How safe is it to have frequent x-rays?

Radiation is all around usAlthough doctors do worry about exposing people repeatedly to x-rays, and there's no doubt that too much exposure to this form of radiation can be harmful, it's important to keep the risks of x-rays in perspective.
We're constantly being exposed to natural radiation from the environment around us - from the earth, through cosmic rays from outer space, even from the food we eat. For example, in the UK, radon gas seeps naturally from the ground and accumulates in homes in many areas (some places are worse than others) accounting for more than half of natural radiation exposure.

The dose from chest x-rays is very small

The dose of radiation you receive each time you have an x-ray is very small, especially given this background of natural radiation. It's certainly many thousands of times smaller than the dose of radiation needed to cause skin burns or radiation sickness. The only risk that needs to be considered is the risk of causing cancer but this is also very small.
The exact dose of radiation depends on the nature of the x-ray but, for example, a chest x-ray is the equivalent of just a few days of natural background radiation. This corresponds to a less than one in 1 million additional risk of developing cancer (a very tiny increase when you realise that we have a one in three chance of getting cancer anyway).
Some x-ray tests have a higher dose of radiation but, even so, the increased risk of cancer is still small. For example, a barium meal test or a CT scan of the chest are equivalent to a few years’ exposure to natural radiation ( for example a single chest CT scan gives approximately 70 times the radiation of a chest x-ray, or approximately 2 years worth of normal environmental background radiation) and an increased risk of cancer of between one in 1,000 and one in 10,000.

X-rays compared with other risks

This means that even if you had chest x-rays taken every week, the increased risk wouldn't be very much. And these risks have to be put into the perspective not just of the benefits of doctors being able to keep an eye on your lungs but also of other risks we choose to expose ourselves to, such as from sports, driving or smoking (very risky indeed).

Exceptions

An unborn child may be more vulnerable to damage from x-rays, and women who could be pregnant should always talk to the radiographer before an x-ray.

READMORE:http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health