I had my baseline mammogram done, and it was awful! Painful! I had my last 4 babies at home without any meds, I am no pansy, but having my boobs crushed... I had tears streaming down my face. It was pure torture.
I like the idea of sonography MUCH better.
You *do* have the option of telling the tech that the machine is pressing too hard. I have had techs instruct me to tell them when to stop moving the top plate down. The correct amount of pressure should be uncomfortable, not painful. I was so much not in pain during my last mammography that I was asking the tech about the challenges of doing mammography on men (they can and do get breast cancer, and a mammogram helps to diagnose a suspicious lump).
The newer mammography machines use a lower dose of Xrays than ever; the last time I had a mammography, the tech did not even leave the room. They are also digital, making the image easier to read for the radiologist.
My grandmother had breast cancer, although we aren't sure whether that is what killed her. My mother in law had breast cancer, which, even after mastectomy, spread into her bones and lungs and most definitely did kill her.
From the article above, I see that 140,000 women every year are diagnosed with breast cancer through mammography. I question the 70,000 "overdiagnosis" estimate; the article didn't explain at all what that means (at least, not to my satisfaction as a medical researcher who needs all the technical details before rendering judgment). From a medical point of view, I do not see that a rate of false positives is really a reason to discontinue a method of screening. There is no medical screening procedure that is 100% accurate.
I will not have a mammogram again. Instinct told me this can’t be good for me. I now do thermography for breast checks.