'Mammograms hurt' column draws ire -- OrlandoSentinel.com

Moski wrote:

Mammagrams are horrible! My theory is that the pain is directly related to your skin & tissue - loose vs firm. It is certainly not related to your breast size. You cannot pinch my cheeks and my breasts are still very firm at 41. I think if my skin was looser it would be less painful. Last year my chest hurt for 4 days and I could not roll over on my stomach while sleeping. I feel that mammagram technicians should all be required to have one themselves before they can practice their sadistic ritual on me.
I know women who have died and lived with breast cancer. If my mammagram today hurts like last year, this will be the last one for me.

I had my first--and last mammogram 4 days ago; I am still sore; in case the term "sissy" comes to mind, I've had 3 kids vaginally with no drugs, 2 of which were over 10 pounds; I nursed all three for anywhere from 1 year to 18 months, had 3-5 breast infections while nursing, etc.. despite this I am blessed with virtually NO breast pain prior or during my period. So experiencing intense pain during and still for days after a mammogram when I DO NOT have sensitive breasts is more than a little disturbing.
Having a mammogram is an INDIVIDUAL decision; for me to experience such pain makes me question the possible damage it is doing to MY breasts. Don't judge others decisions or others' "pain;"

I just spoke with my 84 year old cousin who lives in Arkansas, and she is almost crying from pain in one breast following a mammagram she was given over a week ago!
I had my annual mammagram a couple months ago; it was totally non painful, and I commented on that to the technician who told me they are using a new machine that does not require breast squeezing to the extend the old ones did.
Those of you with senstive breasts might inquire where to find this technology.
Meanwhile ought I advise my cousin to call her doctor about pain lasting over a week? Does age play any role in it? I told her I'd look on line for information to help her , and this site came up first on "Mammagram pain" google search.

What is it about medical professionals and their definition of 'uncomfortable'. I had a mammogram today that was about the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my life. Thank god it was only for a few seconds. I could not have stood it for any longer. My breasts are still throbbing. Maybe that is not every woman's experience, but it was mine.

Since my mother died of breast cancer and I've found a lump in each of my breasts, I was hardly going to refuse the procedure. But yes, it has made me fear future mammograms - and perhaps if I didn't have a family history of breast cancer I would avoid future mammograms.

I had my first mammogram today (I am 42) and it was so painful that I nearly passed out. I was expecting mild discomfort, but not this. I had to scream at the nurse to stop. The pain was so intense that I felt dizzy and everything started going black and I nearly collapsed on the floor. They took my blood pressure and found it had dropped to a very low level. After about 10 mins lying down with my feet raised, I felt better to finish the last torture session and I was glad to get the hell out of there. I would not want to subject myself to a mammogram again.

have to agree i find mammograms excrutiating, since my diagnosis of breast cancer 3 yrs ago at the age of 31, I have had 3, due to have one this week which i am dreading ! apparently in younger women our breasts are dense and mammograms aren't really effective, so i wonder why i should endure this torture ! I found my lump myself and was also gave an ultrasound which picked the tumour up. I received a lumpectomy & the pain on the breast when receiving a mammo is like nothing I have felt before, think I will have a stiff drink before i go ( only kidding !)

Recently had a second mammogram performed. The first one I had was the most painful experience the technicians (female) was more brutal than any man could have been. It put me off going for three years. Finally, last month I plucked up courage and scheduled an appointment. Ladies please let me tell you...IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT PAINFUL! This time I went to another clinic and called and explained to the technician my previous experience. She was fantastic. She explained that when you are nervous and you tense up the breast it can make it very painful. You must RELAX. You have to sort of lean in (although it's the last thing you want to do)into the machine. Also, the clinic I was at has DIGITAL (very important) the machine felt like plastic (unlike the first machine that was cold and was metal) ASK before you make appointment.Most good clinics should now have digital machines. This is the age of technology and no woman should have to suffer during a mammogram. I have quite large, dense breasts, so I also had an ultrasound.(request one ) Apparently the technician told me that it is procedural now for women to get both. Please ladies TELL THEM TO STOP if it hurts. Put your bra back on and get the heck out of there. There are other more humane places you just have to look:)

Interesting point Debbie about the techinician being female and it be very painful, i have found this also.

also many women i have spoke to who have their smear tests carried out say they much prefer a male doctor / nurse to carry this out rather than a female. Why is this ? Surely women should have more sympathy knowing this is a woman they are performing procedures on !!!

I was pleasantly surprised, i had my three year check up on friday and was told apparently for three years they dont give you a mammo but i will receive one next year, o.k whatever, all i know is i felt relief at not having to get one !!!!

I had a mammogram today (digital) and it was absolutely AWFUl. I am not a big wimp, but when someone flattens your breast with a vice like pancakes, I broke out in a sweat and started crying and shouting out. The technician was terrible, telling me that unless they were pushed down a ton, it was a useless procedure. I find this hard to believe. This was honestly, excruciating. If I ever get one again, I will find a kinder, gentler, technichian and perhaps find a place that uses the soft foamy cushions I recenlty read about that don't show up on x-ray.

I had my first mammogram half done the day before yesterday. I could not allow that lady technician torture me to a point of fainting. It was on my left breast and I still have to take iboprophen for the pain; not to mention how hurt that breast looks in comparison to the other. I believe this is un humane procedure. I will definitely won't go for another one.

i rarely post but after my reading all the above i just have to. i just had my first mammogram today after finding a lump in my breast. THEY DO NOT HURT!!!!!!!!!! ladies pondering the same thing listen to me please, get off the internet, stop reading this crap, you're scaring yourself! i was freaked beyond measure, i was soooooo afraid of getting a mammogram after reading all the negative things women had to say that i thought i was going to pass out at anytime. not only did it NOT hurt, it was not painful either!!! nor even uncomfortable. my tech said to make sure the place you're going to has the latest up to date equipment (there are places that don't and she said they can hurt). talk to women you KNOW who got one and ask them their take. call and ask the place you're going if it's painful. i did all of the above, even called and the place had the tech call me back and insure me that it didn't hurt.:)

i rarely post but after my reading all the above i just have to. i just had my first mammogram today after finding a lump in my breast. THEY DO NOT HURT!!!!!!!!!! ladies pondering the same thing listen to me please, get off the internet, stop reading this crap, you're scaring yourself! i was freaked beyond measure, i was soooooo afraid of getting a mammogram after reading all the negative things women had to say that i thought i was going to pass out at anytime. not only did it NOT hurt, it was not painful either!!! nor even uncomfortable. my tech said to make sure the place you're going to has the latest up to date equipment (there are places that don't and she said they can hurt). talk to women you KNOW who got one and ask them their take. call and ask the place you're going if it's painful. i did all of the above, even called and the place had the tech call me back and insure me that it didn't hurt.:)

Curious wrote:

I've had 3 mammograms in my life.
Uncomfortable? Yes.
Painful? Absolutely no.
I wonder if it's just me.

I have had 3 also, the previous two were unremarkable. The one I had yesterday left tears in my eyes, and I was holding my breasts as I walked back to my car. Ouch! It's apparent mammograms can REALLY hurt! There needs to be another way. As I have seen via the web there is new technology in Canada. I wonder how many decades it will take to reach the US!

I was really frightened by the comments on this page...which I read right before I went for my first mammogram...which I had yesterday...and for me it DID NOT HURT AT ALL...it just felt like pressure...I was wondering if size and shape of the breast has anything to do with how it feels? The technician who did mine commented that I had a full round breast...I'm a size 38 C/D and maybe it was easier to position me? Just a thought? Good Luck to everyone and if it hurts next time go to another Radiologist!

No, "Curious" it isn't just you, but for some women they really are extremely painful.

It just GALLS me that people in the medical profession would want to silence discussion on the topic. As one of the first posters said, if men had to lay their tender parts on one plate and then have them squeezed and x-rayed -- we would have a more comfortable test.

It varies greatly. They're uncomfortable for me but awful for my sister, and my sister isn't a whiner.

Too darned much politically-correct thinking when it comes to breast cancer, and now this ...

No, it's not just you. Mammograms are sometimes just uncomfortable and sometimes very, very painful.

We have joked about it being men's faults but I think the real truth is that they finally had a tool that could save lives by finding breast cancer earlier at a far more treatable state -- and they like saving lives.

Yes, you can have a breast MRI. I had one last year and now have permanent ringing in my ears from the noise -- even with ear plugs. MRI's aren't perfect either. They are also more invasive. They require an injectable dye.

If you have dense breasts, or are high risk, a digital mammogram is an option.

However, I do not think the discussion about the fact that they often hurt a great deal should be silenced by anyone. We're big girls and we can take the truth. If, however,the medical community tries to "hush-hush" up the fact that they can be painful, we will lose trust in those experts. I think it's a great way to make people think "If they won't even talk honestly about this test -- what are they hiding?"

I can see this "shhh -- don't tell her it might hurt!" attitude as likely to cause fewer women to get mammograms. Tell us ALL the truth -- it can be uncomfortable or hurt -- but then show us the statistics. SHOW us why you're so convinced we should do this. We're all grown up. We'll hear you out!

The doctors and technicians who are critical of those who refuse to ever have another mammogram should stop blaming the patient or implying they are just "sensitive." I agree that this was definitely the worst pain I ever endured, and I was crying and almost passed out. Like the others who have written in, I am not a sensitive person in general and not a crybaby by any means. I have to come believe that this much pain is so extreme and abnormal that I will take it as message that this test is not for me. Stop insulting us and lecturing us, have some respect, and instead do something about this disastrous, and often inaccurate, test.

SandwichGen wrote:

<quoted text>
TY, Janice.
Now I'm wondering....how many of the women posting here, who are 50 or older, have had a colonoscopy?

At age 50 I had one, and I was the 1 in a 100 that did not respond to the medication that puts you to sleep. It was painful, and I ended up with bruising internally as well as on my abdomen. Thankfully I do not need another for 10 years and it was recommended I ask for general anesthesia next time.