Every woman should have a mammogram at regularly scheduled intervals.
The National Cancer Institute reminds women that getting a high-quality mammogram provides one of the best strategies for detecting breast cancer early. Yet many women postpone this painless procedure and risk missing the possibility of an early diagnosis and effective treatment. Health care professionals should know about these fears and address them head-on.
Instructions
1. Discuss the physical aspects of what a mammogram entails with the woman. Some women may believe that the mammogram will hurt. During the mammogram, the mammogram machine compresses each of the woman's breasts for a few seconds. The discomfort lasts for no more than five seconds for each breast, and many women don't feel the discomfort at all. A numbing gel can help for especially sensitive women.
2. Explain the importance of early mammogram screening in providing expanded treatment options in the event that the mammogram discovers a tumorous growth in the breast. Some women delay doing a mammogram because they worry that a positive reading of a mammogram will result in surgery, amputation and drug therapies. Women should know that frequently, when the physician "sees something" on a mammogram, it only indicates that he has detected a small cyst or some other kind of abnormal tissue in the breast. Mammograms have a high false-positive reading, but follow-up tests will ensure clarification as soon as possible. In the event that the mammogram does indicate the presence of a cancerous growth, a woman has more treatment options and more options for less invasive treatments if the physician detects the tumor in its early stages.
3. Talk to women to dispel the rumors that circulate about breast cancer. Many people believe that only women who feel a lump in their breast or who have a family history of breast cancer need to worry about mammogram screening. In fact, feeling a lump in a breast or having a family history of breast cancer does increase the chances that a woman will develop breast cancer. However, about 70% of women who receive a positive diagnosis of breast cancer do not have any identifiable risk factors for the disease. In addition, many women who receive a positive diagnosis of breast cancer never felt any breast lumps before their diagnosis. Mammograms still provides the best tool that medicine has to give an early diagnosis of breast cancer and thereby effect the least invasive and least severe treatment.
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