The process of thermography has long been used for the purposes of detecting and recording cancerous activity for women. It takes the use of an infrared camera, which after use produces an image, called a thermogram revealing skin temperatures and thermal patterns out of the ordinary. There is no ionising radiation involved in the process, like in mammography. For this reason, thermography is regarded as a safer alternative in the battle of detecting breast cancer in its early stages.
Since cancerous tissue typically has higher temperature than normal, unaffected tissue, can be effectively used as a supplemental diagnostics tool and it is becoming more and more popular. It’s getting widely recognised as an effective method for risk assessment and prevention of several other things:
- Vascular Disease – the reason why it can be used for this purpose is that it provides a new view of the body’s blood vessels and unusual heat patterns or poor circulation.
- Fever, Neuromusculoskeletal and Thyroid Disorders plus typical inflammatory conditions, which can often be hard to diagnose.
How can you prepare for a thermography test?
Accurate thermography image is guaranteed when certain factors are met:
- No sun exposure for the body areas being scanned at least 5 days before examination.
- Usage of body lotions, deodorants, creams, powders and makeup is discouraged for upper or full body scans on the day of the test.
- Shaving of the area of the body being imaged is discouraged on the day of the test.
- Treatments, such as TENS, acupuncture, chiropractic, electrical muscle stimulation, ultrasound and hot/cold pack use, are highly discouraged 24 hours prior to the test.
- Physical stimulation of the area being scanned is discouraged 24 prior to the test.
- Exercise is discouraged 4 hours prior to the test.
- Bathing 1 hour prior to the test is discouraged.
- Taking medication 4 hours prior to the test is discouraged.
- Nursing an hour prior to the test is discouraged.
All of these precautions are due to the fact that they can all affect breast temperature, thus providing misleading information and an inaccurate reading.
What happens during examination?
Breast exams require disrobing from the waist up. This is done so that the body temperature can equalise to that of the room where thermography is taking place. It is also done so that the imaging process can take place.
Who is thermography best suited for?
- Women – just about every woman out there can greatly benefit from such a test, because statistics reveal that 1 out of 8 women develop breast cancer. It is highly advisable for women with family history of this disease to resort to thermography.
- People with exposure to estrogen – researches reveal that people who are exposed to estrogen may be at risk of breast cancer, due to the rapid reproduction of cells. In this sense, thermography is used as an early warning for any cancerous activity.
- Women with no children – this group is known for increased rate of breast cancer, so thermography is an obvious must.
- Women with a first after the age of 30 – another group of women with increased risk of breast cancer, who can benefit greatly from thermography.
Hopefully, thermography will gain more recognition as time goes by, since it can be truly helpful to women, especially to those in the risk groups. For more information call 0207 2244 622
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