Modern American women are strongly urged to keep careful track of their health, and this includes visiting women’s health clinics that can offer 3d mammography screenings, mammograms for older women, and even breast biopsy procedures if need be. Starting in their 40s or so, women are advised to visit these clinics for regular imaging and screening, and some women may be called back for a second opinion 3d mammography. What does that mean? A second opinion 3d mammography is when a patient is called back to have more imaging done if something unexpected was found with her previous imaging, and a second opinion 3d mammography can go a long way toward a diagnosis.

Women and Breast Health

As women age, they may start developing issues with their breast tissue, and cysts and cancerous growths are among those problems that may develop. In fact, there are some health and lifestyle factors that may affect how likely a patient is to develop breast cancer, and these women in particular should get imaging done and may be called back in for second opinion 3d mammography work. For example, post-menopausal cancer risks are 1.5 times higher in overweight women, and twice as high in obese women, as those who are lean. This is partly because in post-menopausal women, fat tissue is their main source of estrogen, and high estrogen levels make breast cancer more likely. A woman is about twice as likely to develop breast cancer if an immediate female relative developed it first, such as a mother, daughter, or sister. It may also be noted that women who exercise regularly may expect lower chances of getting breast cancer if they regularly exercise, with the chances being lowered as much as 10-20% or so.

Other statistics show that as women age, going to a clinic for imaging and mammography work can reduce their chances of dying to breast cancer since it will be diagnosed properly. Studies have shown that overall, mammography lowers the risk of dying from breast cancer between 20-40%, and women aged 60-69 are the most likely to avoid breast cancer death when mammography screening is done. Plenty of women are indeed being diligent about this, and a 2015 National Health Interview Survey found that 50% of women aged 40 and up reported having had a mammogram within the past year, and 64% reported having a mammogram done in the last two years. When a woman enters her forties or so, she may want to start going to her local clinic for such imaging, and she can find one online and visit it for a consultation. Once a comfortable and reliable clinic with expert staff is found, the patient may start going there regularly.

Imaging and Biopsies

A patient at such a clinic will have imaging done, often with X-rays that can give doctors a detailed image of her breast tissue (typically from a side view). In many cases, such an image will come back clean, but results that show unexpected shapes or shading may require second opinion 3d mammography work to be done. About one in 10 women may be called back for such imaging, and the second opinion 3d mammography may either clear up the image or show what it is. Sometimes, something benign is the cause, such as harmless dense breast tissue or a harmless cyst or something similar. And in some cases, newer patients may be called back for a second opinion 3d mammography anyway because they have no prior breast scans to compare their first one with, and the doctors will want reference. A new patient may expect a second opinion 3d mammography within a few days of her first one.

If the second opinion 3d mammography shows something more serious, the patient may undergo a breast biopsy. This entails numbing the affected breast, then making an incision and removing a tissue sample for analysis in the lab. In the meantime, the patient’s incision will be stitched closed and bandaged, and she may need a few days for recovery. Should the lab results come back positive for breast cancer, for example, the patient will of course be contacted, and she may be referred to a cancer treatment center for the next step.