My Mammogram Results Were Inconclusive — What's Next?

Mammogram results are always best explained by your primary care doctor. Your primary doctor will be able to explain what to expect before, during, and after the procedure. They will also help you understand what your results mean.

Mammogram reports can - and most often do - reveal if you have dense breast tissue. Dense breasts come in four categories: they are:

1. Almost entirely fat

2. Scattered fibroglandular

3. Heterogeneously dense

4. Extremely dense

Click here to learn more about breast density and how it relates to breast cancer.

Thermography Or Mammogram - What's The Difference?

Breast cancer is mostly seen in females over the age of 50, according to the CDC. However, statistics also show that approximately 15% of all breast cancer cases happen in women under the age of forty-five.

Mammography is a procedure that detects calcification of breast tissue using a special type of X-ray machine to check for malignancies. Both mammography and ultrasound are tests of anatomy, meaning they can detect a structure.

A mammogram is necessary to diagnose any malignancies early on. Your doctor understands how crucial early detection is in diagnosing and defeating cancer and other health issues, and can help you through it.

Thermography uses an infrared camera to detect patterns of heat, and patterns of breast cancer by detecting physiological changes in breast tissue. Specifically, thermography detects changes in surface temperature and blood flow that are indicative of abnormal cell activity and tumor growth.

It detects and records the infrared heat radiating from the surface of the body. Thermography can help with early detection and monitoring of abnormal physiology, and the formation of risk factors and signs of inflammation.

Thermography Is Noninvasive and Reduces the Risk of Radiation

Thermography is not an invasive procedure, as mentioned earlier. Thermography tests what’s known as physiology, meaning the body’s normal or abnormal functions. It uses a special type of thermal infrared camera that requires no physical contact like traditional mammograms do and is likely to be preferred over the discomfort of traditional mammograms.

Additionally, thermographic screenings do not expose you to radiation as they use a highly sensitive, medically infrared camera to capture images of the breasts and are trusted to be a safer breast screening alternative because of this.

Detecting Tumors in Dense Tissue

Oftentimes, if dense tissue is present, your mammogram results will not be 100% accurate. Density can hide the presence of tumors, which could cause a false-negative or false-positive result.

Since this is not the case with thermography, false-negative and false-positive results are substantially lower. Keep in mind that neither can confirm cancer, however, they help to identify malignancies that will inform the doctor that a biopsy needs to be performed.

Mammograms are limited to breast tissue and cannot detect tumors in or around the armpit area, nor can it image the entirety of the chest area like a thermography can.

Advice for Patients Getting Breast Cancer Screening

Some women prefer thermography to reduce the risk of radiation exposure and pain. If you have concerns or questions about the difference between thermography and a mammogram, speak with your healthcare provider. In the meantime, have a look around our blog over here.