Mammogram Pain

October: the month of the year when the color pink occupies every corner of our consciousness.

Now, I happen to love the color pink: my clothes, in my kitchen, my office … particularly since I moved to Florida. But I’m not fond of the ubiquitous pink ribbons we see so much of during this time.

Why? Because it smacks of a big, fat, marketing money-grab to me. The American Cancer Society has been in existence since 1913, that’s 107 years, yet they still don’t have a cure. What in God’s name are they doing over there?

Well, let me tell you.

They’re convincing you that you need to get a mammogram every year. 

I honestly don’t need to tell you this, for you know it all too well. Because of their location and composition of sensitive tissue, our breasts are vulnerable to injury year-round.

Seat belt injuries to breast tissue can be debilitating. When a seat belt tightens aggressively during an automobile accident, our breasts are the first to suffer the impact.

I have already written about how to address seat belt injuries homeopathically in a blog post appropriately entitled, “Breast Pain: When Even Hugs Hurt.”

And, for all their tenderness, breasts are also hard-working structures. But sometimes when babies nurse too much it can cause pain. I’ve also written 3 Homeopathic Remedies for Mastitis (a terribly painful breast infection that can occur during nursing).

So, while we are aware of our breasts’ susceptibility to injury all year long, the pink of October raises a unique threat to our breasts' sensitive tissues: mammograms.

A mammogram is a diagnostic test routinely prescribed for everyone over a certain age. Routinely.

I like routines, but not someone else’s imposed on to me.

Regardless of family or personal history of cancer. Regardless of risk factors. You turn a magic age, and off you are sent for a mammogram.

If you’ve never experienced one, one of my team members describes it best: “Imagine a hamburger press …”

A former client of mine — we’ll call her Margaret — had perfectly healthy breasts until her first mammogram. The pressure applied during the test caused injury to the soft tissue of one of her breasts, causing subsequent excruciating pain. Daily.

And, this was not a short-lived pain.

Over the following years, it was evident that Margaret’s breast pain due to that one mammogram was chronic. She certainly would not succumb to another annual mammogram — especially not while the ill-effects from her first one still afflicted her! Her doctor shrugged her shoulders. All she could offer her were painkillers and platitudes.

I might add that Margaret actually worked in this doctors’ office.

Margaret’s husband was becoming more and more worried. Her constant pain was affecting their life.

So, after three years of this suffering, Margaret came to me.

Putting our sensitive breasts in a “hamburger press” is traumatic. So, I turned to the homeopathic medicine that is unmatched for trauma to soft tissue:

Arnica 200C, twice daily until very much better.

Remember, Margaret had been suffering for three years. But she called me ten days after commencing the Arnica protocol to tell me her mammogram-induced breast pain was gone.

Gone!

Did you hear me?  I said that she said the pain was gone for the 1st time in three years.

So the test caused a condition that by the way was superfluous. And to add insult to injury the doctor didn't know how to treat the pathology (mastalgia) that her test caused.

And then homeopathy took care of it.  I can give you countless accounts of this kind of scenario. I witness them in my practice daily.

Now, you may notice I called Margaret a “former” client. After one brief recurrence of the pain — which we addressed again with the same Arnica 200C, twice a day for a few days — Margaret was restored to pain-free health.

I saw her in a grocery store years later, and she was still pain-free — and very thankful for Arnica!

Especially in October, I’m asked, “What if I have to undergo a mammogram? Can I take Arnica 200C as a prophylactic?”

In this case, my answer is, “You betcha!”

If you know you are about to undergo an injury to soft tissue, then yes, you may consider Arnica in advance of the procedure. It’s the same principle as utilizing the pre-surgery protocol. Because post-mammogram pain results from tissue injury, it would behoove a woman to allow homeopathy to gird her soft tissue, encouraging a faster recovery.

Parenthetically, make certain that the mammogram is truly (and I mean truly) called for and not just a calendar filler for someone's OBGYN or mammogram practice.

And should you happen to be interested; I'm 68 years old and have not had a mammogram, thank you very much.

Pass on the good news of homeopathy — especially to women this month!

Warmly,

P.S. There are many other causes of breast pain and many other homeopathic remedies to suit them. A blog post’s short format does not allow for an in-depth lesson. But this is a real good start. 

That’s what my courses are for!

Specifically, for a focus on female issues, I suggest Feminopathy:

How You Can Correct Female Ailments Using Safe, Inexpensive and Effective Homeopathy.

However, if pain is your main concern — either for yourself or your family — my recent course, Make It Stop! Escape From the Prison of Chronic (and Acute) Pain Using Practical Homeopathy®: Learn Effective Methods to Uproot Pain, Often for Good, might be more beneficial for you.

Please try out the Course Survey tool we’ve developed to help you decide which course is right for you. Using a simple check-box method, you can designate which significant points from each course’s syllabus apply to your family. I hope you’ll find it helpful.

And remember – all Mighties (Joette's Mighty Members) qualify for a 10% discount on course purchases. If you need assistance getting your discount, email contact@practicalhomeopathy.com for more information.