Mammogram - neck guard or not?

[t3rcam]

Is there any guidance on whether those of us with Hashimoto's should request to wear a neck guard during mammogram's? Are neck guards readily available in the mobile units or do you have to request this in advance?

[sue11]

I can't help you with that question,but l know at my dentist l would wear a thyroid collar,as l was told by him l would need one if l was having an scary from the collar bone up wards.

Your not told these things,l read it somewhere n a magazine.

Can anybody add to this

Sue 11

[susymac in reply to sue11]

As far as dentists go, i was told wearing one for xrays can actually cause more damage than not wearing it. Im afraid I can remember the reasons why though. (shocking memory)

[nightingale-56]

I was told exactly the same as susymac, but told it spread the rays further if a collar was worn.

[Hidden]

Certainly you would need to request it in advance as they do not carry them. I doubt you'll get one even if you ask. Dentists are the same. I see above people have been told that there is more danger from using a collar than not. This strikes me as specious - and a simple ruse to put patients off asking for them. I have been told that the quantity of x-rays is so small that it is no risk to health. And every time I have an x-ray I watch the personnel doing the x-ray scurry behind a lead screen. How many x-rays does the average person have during their life? At the dentist they are almost routine. And what area of the body are the bombarding with radiation? Exactly.

I continue to fail to understand why healthcare professionals endanger the health of their patients in this way. Especially when they have been told one has trouble with one's thyroid. But my lack of understanding will not change their approach.

Good luck with getting that neck guard.

[Clutter in reply to Hidden]

Humphrey, I asked my dental nurse about thyroid collars in the summer (she knows I had thyCa) and she said the guidance changes fairly frequently. Currently, thyroid collars aren't thought to be necessary using the up to date modern x-ray machine the practice is using and nor does she need to wear a lead apron. She offered me a collar which I declined, stable doors and bolting horses coming to mind.

[helvella Administrator]

Last time I looked up about mammograms, the opinion seemed to be that if the equipment is so badly set up and maintained that you'd need a thyroid collar, then your thyroid might be the least of your worries! Although obviously meant to have an element of amusement, I think there is some fundamental truth - the machines they use are expressly designed to achieve what they do with the minimum dose and, if that dose were not nicely concentrated where it ought to be, they would not get decent images. Spill onto the thyroid would require very much more power - quite likely more than the machine can produce.

Mind, I am far less convinced of dental x-rays - especially the "grin" ones that do your whole jaw. But simple dental x-rays have the advantage that they only have to penetrate a relatively thin part of the body - not like a leg or abdomen.

[t3rcam]

Thanks everyone for your replies, lots of good for thought.