Every year, October is dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness—a public health initiative designed to educate women and health professionals about the growing threat of breast cancer.

For women looking to make informed choices regarding breast imaging, two options are available.

The first option is the mammogram, considered the "gold standard" and recommended annually for women starting at age 40. Mammograms are performed by compressing the breast as the patient lies prone on a table with a hole for the breast to protrude through. Pressure plates are then applied to compress the breast, and an X-ray image is taken.

While mammograms have a long track record, modern techniques show they are inaccurate 30% of the time—15% false positives (non-cancerous findings flagged as potentially cancerous) and 15% false negatives (missed cancer cases). Additionally, mammograms expose sensitive breast tissue to ionizing radiation every year, which can accumulate over time and lead to DNA mutations. Dense breast tissue can obscure lesions, often necessitating more X-rays and, at times, unnecessary biopsies.

The second option is thermography, for which a doctor’s referral is not required. Appointments can be made similarly to a session with a portrait photographer. Thermography uses digital photography to capture the heat signature of the breasts, with no radiation, touching, or discomfort. Images are sent to specially trained medical doctors for interpretation, much like how radiologists read mammograms. Thermography costs approximately $200 per session. After establishing a baseline with two tests, three months apart, annual screening is recommended. Because thermography is not classified as a "medical procedure," it is typically not covered by health insurance.

One of thermography's key advantages is its ability to detect early signs of tumor development. Malignancies require a blood supply, and the new blood vessels can light up on a thermogram, signaling suspicious activity in the breast. With this information, knowledgeable health practitioners can often intervene in the early stages of cancer.

Both mammograms and thermography have their value, and when used together, they can correctly identify cancer 98% of the time. While a physician’s referral is required for a mammogram, women can choose to get a thermogram on their own.

Thermography can also be used to diagnose a variety of conditions throughout the body. Inflammatory issues such as thyroiditis, sinusitis, dental infections, back and neck tension, fibromyalgia trigger points, poor limb circulation, and many other conditions can be identified and monitored over time to track treatment effectiveness.

For Southwest Medical Thermal Imaging, scheduling is available at Bennett Chiropractic & Wellness Center, 3725 Bonita Beach Rd. SW, Ste 4, in Bonita Springs, and Axis Natural Medicine 7680 Cambridge Manor Place, in Ft. Myers. Call 239-949-2011 or visit ThermalClinic.com for more information.