Will having a mammogram before 40 increase risk for breast cancer?
Posted by admin on 1 February, 2010
2 Comments
This item was filled under [ Breast Cancer Treatment ]
I am 33 years old. This morning I awoke to lightning streaks of pain all around my left breast. The pain was sudden shocks back to back and became more intense. They lasted for maybe 60 seconds, but it was a long and scary 60 seconds. For over a month, I have been experiencing itchy nipples on both breast. Will having a mammogram increase the risk of cancer in the future for people who are not yet 40 years old?
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2 Comments on “Will having a mammogram before 40 increase risk for breast cancer?”
No, it won’t. The American Cancer Society recommends a screening mammogram for all women when they reach age 35, and though you’re only 33 it isn’t too early to go ahead and get one. But first, talk to your physician about what you’ve experienced. It may well be that you don’t need that mammogram just now.
When I trained as an x-ray technician, I learned that those who do mammograms receive intensive additional training in that procedure precisely because it utilizes ionizing radiation. The newest techniques have reduced the patient’s exposure to that radiation to levels far, far below what was common just thirty years ago. In fact, if you took a commercial flight from LaGuardia airport in New York to Chicago, you’d receive several times the radiation level during that flight than you’d receive from routine mammography – even though that exam requires more than one exposure to the x-rays.
Again, do tell your physician what you felt. Together, you both will decide whether or not mammography is appropriate.
No, but at your age a mammogram is likely to be inconclusive. An ultrasound (sonnogram) will give a much clearer indication of any problems.
However, what you are describing does not sound like breast cancer, the pain sounds like a pinched nerve that may require investigation if it recurs. The itchiness sounds more like a reaction to a new soap or laundry powder.