Is it true that xray continue to develop up to 48 hours after having them read?

Question

My doctor said that he didn't see any breaks, but that there could be a fracture as all fractures do not show up immediately.

Answer 1

No...the x-ray does not change, but your injury could. What he meant was that a fracture might not be seen right away - if you took new x-rays again later, it might show then.

(Also a comment about the other person's answer...these days there are more and more digital x-rays and fewer "film" x-rays. They are "developed" by a computer, not in a dark room.)

Answer 2

I would guess not. An x-ray is a photograph (simple large format film is exposed to radiation - same thing happens when you put undeveloped film through the scanners at airports) negative.

The negative is run through a developer, then washed and then through a chemical that "fixes" the image on the backing.

The only thing that would allow the image to develop after being read would be they weren't in the fixer long enough. That, though, would render the entire image unreadable after a couple of hours.

What I think your doctor was trying to say is that sometimes small fractures may be hidden by bone mass or not broken enough to see and that after time, the fracture will grow making it more visible.