The Perfect Breast Screening Routine - Part 2

How have you done with your self-examination this past week?

Not perfect? That's okay.

Don't let perfection stand in the way of great.

The self examination is by far the easiest and cheapest way to assess breast health, but is it the most accurate and reliable?

Unfortunately, no.

As a matter of fact, once a mass is large enough to be found by self examination it's been there for quite some time.

At that point it consists of thousands of cells, if not hundreds of thousands.

So what type of examination should women include in their yearly screening to catch these things earlier?

A structural examination is extremely important.

Structural examination includes mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRI's.

All of these have their advantages and disadvantages.

For example, for a breast MRI, gadolinium has to be injected into the patient in order to achieve optimal results.

It also takes longer, is more expensive, and in some cases harder to find an imaging center to perform this examination.

Both mammograms and ultrasounds are also full of pros and cons.

Mammograms use radiation and compression which both increase risk of problems.

Ultrasounds require a skilled technician and are longer than mammograms.

So which is best?

I recommend doing your research on the pros and cons and choosing at least one of these to perform on a regular basis.

I tell the ladies in my family to get ultrasounds first and then follow up with one of the others if there's a suspicious finding.

At the end of the day it is your health and you should be comfortable with the procedures being performed.

These imaging techniques will help catch cancer earlier than self-examination alone.

But did you know there's another imaging technique that has no side effects like radiation and compression and can potentially catch cancer before it's cancer?

Next week, I'll explain what is the most important but the most neglected part of a great breast screening routine.