Comparing Mammography and Thermography

Breast cancer screening can identify breast cancer before a person notices any physical symptoms. Early detection can enable a person to undergo less invasive treatments with better outcomes. Health authorities and doctors recommend regular screening with mammography for women, depending on their age and individual risk factors. However, some facilities offer thermography as an alternative to mammography. What is thermography, and it is a better way to screen for breast cancer? Find out more in this article.

What is thermography?
Thermography uses a type of infrared technology that detects and records temperature changes on the surface of the skin.
It can help screen for breast cancer. A thermal infrared camera takes a picture of the areas of different temperature in the breasts. The camera displays these patterns as a sort of heat map.
When a cancerous growth develops, there may be excessive formation of blood vessels and inflammation in the breast tissue. These show up on the infrared image as areas with a higher skin temperature.

Benefits
Providers of thermography recommend this method for the following reasons:
• It is a noninvasive, noncontact procedure that does not involve compressing the breast.
• It does not involve exposure to radiation, and people can use it safely over time.
• It can detect vascular changes in breast tissue that may indicate the presence of breast cancer many years before other methods of screening can.
• It can detect changes in breasts with dense tissue and implants.
• Hormonal and menstrual changes do not affect the procedure or the results.

What is mammography?
A mammogram is a kind of X-ray. It involves compressing the breast between two metal plates and taking an X-ray image of the breast tissue.
The image can show if there are any unusual changes or masses in the breast tissue that may need further investigation.
It is the most common way of screening for breast cancer, and the information it provides can save lives. However, it can also have some disadvantages, which we will discuss in the sections below.

Summary
Women should speak to their doctor about breast cancer screening from around the age of 40 years, and they should follow their doctor’s recommendations about screening. Scientists suggest that people may use thermography to complement other methods of screening and diagnosis including mammography.