# Let's reinvent the mammogram so it isn't effing torture! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901 "2021-06-23T16:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/141 "2021-06-28T01:45:58Z")
I’d already had the Ancestry test. The genetics counselor said having the full-scale (or however you put it) genetics test done through the lab was better. I don’t recall why. ETA: She had my Ancestry results. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/142 "2021-06-28T02:46:49Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I also get my breast pulled upward so that I am on my tiptoes, feeling like I’m being hung by a boob. I assume that’s because I’m so short since I’ve never heard anyone else describe it. The tray thing that your boob sits on does go up and down, but you have to tell the technician that you’re standing on your toes. How would they know otherwise? This last time, she did raise the tray thing too high and I said, “I’m standing on my toes. Is that what you want?” (Hell, maybe it was.) Then she lowered it. It really is okay to speak up, to say it hurts, to ask if there’s a less painful way to position you. If the person is pinching you, they will have no way of knowing unless you say something. I learned this when I did massage-- you have no way of knowing if you’re hurting someone unless they tell you. They sometimes think because you’re “trained,” then you must know best. Like you’re omniscient or something. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/143 "2021-06-28T02:53:55Z")
I’m a pretty average height, but I’ve never been on my toes. And the “move your arm here, bend over a little more…” stuff always made intuitive sense to me – they were trying to get a better angle to squish the boob between the plates. Like, the arm needs to move so there’s enough “give” in the skin to grab a little more boobage. I’ve never found it excruciating. And I would certainly have complained if I did. I have found it very painful, in a sort of obvious pressure-on-sensitive-stuff way. And sometimes they are bruised enough that it bothers me for another day or two. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/144 "2021-06-28T04:23:05Z")
I did tell the technician on a couple of occasions. Apparently , the lowest the machines go is a little too high for me. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/145 "2021-06-28T08:50:20Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > And maybe when they do, they could do something about a height adjustment? I’m five feet tall, and in addition to the "drape this arm here. Put this arm here. Put this foot behind here. Turn slightly this way " , I also get my breast pulled upward so that I am on my tiptoes, feeling like I’m being hung by a boob. I assume that’s because I’m so short since I’ve never heard anyone else describe it. Not just you. I’m almost exactly average height for a woman in the US and it happened once to me, too. I spoke up and the tech apologized and lowered the unit to something less uncomfortable. Either the unit needs to be adjustable for short people (short women, not short men) or they need to have a stool handy. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/146 "2021-06-28T08:52:58Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I’d already had the Ancestry test. The genetics counselor said having the full-scale (or however you put it) genetics test done through the lab was better. I don’t recall why. Probably looks in greater detail. We had to get the family tested for a nasty gene that, we found out, has probably killed a half dozen family members over three generations. It’s not a gene the commercial ancestry tests look for so a different lab was needed. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/147 "2021-06-28T13:34:51Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I did tell the technician on a couple of occasions. Apparently , the lowest the machines go is a little too high for me. How do they do mammograms on women in wheelchairs? Or women who can’t stand for long and have to be seated? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/148 "2021-06-28T13:55:02Z")
No idea- I didn’t think to ask them that. Maybe they have special or newer machines for those situations and the radiology center I went to just didn’t have them. But I really doubt a couple of technicians were lying to me about the machine being at the lowest setting. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/149 "2021-06-28T14:22:51Z")
Goodness, I wasn’t suggesting they were lying. 😳 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/150 "2021-06-28T18:25:49Z")
It is weirdly ablist if standard mammogram machines can’t accommodate those who can’t stand for extended periods, though. Which… sounds like it might be the case. 🤯 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/151 "2021-06-28T21:25:30Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > How do they do mammograms on women in wheelchairs? Because of ableism in society sometimes women in wheelchairs can’t get medical testing like mammograms done. If accessible facilities do not exist she doesn’t get one. I’m sure there are facilities that can cope with disabled women who need mammograms. I am equally certain that there are places in the US and elsewhere where if you can’t stand up for the required amount of time to get the test you just don’t get the test. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/152 "2021-06-28T21:48:17Z")
My state’s disability services agency has done a survey and made available information about the accessibility of various mammography facilities in the state. So, you can look up a facility on their site to see if it would work for you, if you need certain requirements. For example, one thing that is noted is whether the plate can be lowered to 24-27" height. I hope other states will do the same. And then, I hope they will address areas where there are no accessible facilities. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/153 "2021-06-28T22:50:39Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m a pretty average height, but I’ve never been on my toes. I’m almost 6 feet, and one tech having a terrible day put me on my toes and then said “Don’t breathe” and disappeared behind the wall. This was my first mammo. She was angry that I didn’t know what to do. Heck. I was 30 and there because I had found a lump. It hurt like hell. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/154 "2021-06-28T23:04:29Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > This was my first mammo. She was angry that I didn’t know what to do.- Uh-oh. Here comes one of ThelmaLou’s soapbox tirades…stand back. 😠 One of my biggest gripes about medical tests is dealing with technicians who do some test or procedure a zillion times a day and here you are for your **first** whatever-o-gram and they do not instruct you properly or tell you what to do very fast using unfamiliar jargon or else assume you know what to do because, after all, _they_ know what to do. And meanwhile, you’re stressed to the max because you found a lump or blood or some pointy thing where no pointy thing should be and all you want is to get it over with and have the doctor tell you it’s nothing or okay or at least operable. I have been known to say more than once something along the lines of, _Okay, you do this all day every day, but this is my first time. So tell me what to do, tell me slowly, and be patient, because I am scared and need some kindness right now. Or else I’m going to cry, which is not a threat, but a promise._ ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/155 "2021-06-29T03:20:35Z")
I have received permission from the mods to post this link: > **[The WISDOM Study - Join The Movement](https://www.thewisdomstudy.org/)** > > The WISDOM Study is working to find the safest and most effective way to detect breast cancer for every woman. Join the movement today. Join if you 1. identify as female. 2. are between 40-74 years of age 3.Live in the United States. 3. Have not had breast cancer. I have signed up and filled out the paperwork and submitted a saliva sample. I heard about this study through the Veterans Affairs Hospital-they are also participating along with several major medical schools. I thought this would be a good place to post this. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/156 "2021-06-29T08:35:47Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > identify as female. It’s a great idea, but what an odd requirement. Surely anyone should be able to sign up if they have breasts, whether they identify as female or not? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/157 "2021-06-29T13:21:36Z")
They will tell you if you have dense breasts after your first mammogram. As someone with dense breasts, it usually doesn’t hurt too much, get a 3D done if your insurance covers it, and expect the occasional, “please come back in we’d like to take another look” - its hard to see through the density and its USUALLY nothing. I had this conversation with my dentist yesterday as we were waiting for the SECOND novacaine shot to take effect - dentists knowing something about pain management. She was saying she had one where the tech was having a bad day - and she ended up in tears with pain. And then called the hospital’s radiology chief and had words. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/158 "2021-06-29T13:32:14Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > It’s a great idea, but what an odd requirement. Surely anyone should be able to sign up if they have breasts, whether they identify as female or not? Breast cancer in female breasts is different from breast cancer in male breasts, as breast cancer is definitely hormonally influenced. They might screen out people who are not in biologically female bodies. It is a _study_, after all. After my lumpectomy I took an estrogen-blocker for five years as a preventive because my cancer was estrogen-positive. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/159 "2021-06-29T13:43:16Z")
Yes, but identifying as female is a strange requirement. Because I can have the genetics of being female and identify as male. (I suspect its because they don’t want to dirty data with hormone blockers or HRT, so they want cis women and are phrasing it poorly, but I didn’t look). ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901/160 "2021-06-29T14:28:09Z")
If it’s a big study intended to set standards of care then they probably want to include trans women - the best screening program might be different for someone on HRT - and phrased it badly so it excludes non-binary etc. Or maybe they just didn’t think about it, like how the people who designed the mammogram machine didn’t consider women in wheelchairs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reinvent-the-mammogram-so-it-isnt-effing-torture/944901.md?page=9)