How to Get A More Accurate Mammogram

●It’s most important to get your mammograms on time. There are few reasons to delay a test.

●Covid vaccination can cause swollen lymph nodes for a couple of weeks after vaccination, but really it’s still important to get the mammogram, as there are also other causes of swollen lymph nodes that you will want diagnosed promptly.

●Pregnancy and breast feeding can also change what is seen on routine mammography. Screening mammography in research studies has consistently been found to decrease breast cancer-related death, discuss when to have this ordered with your gyno for best advice, they may alter the timing of your exam because of pregnancy.

●You will get two views of each breast (top to bottom, and side to side.) and the better the breast compression is the better the image will be, so be prepared for a small amount of discomfort. Allowing proper compression improves the result accuracy.

●You can help direct the amount of breast compression during the exam and you can take a mild anesthetic such as ibuprofen or Tylenol prior to the exam, it will not affect how accurate the report is.

●Generally mammograms are as accurate in women with large breasts as in women with small breasts, so be prepared for the answer, there is no reason to delay a test if you think you are going to ‘lose weight’ and have smaller breasts.

●Mammograms are more accurate in older women than in younger women, but that doesn’t mean delaying your first test until you are older.

●When to have your first mammogram and how often to repeat should be determined individually with your gyno. Generally most recommend your first at 40 and then every 1-2 years after, then yearly, and stopping when you are too old to be treated for an early cancer.

●The mammogram will expose you to radiation but it is not much. The radiation dose received from a routine screening mammogram is equivalent to the dose received from natural background radiation we get from the earth’s atmosphere over three months. Women with genetic abnormalities are at greater risk for radiation-induced cancer and could discuss with their gyno what is the best strategy for them, you may also need MRIs which is no extra radiation.

●Digital mammography is current considered the best test for image quality in the average women, but tomosynthesis also called 3D mammograms are indicated in many cases, and recently has begun to get better coverage by most medical insurances.

●Most radiology departments also now have mammography with computer-aided detection (CAD), but due to finding more suspicious areas CAD may increase need for recall or follow up examinations. But prepare yourself for returning to get a better view.

●Diagnostic mammograms are performed for women with symptoms, or a mass or a known history of cancer. Diagnostic mammograms usually have additional views are obtained, such as oblique views rather than just a view from top or side, and magnification may be used as well.

●Increased breast density both increases the risk of breast cancer and decreases the sensitivity (accuracy) of mammography to detect small lesions, and this is the setting that most often calls for 3D screening breast tomosynthesis.

●Women with implants can have safe and regularly performed mammograms, so you need to plan on your mammograms even if you have an implant. If you have no breasts, because you have had all your breast tissue removed, you no longer need mammograms.. Standard imaging technique in women with breast implants involves four views.