{"id":1946,"date":"2009-02-10T10:58:15","date_gmt":"2009-02-10T16:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=1946"},"modified":"2021-10-11T12:52:30","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T17:52:30","slug":"breast-thermogram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram","title":{"rendered":"Breast Thermogram"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here<\/a> for the Health Tip link.

We\u2019ve had so many inquiries from women about breast thermograms during the past year that we decided to do some homework before offering it to our patients.

The test\u2019s complete name is \u201cdigital infrared thermal imaging,\u201d or DITI. For the test, your breasts are photographed with an infrared heat-sensing camera that picks up different temperature patterns in breast tissue. You could also use DITI on other areas of your body, resulting in a sprained ankle that appears \u201chot\u201d because it\u2019s inflamed, while your fingertips appear \u201ccold\u201d because they don\u2019t receive as much circulation as your palms. But thermograms are mainly used for breast imaging

Having a thermogram is a piece of cake. You\u2019re in a private room with a woman technician and a thermal-imaging camera. You disrobe from the waist up, don a cloth gown, stand in front of the camera, and snap!, the heat patterns of your breasts appear on a video monitor and are recorded. You dress and leave, usually in less than 15 minutes flat. The image is then sent to a radiologist for interpretation and, in a few days, her report is sent to your home.

Women generally consider a breast thermogram for three reasons:
1. They dislike the physical discomfort of mammograms. Not knowing myself what this was like, when I asked my now-retired nurse Mary to explain, she replied \u201cHow would you like your testicles squashed in a cold refrigerator door?\u201d \u201cYikes,\u201d I yelped, as my toes curled. Comfort-wise, thermograms win hands down.
2. They\u2019re concerned about radiation exposure from annual mammograms. My counter argument is that the radiation is minimal, especially when you consider the diagnostic value of mammograms. With that said, it\u2019s always a good idea to keep radiation exposure as low as possible.
3. They have anxiety that something might be missed, even with regular breast self-examination and mammograms. A thermogram does add another preventive layer. Mammograms pick up anatomical and structural changes, but thermograms can identify temperature irregularities even before a mass is detectable with self exam or mammogram.

Is a thermogram an adequate substitute for a mammogram? No. A mammogram remains the gold standard for breast cancer detection. However, the current guidelines for mammograms are not consistent. The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms after age 40. The National Cancer Institute recommends every 1 to 2 years after 40, leaning toward annual if the woman is from a high-risk family and every other year if she has a low-risk family along with 2 to 3 years in a row of negative mammograms. This also assumes you\u2019ve been performing regular breast self-exams (to examine your breasts, follow these steps).

So who might benefit from a breast thermogram?
1. Women under 40 who want to monitor breast health before their first mammogram.
2. Women over 40 who fall into the every-other-year, low-risk group who choose to cover their mammogram-free year with a thermogram.
3. Women with a strong family history of breast and\/or ovarian cancer who, in addition to their annual mammograms, want the benefit of an extra, non-invasive diagnostic test.
4. Women who (for whatever reason) refuse to have a mammogram. For this group, regular self-exams and thermograms are better than no imaging at all.

You can read more about thermograms by clicking here. We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago. On the down side, it seems every day we receive notification from health insurance companies of yet another diagnostic test ineligible for coverage, and thermograms are now on the list. The cost of a breast thermogram is $235, which covers everything, including the radiologist\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here for the Health Tip link. We\u2019ve had so many inquiries from women about breast thermograms during the past year that we decided to do some homework before offering it to our patients. The test\u2019s complete name is \u201cdigital infrared thermal imaging,\u201d or DITI. For the test, your breasts are photographed with an infrared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204,2,3,33],"tags":[606,239,607,608,609],"class_list":["post-1946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b","category-blog","category-knowledge-base","category-womens-health","tag-breast","tag-breast-cancer","tag-imaging","tag-thermogram","tag-thermography"],"yoast_head":"\r\nBreast Thermogram<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breast Thermogram\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WholeHealth Chicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wholehealthchicago\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-10T16:58:15+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-11T17:52:30+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wholehealthchicago\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@wholehealthchi\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@wholehealthchi\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wholehealthchicago\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram\",\"name\":\"Breast Thermogram\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-02-10T16:58:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-11T17:52:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19\"},\"description\":\"We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Breast Thermogram\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"WholeHealth Chicago\",\"description\":\"WholeHealth Chicago is the Midwest's oldest and most respected center for integrative care, successfully blending the latest advances in conventional medicine with a wide range of clinically proven alternative therapies.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19\",\"name\":\"wholehealthchicago\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"wholehealthchicago\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/author\/wholehealthchicago\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Breast Thermogram","description":"We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Breast Thermogram","og_description":"We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago.","og_url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram","og_site_name":"WholeHealth Chicago","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wholehealthchicago","article_published_time":"2009-02-10T16:58:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-11T17:52:30+00:00","author":"wholehealthchicago","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@wholehealthchi","twitter_site":"@wholehealthchi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"wholehealthchicago","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram","url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram","name":"Breast Thermogram","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-02-10T16:58:15+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-11T17:52:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19"},"description":"We offer them on selected Saturdays at the Lincoln Avenue office of WholeHealth Chicago.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/10\/breast-thermogram#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Breast Thermogram"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/","name":"WholeHealth Chicago","description":"WholeHealth Chicago is the Midwest's oldest and most respected center for integrative care, successfully blending the latest advances in conventional medicine with a wide range of clinically proven alternative therapies.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8f28cef347f94e6801d2bdd38b9cea19","name":"wholehealthchicago","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b63bce17acaeb51f185933c60fa6fa86c347679a70b79ec51e5b772e271a469f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"wholehealthchicago"},"url":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/author\/wholehealthchicago"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2087"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1946"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29716,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions\/29716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}