Breast Cancer And The Pain Of The Mammogram


by Yvonne Volante - Date: 2006-11-06 - Word Count: 361 Share This!

Just tune into a select cable channel and keep watching long enough and you're likely to see a predictable show about women overcoming obstacles and being triumphant. The situation could take place in the workplace, bad or abussive marriage, sports, or the legal system. Or any of another hundred siturations. Including having beed diagnosed with breast cancer.

The fact is that there are millions of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are now celebrating two, five or even 30+ years of being cancer free.

What do they owe this to? If you ask a cancer survivor, the chances are she'll tell you that early detection was the key. And the mammogram is the technology we use most often today to detect cancer of the breast.

When should the test be done? Experts generally agree that if you have seen your 40th birthday, you should be tested at least every two years. Sometimes more often, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer. What about sooner? Well, I say: why not? What have you got to lose by early detection? Well maybe some discomfort, but women generally agree that it's worth it. More information about cancer can be found at http://www.icancerfree.com.

If you have never experienced a mammogram, here's an idea of what to expect. According to the web site MedicineNet, "The patient's breasts are then placed on a firm flat X-ray surface and a gentle, but firm pressure is applied to the breast using a mommogram compression device. This compression can cause a degree of discomfort in some women, but it is usually a painless procedure. The compression spreads the breast tissue out so that the X-rays display the inner breast tissue with good reslolution. If compression is not used, the mammograms may be blurry, breast tissue may not be well delineated and small lesions can be missed."

"Gentle, but firm pressure"? Interesting way of putting it, isn't it?

Anyway, while there may be some discomfort, don't you agree that that is a small price to pay to have the security and knowledge that your are cancer free? And if, God forbid, you're not, to know so you can take immediate action?


Yvonne Volante, the author, is a big fan of good health practices and writes for icancerfree.com, which is the premier cancer resource on the internet. You can see all of the articles over at http://www.icancerfree.com.

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