ellenkushner: (Bessie McNicol)
ellenkushner ([personal profile] ellenkushner) wrote2011-05-11 05:18 pm
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MammoOUCH!!!

Got my annual mammogram yesterday - and this year it really lived up to our nickname of "tit-squish" - yeowch! It really hurt! I would keep this info to myself, but 24 hours later I'm still quite sore ETA on both sides - feels like a bad bruise - no visible marks, but tender to the touch.  I am, ah, not a large woman.  But I've had a quite a few of these over the years, and oh my darling it's never felt like this.

Did they do something wrong?  Did I? Is there something I can do next time to prevent this?

Full disclosure:  For years, it never hurt at all, and I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about.  In the last few years (when I have gained more body fat - more for them to seize hold of? or am I still so small that they need to get a good handful of muscle as well into the machine?) it's been kinda unpleasant, but not hurt afterwards.... What gives?

And let me just sternly add that if you have not had yours yet this year, don't use this as an excuse to avoid it!  Because (a) It probably won't hurt at all, and (b) even if it does, you just have to be brave for, like, 11 seconds.  And you can do that.

Just make someone take you for ice cream, after.  You can do that if you're brave.

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2011-05-11 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
My guess (I am greatly experienced at these): hormonal fluctuations or changes in breast density. OR -- most likely -- experience of tech.

I've had painless, I've had uncomfortable, just depends. I haven't had one in which I was still sore the next day, so maybe it was the tech.

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2011-05-12 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Your breast density can *change*?! Ah, crap. And here I've been feeling so smug all these years because that, at least, wasn't a problem.