Mammograms are a vital tool for breast cancer screening. They can detect tumors even before a woman experiences signs or symptoms of cancer, and are sensitive enough to register changes to breast tissue as small as a grain of sand.
A significant body of research has shown that having regular mammograms can lower a woman’s risk of dying from breast cancer.
6 Tips to Help You Prepare for a Mammogram
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However, for many women, scheduling that first mammogram can feel a bit intimidating. Will it hurt? How long will it take? What if the images show something concerning in her breasts?
“Until a woman has her first mammogram, she may have a lot of questions or even feel some trepidation, which is completely understandable,” says University of Colorado Cancer Center member Dulcy Wolverton, MD, an associate professor of radiology in the CU School of Medicine. “Our goal is to make sure women have all the information they need and that the process is as comfortable as possible.”
Wolverton recently addressed some of the most common questions women have about screening mammograms, particularly before their first one.