What You Need to Know About Mammograms
Mammograms aren’t all that much fun so a lot of women put them off and don’t get them on a regular basis. Women, especially those who are over the age of 40, need to educate themselves about the where, why and how often mammograms are needed.
Mammograms are done to look for lumps or other irregularities in the breasts that may go unnoticed otherwise. Mammograms are similar to X-rays. Often, the lumps are tested and turn out not to be dangerous at all. Mammograms are also fairly reliable in detecting cancerous growths. For women, mammograms are essentially their first line of defense when it comes to early detection of breast cancer.
Doctors do not all agree on the age at which you should start getting mammograms. Some doctors think that you should get them at a young age but mammograms are expensive and often women end up getting needless tests due to false positive results. The younger you are, the more likely mammograms are to find something that turns out to be nothing. The testing that happens then can be stressful and expensive.
Most doctors will tell you to start having a mammogram when you hit 40 to establish a base for doctors to compare to future mammograms. This allows doctors to notice small changes in your breasts. After your first mammogram, which should be before you turn 50 at the latest, you should have a yearly mammogram done or at least have one every other year.
There are some women who should get a mammogram at an earlier age. For instance, if you have a family history of breast cancer and your mother, grandmother or other close relatives have had breast cancer, you should get a mammogram earlier. Also, if your doctor detects any lumps in your breasts during a routine physical exam, she might suggest you have a mammogram earlier.
Digital mammograms are a new technology that takes the same pictures as regular mammograms but processes the images faster since the pictures are digital and not on film. While this is a great improvement, it doesn’t mean that you are not getting as good of a mammogram with a regular machine. One benefit of digital mammograms is that the pictures during surgery can be used to make more precise and accurate incisions during surgery.
Mammograms are only part of maintaining good breast health. All women should get regular breast exams from their doctor and do their own breast self-exam each month as well. If you’ve never done a self-exam before and don’t know how, ask your doctor and she will show you how to do it.
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