The Boob Smasher

That's all that needs to be said-boob smasher.  Women over 40 know exactly what I'm talking about.  The kind looking woman in the white coat routinely asks you to put your lovely, soft-as-a-baby's-butt, lily-white, breast on a cold metal plate.  The vice closes.  "Honey, I'm sorry, but I just need it a bit tighter" says the technician that's looking more and more like Nurse Ratchet.  You're thinking, can this be good for my breasts?  I can picture the grimace/horror on my husband's face if I were to suggest his cojones get the same annual treatment to check for testicular cancer. 

The mammogram is an x-ray picture of the breast and used to check for breast cancer in women who have no signs or symptoms of the disease.  Until recently women over 40 were recommended to receive an x-ray annually (now 1-2 years depending on your risk factors).   But, now many women know about thermography.  Thermography detects heat produced by increased blood vessel circulation associated with a tumor's growth.  It can find an early tumor not yet large enough to be found by mammograms or physical examination.  It can detect potential cancer earlier the earlier it's found the higher the cure rates (greater thanb 95% are possible!).  It's recommended that thermography be used as an adjunct to mammography and physical examination. Another plus: It can be advantageous for women who are on hormone replacement, nursing or have enhanced breasts.  Also, certain types of cancers will not be detected (approximately 20%) by mammography for various reasons, but some of these cancers will be discovered by thermography.

Well, what's wrong with mammography if you're willing to put up with the squeezed mammories?  Also, anyway, many insurance plans pay for the mammograms but not for thermography.   Good point, but there are some risks with mammography.   For one, radiation.  Although the radiation from routine mammography is small, there are cumulative effects.  Having 4 films for each breast annually for decades results in a 1000-fold greater exposure.  And, yes, there's some risk from the boob smashing, more formally called "breast compression".  It may lead to the spread of malignant cells by rupturing small blood vessels in or around as yet undetected breast cancers.  False-negative results (they miss up to 20% of breast cancer) and false-positive results (additional testing leading to anxiety the cost and time of additional testing) are common.  There is also overtreatment and over-diagnosis.

I choose to do thermography in place of x-rays.  I feel more comfortable (literally) without the "breast compression" and radiation and I like the idea of the earliest detection.  My appointment is this week (thank you SunRidge School silent auction).  They will compare the results to my previous image.  Just as unique as a fingerprint, I have an infrared map of my breasts. Any changes will be picked up. 

So, if thermography sounds sane to you, there's a lot of info on the internet.  Chat with your health care practitioner and get their opinion.  

Maybe you will chose do thermography and leave body part compression to your Spanx. 

Sources:  

http://www.preventcancer.com/patients/mammography/dangers.htm

http://www.breastthermography.com/breast_thermography_mf.htm

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/detection/mammograms