painful mammogram

mamadog53

Hope this is the right place to post this. If not, maybe someone can direct me to the right topic. I had lumpectomy and radiation 6 years ago. At first mammograms weren't that bad but the last 2 years they have become excruciating, particularly on my surgery side. I have taken ibuprofen prior to the test but it didn't begin to touch the pain. I had my latest mammogram yesterday and today my entire shoulder to ribcage feels bruised. I try my best to cooperate with the technician but I can barely keep from crying out in pain. She kept telling me that she has to get good pictures or it will have to be done again and I understand that. Yesterday I tried telling her that my face and chin were up against the machine and I couldn't move any closer. When the upper plate came down on my breast I felt like it was going to break my collar bone. I also told my oncologist about the pain last year and she just said that it has to be done. I know that! Does anyone else have extremely painful mammograms and what have you found that eases the pain? I read about the Mammopad but the hospital I go to doesn't use them. At this point I'm not sure if I can go through this again. Thanks for listening.

LRM216

Lynn: I know only to well what you are feeling as I too have always felt a lot of pain from my mammograms. I just had my yearly last week, and it literally brings me to tears each and every time. I too have been told exactly as you have been - that it has to be done; if they do not come out clear, then they will be done over again, etc., etc. I absolutely hate and dread my yearly so much. I had a large batwing lumpectomy, that had to be reopened for one dirty margin two weeks after the original surgery, and still have 23 of those little metal markers in my BC breast, although they keep telling me each year that the markers do not have anything to do with the pain I feel (I'm not so sure, but that may be true as my good breast hurts as well during the mammo).

Last year, the kind tech that did my mammo laid down a thin foam cushion on the plate and told me to ask for it every year I come for the mammo. I asked and got it this year, and while it did not make the mammo painless, I can honestly say it helped a great deal. I suggest you ask for the same thing and see if it makes a difference for you, as it did for me. I am 8 years out and can't imagine why no other tech has ever mentioned this thin foam pad to me in all the years I have been having these dang mammos.

Hope this helps a bit. I wish you all the best, always.

Linda