So has anyone had a mammogram? What do I need to do before? what do I expect?

[greenbriar]

does it hurt?

[Maddy McCall]

1. It's no big deal.

Millions of women have them done every year. I'm sure most women at DU over 40 have had mams...most just haven't started threads about them.

You go in, you get your boobs pressed between two pieces of glass. Takes 10 minutes.

As to what you should do before--um, basic hygiene, perhaps?

[greenbriar]

14. you know, I don't know what the snarkyness is for, I had an honest question

with honest qualms


?

[AlCzervik]

2. it didn't hurt so much as being really uncomfortable for me, also i was told no anti antiperspirant

or deodorant could be worn which sucked. I'm pretty small so it might be different for those more well endowed.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear greenbriar...

I've had lots of them...

The procedure doesn't hurt me, but I guess it does some women...

No antiperspirants or deodorants...

Wear two piece clothing...a shirt and jeans, for instance.

Maddy's right...it doesn't take very long.

If they use a digital camera, you can see your results right away, and that's cool!

:hug:

[greenbriar]

7. oh good idea

on the two piece

[NV Whino]

4. Not a big deal

but you will come out cursing the person (probably a man) who invented the damned things.

No deodorant. Apparently it can give a false reading somehow.

Basically they just crunch each boob a couple of times--once horizontally and once vertically. Hold absolutely still otherwise they will have to do it over... and you don't want that.

[greenbriar]

6. ugg

okay

hold steady

[Lil Missy]

5. To prepare, smash your breasts in the freezer door, really hard.

just kidding! :)

[greenbriar]

8. bwhahaha

now that is funny

[Lil Missy]

31. Oh man. I didn't want to worry you, but I was only half joking.

I have cystic breasts, and it hurts to have them squished into pancakes. I usually end up having to get an ultrasound too. ( All the more reason I should get a mammogram regularly.)

I swear to God, they practically pull my entire back and lips into the damn machine. And it is cold!

[AwakeAtLast]

39. After you've mastered step #1, move along to step #2 - the garage door

:evilgrin:

I had to have one at age 28 because I found a small lump and they wanted to make sure it was benign (it was). It was uncomfortable, but not awful. The tech makes the difference, IMHO. Good luck! :pals:

:hi:

[tigereye]

9. oh, yeah... many of em...

It's uncomfortable for a minute or two and the tech gets to manipulate your boob into a suitable plexi- sandwich position... and then smush

relax and don't breathe while they take the pic...


it doesn't hurt as much as it used to - the equipment has improved somewhat.


But I think it would be better if a woman had designed it...

[Robeson]

10. Mrs Robeson has to get them regularly due to the history of cancer in...

...her family. It's a little uncomfortable, but you'll do fine.

[Lex]

11. I had my 1st one in April. It didn't hurt.

I took 2 ibuprofen about 1 hour before, just in case.

They sent me a call-back letter and I had to go back for them to take another look at one tiny area and that time it did hurt a bit, to be honest, just because of the way they had to squeeze to take a pic of that one place.

But the first one, the regular one, it was no big deal.

They want to do a 6 month follow up with me to see that one little area again, but this time I'm switching and getting a digital mammogram (instead of a regular one), which digital is supposed to take a clearer picture.

Probably TMI! :hi:

[Skittles]

22. beware

they took TWELVE pics total on me when it switched to digital before pronouncing me OK :(

[Lex]

37. doggone it! 12?

Is the digital as "squeezy" as the regular?

I'm glad you got prounounced okay. :hi:

[Skittles]

48. yeah, squeeze factor is the same

but the picture is much, MUCH clearer - they kept calling me back in and I could clearly see previous film displayed with the dreaded circles - I'm very "dense" - unusual in an older woman, and they just wanted to make sure. After 12 pics they did a sonogram on 'em to make sure. :o

[Flaxbee]

12. no deoderant/antipersperant, also no powder ...

the no powder request just came up the last two times I've gone in.

It doesn't feel wonderful, but it is pretty quick. The first time I had one I just laughed - I was so startled by the absurdity of having my boobs squished.

[greenbriar]

13. Thanks for the honesty

I feel better and not so worried

[Skittles]

15. if you're "very fibrous, very dense" it hurts like hell

and you'd think being over 50 and having boobs like gals in their 20's would be a good thing :(

[bicentennial_baby]

17. Damn straight

:hug:

Been doing that since my early 20s. Fibro breasts rock! Not.

:hi:

[lukasahero]

38. Ditto that

Pure misery. And I am otherwise highly pain tolerant. :(

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

45. The last one I got

the technician said, "Oh, look, your breasts are much less dense!". And I was like, "and that is good for whom???" She laughed. I knew that she would be better able to read the pictures, but I am not happy that the girls are getting a little floppy! x(

[bicentennial_baby]

16. My experience, hurts like a motherfucker, for a minute

Depends on how dense your breasts are. It's quick though. Take a couple IB first.

[DFW]

18. My wife says they're tolerable

And necessary. She has already gone through breast cancer, chemo, radiation,
further operations to remove more pre-cancerous lesions. It sucked, but death
is not the best of alternatives. Get it done.

[Critters2]

19. Do what I did. Have it the same day as your pap and pelvic.

The mammogram will seem downright pleasant in comparison.

[Skittles]

20. I had a pap and dentist appt in the same day

I don't know what the HELL I was thinking when I scheduled that - that was just plain WRONG :o

[noamnety]

25. Pap smears are supposed to happen on president's day. (nt)

[Critters2]

27. Really? I hadn't heard. Our local clinic is slow and inefficient enough.

I shudder to think what it'd be like if everyone were getting their paps on one day.

[noamnety]

28. In my last job we got that day off

but it's not like a holiday that you'd go celebrate with family. So it was our day to do that, and somehow it seems like a fitting tribute.

[Flaxbee]

21. yup - me too. Get it all over with in a few hours. My dr.

is about an hour from where we live, in Asheville, so my husband and I drive in, he drops me off, I go through my routine, and then go out for our favorite Indian food and a niiiiice glass of wine for me :D

[noamnety]

24. That's funny -

I always make sure I have wine in the house before I go.

My first choice would be to crawl off into the woods and die afterwards like ... I dunno, like some culture where the old people do that. But we only have about a half acre of woods here, I know I would crawl off, sit there for a bit, then come home to pee.

So instead, I curl up, watch bad tv, drink a glass of wine and sulk.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. I'm stalling.

My gync fusses at me whenever I see her.

[noamnety]

29. oh, geez, just go deal with it.

There'd be a whole lot more groping and such if you waited long enough that a small thing developed into something serious. You don't want that.

[Critters2]

30. Zackly. Better a mamogram than chemotherapy or worse. nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

36. That's what she says.

I don't care. I'll go when I feel like it...if I feel like it. And if I have the money.

[Connonym]

26. It's not so bad

It's a little embarrassing having a stranger handle your breasts like they're pieces of meat and it CAN be uncomfortable if you're premenstrual with breast swelling and tenderness and/or have a technician who isn't the most gentle. But really, I've had 3 and I've never felt that it was as horrible as the stories you hear. Definitely not as bad as a Pap smear.

ETA: Also you should be very careful to not wear deodorant or powder after you shower the day of your mammogram. Some of the ingredients in these can interfere with the clarity of your mammogram reading and may cause artifacts on the image that could lead to a false alarm about something dangerous.

[WinkyDink]

35. I'll take a stranger over who my last mammographer was: a former student!

[Betty88]

32. Personally I hate it,

it hurts. My solution is a Valium and 2 motrin about 30 min before. If I could find the bastard that invented this process I would take his sack and crush it in a vice while telling him to relax. But thats just me...

[MissMillie]

33. I found it to be a little uncomfortable

but it's over pretty quickly so it's really no big deal.


I should add that I'm big breasted. I can imagine that someone who is small-breasted will find this even more uncomfortable, but again, it's over pretty quickly.

[WinkyDink]

34. It's nothing. And you can get a pad inserted between you and machine. Just pretend you're a model!

Hold that pose!

[yellowdogintexas]

40. my first one was very painful, but it was also about 30 years ago and my

breasts were very very dense and heavy and more subject to fluid retention, cysts and everything else than they are now.

The next time I had one, 10 years or so later, I couldn't believe the difference in technique and equipment.

Every time I go, it seems they are better.

I do believe this is the one aspect of having large breasts that is an advantage. :rofl: :rofl:

I don't bother with painkillers prior either...if it hurts at all it is only for a couple seconds at at time. I let my cats cause me much more pain than the mamm causes

Now that I am over 50 I get one every year.

[DS1]

41. From what I understand, like dating in high school, only with colder hands

:shrug:

[Zuiderelle]

42. Wow, that is so accurate!

:rofl:

[DS1]

43. Really?

I was just being amusing, too :D

[Whoa_Nelly]

44. Other than it being The Atomic Boob Smasher

It's all worth it, and over quickly.

Good on you for going to get the mammo. :hug:

[CottonBear]

46. You get cool adhesive stickers with metal BBs on them to mark your nipples!

So, you will not be totally nude! (They're like teeny, tiny pasties!) ;)

The mammogram doesn't hurt too much at all but you'll be AMAZED at how flat your boobs can get when squished between two plates of glass by a mechanical press.

edit: Good for you for getting this exam. It's for your health and well being! :) Good luck!

[WCIL]

47. I was prepared for the worst

so it didn't seem so bad. It took some time getting my breasts positioned, but it went quickly after that. I experienced the most discomfort up near my armpits. As others have said, take painkillers about an hour before you go, and bring a deodorant with you for after, unless you want to use the community can of Suave. Luckily for me, I am in my early 40's and have no family history of breast cancer, so I get to be on the every-other-year schedule.

[madeline_con]

49. They squeeze the crap out of your girls.

Just be warned.

[pink-o]

50. I was mad when I turned 40 and they were mandatory.

Not so painful for me, just unpleasant and annoying. But I've been a good girl and dilligently kept them up.

Anyway, if you think that's bad, wait'll you turn 50 and the doctors insist on the colonoscopy!!!