Briefly, what is thermography?
A thermography is a non-invasive medical screening tool that can accurately assess organ and body disorders by detecting variations in heat throughout the body’s system. This procedure is safe and comfortable; it doesn’t use any
radiation. There are many types of thermography equipment; the thermography technique that is utilized at Finker Wellness is a regulation thermographic machine that is a full-body as well as a breast scan.
Do you use it instead of or as adjunct to mammography?
The thermography is an adjunct diagnostic device that can detect stages of cancer up to four years in advance and can have an advantage over other imaging methods, especially in young patients with dense breast tissue where a mammography will not show much. However, if patients refuse a mammography, this is an important stand-alone diagnostic tool that can give a lot of information.
If utilized early, say to detect early “hot spots” or problematic areas, do you make recommendations based on results of a thermography?
I also always practice preventative medicine with my patients, and there is a lot that can be done naturally to help prevent breast cancer or reduce cystic breasts, balance the hormones, etc. However, I always have patients follow up with their gynecologists and or oncologists to be given the appropriate testing or yearly screening.
Women know when they go for a mammography that if they have a “finding” they usually go to a breast surgeon and try to biopsy this. Is that similar with thermography?
A thermography is always followed up with the appropriate medical tests prescribed by their physicians. A thermography can show a hot spot or it can show a predisposition for cancerous conditions; it can show a benign cyst. So, it’s always important to follow up with further testing when necessary if those tests (mammography, biopsy, etc.) haven’t already been performed.
I always advise patients to follow up with their gynecologists as well as to do their own research and to make an informed decision; a thermography does not take the place of a mammography.
Source: Dr. Jillian Finker, of Finker Wellness, located at 2308 Bellmore Ave., Bellmore. For more information, call 516-765-3272.
