Mammography, it is painful to get it done?

The mammography is a special X-ray performed while the breast is compressed between two plates in order to detect the presence of potentially cancerous formations.

Distinguished between:

• screening mammography, useful for women with no signs or symptoms because it allows for early diagnosis of conditions still too small to be noticed or perceived by physical palpation alone
• diagnostic mammography essential when breast symptoms are found or when abnormalities were found in the previous screening mammogram.

It is an examination that has no particular contraindications and is recommended to be performed from age 50 and up, every year.

In fact, in women under 40-45 years of age, due to the density of the mammary gland, the survey may not be very readable and therefore an ultrasound scan is advisable.

Before the examination, no special preparation is needed, no anesthesia is provided, and immediately after it is performed, one can resume one&#8217s life quietly and independently.

But it is painful to have a mammogram?

Some women find the compression of the breasts between the two plates of the mammography machine painful, but the discomfort lasts only as long as it takes for the examination (5-10 minutes).

Moreover, it is an examination that carries no immediate or long-term risks, although like any other X-ray there is exposure to a small amount of X-rays.

Mammography is therefore a very important examination for preventive purposes above all to catch any spies that signal the presence of a cancer, breast cancer, which unfortunately is the one that leads to the greatest female deaths.

It is also true that, if caught in time, this tumor is becoming increasingly curable with the right treatments that almost certainly involve surgery to remove diseased tissue.