urine (which helps give them a better image), or to refrain from eating anything 12 hours before your appointment to make sure there’s nothing in your digestive tract that might obscure the images they’re looking for. If you have any
As a diagnostic medical sonographer, I like to think I know a thing or two about ultrasounds. After all, it’s not every day that you get to see the inside of your body without actually having to go under the knife. But just because they’re cool doesn’t mean they’re not scary too.
It’s true that ultrasounds are really safe and harmless (they even use them on babies in utero), but questions about potential side effects still remain. It’s hard to shake the feeling that maybe the ultrasound tech is doing something wrong (hey, there are some pretty hardcore-looking machines in there!).
To quell those fears, here are 10 common questions people have about ultrasounds — and their answers!
Ultrasounds are pretty popular. A lot of pregnant women get them, and a lot of other people might be interested in getting one for some reason or another – a suspected tumor, problems with impotence, etc. And yet: ultrasound is an invasive procedure that has risks, just like any other test. There are no recorded cases of injury caused by ultrasound, but there have been many cases where the procedure wasn’t performed precisely as it should have been.
So the question here isn’t “Are ultrasounds dangerous?”, because they’re not. They’re not going to hurt you, but they might not tell a doctor what he/she needs to know. The question is “Do you need one?”.
The answer is yes, if you need it. And no, if you don’t need it.
Here’s what else you should know about an ultrasound:
In the case of the other kinds of ultrasound, you’ll get a gel mixed with some kind of dye spread on your skin. The gel is good at conducting sound waves and the dye helps to make sure that the sound waves are not bouncing off into thin air.
The world might look a little different during an ultrasound. Since it’s using sound waves, there’s no way for you to hear anything that’s going on. It might feel a little strange since the instrument moves around your body pretty quickly. Don’t worry though. The person performing the ultrasound is trained to make sure they’re getting you everything they need to while being as gentle as possible.
The ultrasound machine is big and loud, but it doesn’t hurt! Ultrasounds are incredibly safe and no radiation is used. The sound waves used in an ultrasound produce heat, but not enough to be dangerous or felt by your body.
I’m a sonographer and I read a lot of ultrasound-related blogs. When patients come in they often ask me questions that I’ve seen answered on these blogs. I’m not going to link to the blogs because I don’t want to endorse them, but one of them is run by a tech who passed her boards in the last few years, one is run by an OBGYN who has been working for many years, and one is run by a woman who has had several miscarriages and did some research on ultrasounds after her first miscarriage.
All three are written from the patient perspective, which is probably why I like them so much. They provide reassurance when necessary and information about things you might not be able to find anywhere else (like what it means if your baby measures small). But some of these blogs are telling patients that getting an ultrasound outside their doctor’s office can be dangerous for mom and baby. That’s just not true. So I decided to write this blog post answering the most common questions about ultrasounds.