There’s no experience in life quite like the mammogram. There have been plenty of attempts to encourage women to get enthusiastic about the biennial boob squeeze, but there’s always going to be a certain level of anxiety involved with getting your girls out in front of a stranger.
If you knew all of the things your mammographer knew, chances are you’d be far less stressed about the prospect of getting your breasts checked.
So, here’s what your mammographer wants you to know.
1. Your boobs are fine.
If I had a dollar for every time a woman apologised for the appearance of her rack, I could retire.
“I’m sorry they’re so big!” or “I’m sorry they’re so small!” are among the most common things mammographers hear. Honestly, your boobs are unremarkable and there’s nothing that will stop us getting the images we need – your small/large boobs aren’t getting you out of this!
We’ve seen smaller, we’ve seen bigger, we’ve seen wonkier, we’ve seen more hair, more moles, more scars, more lumps. Trust me, you are ordinary.
We know that it can feel weird getting your cans out in front of strangers, but we’ve seen so many in our life that to us they’re just another body part. Hands, knees, faces, breasts, whatever – there’s no difference to us!
Top Comments
Can someone answer this honestly asked question- If radiation causes cancer- how is getting a dose straight to the boozies regularly a good thing?
The amount of radiation used in a mammogram is minimal, and should not cause cancer. That being said, breast tissue is radiosensitive, and care is always taken not to expose the tissue more than required.
The radiation dose from a mammogram is minimal. You get more radiation from a flight to Europe than from a mammogram.
There are a lot of different types of radiation! And 'regularly' - you only have them every two years! The equipment and technology these days is so low dose, you have more exposure to radiation in your daily life over that time.
People believe different things, but the risk of exposure compared to the benefit of finding and nipping in the bud an early cancer - by far out weighs this!
Because the low level blast of radiation you get every 2 years is not harmful, especially compared to not finding the breast cancer.
I you should really reconsider the line "no fun" and "uncomfortable." You will turn women off. I had one and on a scale of 1-10 of uncomfortable-ness I would rate it 0. Yes, 0. It was nothing remotely uncomfortable! It was fine, totally fine and nothing like any of the other humiliating things women have to/ choose to do. For comparison here are my ratings on the pain and embarrassing scale: Brazillian waxing: 5 if it's 4-weekly, 8 if I have missed one. Pap smears: 7 if it's with a doctor who knows about tilted cervixes, 9 if they don't (omg it hurts!) Anal exam: 10, 10, 10! Peak-embarassing and uncomfortable. Mammogram: 0, maybe a 1 if you are embarrassed about being topless in front of another woman! It is NOTHING to worry about.
To be fair, your rating system is 100% subjective. Some women do find mammograms very painful. I personally would put a Pap smear at a 1 and a g-string wax at a 4.
Everyone as different experiences of pain, and mammograms are almost universally described as being accompanied by pain, or at the least, bloody uncomfortable.
I would much rather have a pap smear than a mammogram. I would find it far more confronting and embarrassing to be topless for a mammogram* than I do to wear a dress and slip my undies off underneath for a pap smear or similar exam. I know you're trying to reassure people but your post came off as a bit dismissive to me.
*I'm too young for mammograms, so I have not yet had one.
You haven't had one but you still felt the need to argue?
Of course it's subjective! And I said "pain AND embarrassing" scale, not just pain. I think your "universally described as being accompanied by pain" is wrong wrong wrong. Nobody I know has described it as painful and I am pretty sure you are too young to have had one yourself? You do seem to think you are the authority on all things 'women's health' even at the expense of people's real lived experience. Next you'll be telling me my cesarean was painful and I have a visible scar (it wasn't and I don’t!)