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Mammograms - ladies, seriously, wtf?
I just walked out on my first mammogram. It was a regular screening, I don't have any concerns, but decided to go for one just as I do other things I find really unpleasant such as smear paps or dental check-ups and cleaning.
I didn't do too much of a research about the procedure, I've heard some women find it painful (if they have big boobs), mostly Ive heard its uncomfortable, well thats ok, expected.
What I didn't expect though, was a medieval torture device, which is designed to turn your tit into a pancake, and you're expected to willingly go and subject yourself to this procedure on a regular basis.
Once the radiologist started guiding me through the procedure and lowering the tray (or whatever you call it) I eventually told her to stop because it was hurting too much, she said she wasn't even half way through the required strength of compression. I was like, sis you gotta be kidding me, she said I don't have to do it today if I don't want. I sensed she was used to it.
I left the hospital in tears, I was really angry. Are you telling me that you can request numbing injection to have your teeth cleaned if they are sensitive, men get sedated for colonoscopy, you have all kinds of pain and anxiety medications available for anything but women somehow are supposed to suck it up when their breasts are being crushed by a hydraulic press??
Being pissed off and in a state of disbelief I started googling things. These are my findings:
\- Breast compression technique using mammogram machine was introduced by a MAN in 1949!!!
\- Cochrane Review (the most rigorous and extensive review of the scientific literature and underlying data) indicates that it is "not clear whether screening does more good than harm". According to their analysis, 1 in 2,000 women will have her life prolonged by 10 years of screening, while 10 healthy women will undergo unnecessary breast cancer treatment. Additionally, 200 women will experience significant psychological stress due to false positive results
\- A breast implant can rupture during a mammogram (I was never asked if I had implants)
\- Most women over 50 never go to their second mammogram
\- There are currently multiple alternative options available for painless/less painful breast screening including pressure controlled mammography.
\- This year in the Netherlands, over 100,000 individuals signed petition demanding alternative to painful mammography (radiologybusiness.com/topics/medical-imaging/womens-imaging/individuals-sign-petition-alternative-mammography)
I will be seeking alternative screening method in some time, by the way I'm in Canada where you'd expect medical care to be fairly modern. It boggles my mind that women arent kicking it off that the best the governments can do to potentially save their lives is use something that was invented during WW2.
EDIT: I didn't expect for this post to explode to that extent. I've been trying to read everyone's responses but its becoming difficult (1.6k comments). For those accusing me of scaring women off from potentially life saving test - that wasn't my intention. I simply pointed out we must demand for our pain to be taken seriously. Judging by the replies, more damage is being done by the medical industry not offering women some kind of assistance with pain and anxiety during the procedure since there are hundreds of responses here that say :"Ive had it done once and never again".
Based on the responses, I have also found out that for many women procedure isn't painful, a lot depends on the tech, and that currently different mammogram testings exist such as "pressure controlled", followed by a variety of other tests (thermography, ultrasound, MRI etc) whic... source
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