What to Expect at Your Breast Exam

Your initial appointment will take 30-40 minutes. Before your appointment, you should complete a detailed breast health questionnaire and health history form. You should also follow the instructions on the Pre-Imaging Instructions form. All of these forms can be downloaded from the Client Forms tab on this site.

When you arrive, we’ll review your intake information, answer any questions, and take payment. At this time, we’ll schedule your follow-up consultation, typically one week out.

You will then be taken to a private imaging room where you will be asked to disrobe from the waist up in order to become acclimated to the temperature of the room. A female technician performs the imaging.

After 15 minutes, the technician will take a series of images including front, lateral, and oblique views.

You then will be asked to plunge your hands into cool (10°C or 50°F) water for 60 seconds. This is known as a functional test – cool water will produce a physiological response that will lead to vasoconstriction of you blood vessels.

Normal blood vessels will contract and cool down while blood vessels feeding abnormal cells will not since their metabolic rate is much higher. The technician will then repeat the process of taking the images for a before and after view.

The image taking itself only takes a couple of minutes.

Within approximately 7 days, you will return to our office and have the results presented to you in person.

You will actually see the images of your breasts, learn about any issues, or potential issues you may have, and be given advice on how to improve your health and help prevent breast disease. This follow-up appointment is complementary.

 

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