Usually, after visiting your health care provider for consultations, especially if you feel unwell, they begin by collecting a thorough history that incorporates your medical, family, and lifestyle history. They also enquire more about the symptoms you might be experiencing, wanting you to say when they started and their extent. Your history then gives your care provider a cruel of what might be the cause and the problem. However, imaging tests such as MRIs, x-rays, CT scans, and lab tests such as blood work, urine, or stool tests are performed to confirm the diagnosis. Therefore, if your symptoms keep worsening or you have been to the hospital. Still, no improvement has been noted, and you seek additional diagnostic tests to help detect what the problem is, labs, testing & x-rays, Greensboro specialists offer to test for undiagnosed conditions or injuries. Read on to know more about labs, testing, and x-rays.
What are labs, testing, and x-rays?
Generally, testing, labs, and x-rays are services offered to help in the diagnosis of a variety of injuries and conditions. Lab work mainly entails swab tests, blood tests, and urinalysis, which is essential in detecting existing infections and displays the chemistry in your body. On the other hand, x-rays are examples of imaging tests involving electromagnetic radiation to form a black and white image of the targeted body part. X-ray images help determine if you have a broken bone or suffer from conditions such as pneumonia.
The role of lab testing and x-rays is to help come up with an accurate diagnosis, among other purposes. Your lab results also help your care provider evaluate the success of treatment and help track the progress of your disease over time, like cancer, diabetes, or high cholesterol. The tests can also help your care provider make future predictions concerning your health.
What lab tests can you get?
Various lab tests exist, some of which involve collecting a swab sample or blood sample. Therefore, depending on the symptoms, you present with, you can get the following test:
- Covid-19 testing
COVID-19 is an infectious disease that mainly affects your respiratory system and may cause symptoms such as fever, coughing, difficulty breathing, or fatigue. In this case, you get a PCR or rapid test.
- Sexually transmitted disease testing
STDs are mainly spread through sexual contact with infected individuals. You can undergo an STD test for gonorrhea, HIV, chlamydia, or hepatitis.
- Tuberculosis testing
Tb screening involves performing a blood or skin test to help detect if you have a tuberculosis infection. A person suffering from TB presents with chest pains, coughing, night sweats, and weakness.
- Blood work
Blood work aims to provide essential details concerning your body’s chemistry, such as white and red blood cell count. The results can also indicate the presence of an infection in your blood or body, nutritional deficiencies, and immune system dysfunction, among other concerns.
Lab testing and x-rays help detect undiagnosed underlying medical conditions and fractures. Therefore, if you have been in and out of the hospital without recovery and are interested in knowing what could be the problem or want to evaluate whether your treatment is working, you can get started by calling Triad Primary Care today and book for additional tests and x-rays depending on your symptoms.
