I’ve never had a mammogram so I actually don’t know how it works. Only heard the jokes about how they squish your breasts and that it hurts. We were talking about how men can have breast cancer so why don’t they get mammograms? (Maybe they do). Then we laughed as we pretended to slip a tiny man boob into an imaginary mammogram machine (that I’ve never seen).
So I thought they can do X-rays and stuff. Why do they *have* to torture you to get the results. Did some sick doctor invent the machine, laughing the whole time about how evil and unnecessary it is? /s
Biology tag? Idk.
In: Biology
There are several reasons for compression. The compression spreads out the glandular (dense) tissue of the breast. so that it is no longer superimposed over itself. When glandular tissue is superimposed it can resemble a mass or hide a mass or microcalcifications (indications of possible cancer before there is a visible mass). Masses maintain their shape when compressed, breast tissue changes shape.
The compression also reduces motion artifacts. It keeps the breast from moving. It takes very little motion to cause a blurry mammogram. This is also why you hold your breath. Radiologists need to see fine details and motion blurs those details.
Compression also reduces the amount of radiation that is used during the mammogram. The thicker the body part, the more radiation is used.
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