Why Jewelry Must Be Removed for X-rays: Artifacts, Safety & Image Quality

Four Key Reasons

1. Metal Artifacts

Jewelry creates streaking, shadowing, or signal voids that obscure anatomy—especially critical in spine, chest, extremity imaging.

2. Radiation Absorption & Scatter

Metal attenuates beam → underexposure; scatter → fogging, false densities. Compromises diagnostic accuracy.

3. Positioning Interference

Necklaces, earrings, piercings prevent optimal positioning (e.g., lateral cervical, shoulder, facial bones).

4. Safety Hazards

• Heating of ferromagnetic jewelry in strong fields (MRI – different modality but relevant)
• Entanglement, pressure injury during positioning
• Projectile risk in MRI (not X-ray, but patients often confuse)

Standard Protocol

1. Patient instructed to remove all jewelry in/near field of view
2. Secure storage provided (locker, labeled envelope)
3. Non-removable items (wedding bands, dermal piercings) – documented; technique adjusted if possible

Patient Role

Arrive jewelry-free or remove promptly. Speak up if something cannot be removed—technologist will advise.