Ultrasounds

Ultrasounds Q & A

What are ultrasounds?

Ultrasounds are imaging scans that use soundwaves to look inside your body, including soft tissues that X-rays can’t see. Also known as sonograms, ultrasounds can create pictures of your internal organs. 

Unlike many other types of imaging scans, ultrasounds use zero radiation. Instead, they work more like sonar technology, by sending out high frequency sound waves, and using a computer to map out a picture based on the sound waves that bounce back. 

What are the uses of ultrasounds?

Ultrasounds are most well-known for their use during pregnancy, when they can show an expecting family images of their unborn child in the womb. However, Chiefland Health Center can use ultrasound technology to view countless organs, including the infant brain.

Often, the team uses ultrasounds to determine the source of pain, swelling, and/or infection. They can also perform ultrasounds to evaluate the damage to an organ after an injury.

There are three main types of ultrasounds:

General ultrasounds

Chiefland Health Center uses general ultrasounds for a wide variety of reasons, such as viewing a baby in the womb, examining a breast lump, assessing metabolic bone disease, and detecting prostate issues.

Cardiac ultrasounds

Sometimes called electrocardiograms, cardiac ultrasounds produce moving images of the heart and its valves. During this noninvasive procedure, your team places a gel over your chest area, then slides a microphone-esque device called a transducer over the area.

Your Chiefland Health Center team may order a cardiac ultrasound to investigate issues related to:

• Unexplained upper arm or chest pain
• Heart attack
• Heart defect
• A history of heart disease
  
  

In general, doctors may use cardiac ultrasounds to assess your heart’s performance and study the structure of your heart for any reason.

Vascular ultrasounds

Vascular ultrasounds evaluate your circulatory system. They can help your team identify problems such as blockages in your veins and arteries, and blood clots.

Often, Chiefland Health Center pairs a vascular ultrasound with a Doppler ultrasound, which allows them to study blood flow inside individual blood vessels.

How do you prepare for an ultrasound?

Broadly speaking, ultrasounds don’t require any special preparation. However, depending on what your team plans to look at during your ultrasound, you may receive specific preparation instructions.

For example, if your team plans to look at your gallbladder, they may ask you to abstain for food and drink for a certain amount of time before your procedure.

For comfort, the practice recommends that you wear loose-fitting clothing to your appointment and as little jewelry as possible, as they may ask you to remove it for the scan. Likewise, they may ask you to wear a gown.

Ultrasounds are completely safe, noninvasive, and painless. If you need any kind of ultrasound, trust your health to the professionals at Chiefland Health Center. For more information or to book an appointment, reach out over the phone or via the online booking tool today.