TSA: Pat Down

There is nothing sane or rational about what the TSA does. It is mostly theater but it is anyone's guess as to why your wrists were important. Over the years I have been patted down several times. --- "Just random. Just checking."

I’ve been told by a couple of TSA agents (women) that the machine can trigger if you have inflammation. A friend kept triggering in her shoulder and the agent asked if she’d had an injury ir did she know if she had inflammation there…yes, she did.

No way to know if this is REALLY the case but something to consider.

In the years after 9/11, once when I was going to London, I had a pat down to end all pat downs by a female TSA employee. I told her at least I should get to know her better after that.

TSA has no rhyme or reason. My bag has been search because I had a small Christmas candle I was going to wrap and give to a relative.

Yes, what Pam said. I was patted down on my ankle once due to the machine calling it out. I thought it was interesting because that ankle had been bothering me. I have no problems with pat downs. TSA workers are just doing their job.

I often get a quick check--sometimes just from the waist down--despite having no metal in or on my body. I've just come to expect it. I think occasionally something (a lotion?) may read as explosive residue.

I think occasionally something (a lotion?) may read as explosive residue.

Yes, it is possible. Some lotions, creams, and such will leave a residue that will mock some explosive residue.

I get a pat down every single time I go through security. My hips/groin area light up. I am full of arthritis, so that is an interesting theory. I sort of feel bad for the agent. They have to get the female agent, she looks at me worriedly, wondering if I am going to take offense. So now, even before they have a chance to ask me if I want a private area or if I am "sensitive", I just say. I am not shy and I am not in any pain, go ahead and do what you need to do. They look releived, do a quick pat and I am on my way again.

Yes, I too feel sorry for the TSA agents who have to do the pat downs. I bet they get some really nasty comments and it's really just their job.

Whoa, this is so interesting! I was wondering why my leg got a pat down at Heathrow-right above my arthritic knee.

I get a pat down just about every time. I expect and accept it. My only worry is when I am traveling alone, that I don't want to have my purse move on out of sight. I have found assuring the agent that I understand that they need to do whatever they need to do and explaining my concern about my purse usually results in the purse being brought over to me or a quick pat down.

I always go through the scanners because of knee replacements. It always triggers the area around my left upper thigh and groin and I get a patdown every time. An agent asked once if I have varicose veins, and I indeed have very prominent veins there. And I just read that the scanners flag any protuberances or bumps, so that’s me. The machine will also sometimes show my shoulder in yellow, and I have some arthritic inflammation there, as well.

Heather, I giggled when I read your reply. Once (I think in Amsterdam's airport), I had a breast exam (it was much, much more than a pat down) that was more extensive than any clinical GYN exam of those body parts.... E V E R !! All I could figure is that I was wearing a funky sports bra that made me look like a uni-boob...(which hopefully they did not think was a uni-bomb) and I had taken a long scarf off prior to going thru the machine. Fellow travelers, not to worry, we are Global Entry, but realize that does not mean diddly-squat in other countries.

Many decades ago, I was running very late for a flight (business trip and traffic in whatever large city was awful), and they kept scanning me....I finally realized it was the hooks on my bra......I told them I "had" to make that flight, and I would leave my bra with them, if I needed to..........I think I took my suit jacket off, lifted my shirt in the back and got the all-clear quickly. I did make the flight. One time it was a wrapper on a roll of mints in my pocket.....again decades ago when they would set the machines to very sensitive if there was something strange going on in the world or that destination.

Deborah, my first guess would have been lotion re: the wrist issue....or maybe something (chemical like) rubbed off from your carry on bag, etc.

Weird, though.

I had on a mid length skirt and apparently the hem was an issue and my skirt was checked out.

I get a pat-down almost every time. One time the person checking asked if I had a bad back; a couple of times ago the attendant said it was my hair. I have long hair that I wear in a single braid down my back. Evidently, the braid warms up the area enough to flag the machine. That fits with the inflammation hypothesis.

Another time I had my hands wiped very thoroughly; evidently the cream I had used that morning triggered an alert. An agent told me that some cosmetics mimic gunpowder.

I have two knee replacements and am always subjected to a pat down. Oh well, the joys of travel. Yes, the TSA is doing its job!

An agent told me that some cosmetics mimic gunpowder.

Another fun fact, peanut butter has a consistency similar to some explosives. It is sometimes run through luggage conveyors in airports as a test to make sure security technology is working.

I haven't been subject to pat downs very often, but was on my last departure from PHL. Apparently the culprit was the compression sleeves I have wore for a number of years.

I think all the forum member's anecdotal stories on pat downs over a body part with inflammation is interesting...and yes, Aimee....no doubt that is why you are always selected! This is an interesting discussion. As a solo traveler I, too, worry about my stuff on the security belt if I am pulled aside. I do try to stick my crossbody down into my personal item and zip it up before I put in thru the scanner.

Liz, that is interesting about the compression sleeves. I wear compression socks and I do put them on before I leave the house/hotel. I've always worried about them because they are actually athletic compression socks so have some reflective striping on them for folks walking or running in the dark. I've wondered if they would trigger but they have not, so far.

This last trip I did remember too late that the CBP agent who did my interview for GE long ago said not to use hand lotion the morning I needed to have my fingerprints scanned. I forgot this last trip and put on hand lotion on the plane just before landing in Atlanta from Rome. The machines would not read my fingerprints but they had a separate no-line lane for GE kiosk "rejects", lol.

I had back surgery last year, and have titanium now. It occasionally sets off the alarms, and one TSA agent said sometimes scar tissue will show as a mass, so not necessarily inflammation.