Note: This article is meant simply for educational purposes. It should not act as a substitute for advice from a medical professional. Contact Craft Body Scan to speak with a medical professional or to learn more about body scans.
Is It Worth It for You?
Whether a full body scan is worth it is a personal decision. The FDA knows of no evidence that whole-body scanning of people without symptoms gives more benefit than harm, and medical societies have not endorsed it. What you get is a low-dose CT look at your heart, lungs, and abdomen and pelvis, with every scan read by a board-certified radiologist. In return, you accept two trade-offs, the chance that a finding leads to more tests and some radiation.
If ads keep putting full body scans in front of you, your questions are probably practical. You want to know whether it is a real medical test, whether one finding could lead to more tests, and whether insurance pays. We offer the scan at Craft Body Scan. Each of those questions gets a straight answer here, including the case against booking.
What Is a Full Body Scan?
A full body scan, which some people call a whole body scan, is one imaging exam of several major organs in a single visit. At Craft Body Scan, it is a low-dose CT scan that covers your heart and lungs, plus the abdomen and pelvis. Despite the name, it does not cover every part of the body. The head and the arms and legs fall outside it.
The exam combines a coronary artery scan and a chest scan with a scan of the abdomen and pelvis. If you searched for a full body X-ray, CT is the X-ray version of this exam. It uses specialized X-ray equipment, and the machine gives off some radiation.
What Does a Full Body Scan Show?
Our board-certified radiologists review the images for early signs of cancer, heart disease and other conditions, often before any symptoms appear. Around the heart, the scan can show calcium deposits within plaque in the coronary arteries. It can also show nodules, cysts and aortic aneurysms. Lower in the body, it can show kidney stones, an enlarged spleen or a fatty liver.
Catching a problem early is the point of any screening. The National Cancer Institute describes cancer screening as looking for cancer before symptoms appear, when it may be easier to treat. The definition is about screening in general. It does not show that whole-body CT helps people without symptoms.
How the Scan Works and What the Visit Involves
During a CT scan, a narrow beam of X-rays is aimed at you and rotates quickly around your body. A computer turns what it measures into cross-sectional images, often called slices. The computer can show the slices one at a time. It can also stack them into a 3D image of the skeleton, organs and tissues, as the NIBIB guide to computed tomography explains.
Getting ready is simple. You need no special preparation, and you should wear comfortable clothes with no metal pieces. The scan itself takes less than 10 minutes. Once a radiologist has read the images, your results arrive in 5 to 10 business days.
Is It a Real Medical Test or a Wellness Gimmick?
Method and evidence are two separate questions. As a method, CT builds images from a rotating X-ray beam that a board-certified radiologist then reviews for every scan we do. The evidence question is whether scanning people who have no symptoms does them more good than harm.
On that second question, the FDA’s page on full-body CT scans says the agency knows of no scientific evidence that it provides more benefit than harm. Medical professional societies have not endorsed it either. CT makers are prohibited from promoting their systems for that kind of screening. The page was last updated on December 5, 2017, and the position is still posted there.
Could One Finding Send You Down a Rabbit Hole of Tests?
It can happen, and the FDA explains why. An abnormal finding may not be a serious one, and a normal finding may be inaccurate. CT scans also miss some conditions. A false lead can bring on more testing that turns out to be unnecessary, and those extra tests are part of the trade-off you accept when you book.
If something is flagged, your results include follow-up guidance on that finding, and the choice of next step stays yours. Keep in mind that a flagged finding may turn out to be minor. Each extra test it leads to is a decision you can weigh the same way you weighed the scan.
Does a Full Body Scan Use Radiation?
Yes. Our scan is a low-dose CT, but it still uses specialized X-ray equipment that gives off some radiation. According to the FDA, the radiation from a CT scan may be linked to a very small increase in the chance of developing cancer later in life. Weigh it against your reasons for scanning.
Does Insurance Cover a Full Body Scan?
Our screenings are preventive, so we do not file full body scans with insurance. If you prefer, we offer payment plans to help ease the expense. This page gives no price. For cost questions, start with the Craft Body Scan full body scan page, which describes the exam you would be paying for.
Is a Full Body Scan Worth It for You?
Here is what you get. A board-certified radiologist looks at your heart, lungs, and abdomen and pelvis for early signs of cancer, heart disease and other conditions, often before any symptoms appear. The findings it can show range from coronary calcium to kidney stones and a fatty liver. We explain why we value that early look in our post on early detection, and the trade-offs sit on the other side.
You give up some certainty and take on a small risk. Either kind of result can mislead you, since an abnormal finding may not be serious and a normal finding may be inaccurate. A false lead can also bring on tests you did not need. The radiation may carry a very small increase in the chance of cancer later in life, as the FDA puts it.
Other tests answer some questions without CT. Ultrasound uses no radiation and can examine many internal organs, including the heart and blood vessels, according to RadiologyInfo.org from the ACR and RSNA. The CMP, a metabolic panel commonly used in a routine checkup, can check liver and kidney health, according to MedlinePlus from the National Institutes of Health. A cholesterol test, MedlinePlus notes, measures cholesterol and triglycerides.
Before a CT screening, the FDA advises talking through its risks and benefits with your physician. Start with what you would do about a flagged finding that may be minor. Then weigh the very small radiation risk. Finally, ask whether ultrasound or a lab test could answer your question without CT.
If You Go Ahead
When You Are Ready for a Full Body Scan
You need no special preparation, and your time on the scanner is less than 10 minutes. A board-certified radiologist reviews your images, and results arrive in 5 to 10 business days with follow-up guidance on anything flagged.
