The mammogram is a low dose x-ray. Each breast is placed in turn on the x-ray machine and gently but firmly compressed with a clear plate. The compression only lasts a few seconds and does not cause any harm to the breasts. Compression is needed to keep the breast still and to get the clearest picture with the lowest amount of radiation possible. Some women find compression slightly uncomfortable and some feel short-lived pain. Research has shown that, for most women, it is less painful than having a blood test and compares with having blood pressure measured.
Most women we spoke with discussed their experiences of having a mammogram. Women who worked in the health field had known what to expect of the breast x-ray, but others had not. Several had heard that breast screening was painful or embarrassing but still went along to the appointment.
She'd heard breast screening was painful but still attended.
She'd heard breast screening was painful but still attended.
Age at interview: 55
Sex: Female
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It was all very new to me. No, I mean some people had said to me it's not very pleasant, it's very painful or some people would say "Oh, I wouldn't go" I mean some women who I knew they were much, much older than me, maybe in their sixties had never went for breast screening because some people had said to them "it's horrible", "It's awful", "it's so painful", " I wouldn't go". So that's the only thing I've ever been told about breast screening. But at the same time I thought well I've had four pregnancies and I've been throughout all that, and it can't be that bad you know, so I was going into the unknown, so I was.
Many women went routinely for screening without worrying about having mammograms. Some were glad to have been invited and were keen to go. Several said they were convinced that no problems would be found as they had no risk factors for breast cancer.
She explains that going for mammograms is a routine and does not bother her.
She explains that going for mammograms is a routine and does not bother her.
Age at interview: 64
Sex: Female
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So maybe your first experience may have been when you got your very first letter?
Yes I suppose so, yes.
When was that?
I suppose it must have been fourteen years ago because I can't remember what year it was. I'm sixty-four now so it must have been then.
At the age of fifty?
I presume so, I don't know, I can't remember [laughs].
Do you remember getting the letter at all?
No, no, it's just something that happens every three years as far as I'm concerned you know, so I can't really tell you what happened then.
Can you remember the very first mammogram?
No, unfortunately not. I only remember the last one, you know.
The last one, which was?
Early in August wasn't it.
Yes. What happened there?
Well nothing particularly, I just arrived and waited and went in and in and out and that's it, you know. There's nothing particularly memorable, just seems to me a normal thing that I do every three years.
Every three years, you've always attended?
Yes, yes.
Rosemary never worries about going for screening and is very happy with the service.
Rosemary never worries about going for screening and is very happy with the service.
Age at interview: 65
Sex: Female
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Once you started going on the NHS programme which starts around the age of fifty, it could be fifty, fifty-one, but around that age, was it always to [hospital name]?
It was always to [hospital name], yes, yeah.
Have you noticed any changes over the last few years?
No, the only changes I've noticed is the venue but apart from that I certainly have had no complaints. It's just been a routine thing that has been very efficient as far as I'm concerned. And of course I've only had negative [normal] results, so it's been wonderful.
Yes, and every time you've been there has it been the same experience or did you find it more, maybe worrying on the first one or you didn't, you knew what to expect?
I think I knew what to expect. And the people were very, they've always been very kind, they seem to understand what we're going through, but I've never obviously got any further than that because I've always had the nice letter saying everything's okay.
Do you worry at all before going or
No.
It's something you do quite routinely?
I just wait, the letter comes, I think it's every three years, and I do it. And I actually completely forget about it. And my husband opened my letter this time, which he doesn't normally do and told me. I'd completely forgotten.
Right, so in-between the appointment and the letter you completely forget about it?
Yeah, yes. [Laughs] yes I do, I'm lucky.
And since you've been going on the breast screening programme how many times have you been, can you remember that or?
[Laughs].
It's something you don't think about
I don't know. I think it's something that automatically happens every three years so I've prob, if I started at fifty and now I'm sixty-five, my arithmetic isn't that good but it's a handful of times [laughs]. I've never not gone, I've always done it.
You've always attended?
Yes.
I can't say it's something, as you have gathered, that I think about too often. I know it's there and I don't think about it and, because thank God, I don't think about health, too often [laughs]. I just don't want it to happen I suppose, bad health. But I've been a very lucky person up until, today.
Did you got your letter today?
No, no, a couple of day, a few days ago yeah.
Yeah. So is there anything you would want to say about breast screening or the procedure?
Well, I certainly don't have any complaints about what has happened to me at [hospital name]. I would say the whole thing is satisfactory. I can't complain about any of it. I mean it's a National Health Service which has been very efficient as far as I'm concerned. And talking briefly to those ladies who were being held up, they also probably felt the same. Yeah. I think that's my impression of it. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong but that's what I've found. You know I think we feel that it's a wonderful service because, probably, I might neglect myself if it wasn't a service that the National Health provide, yeah.
Some women had felt nervous before their first mammogram. One health professional said she knew what to expect but still felt nervous.
She felt nervous before going for her first mammogram.
She felt nervous before going for her first mammogram.
Age at interview: 60
Sex: Female
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My first mammogram was at [the mobile screening unit] and this was because they'd picked me up in the age bracket now as an older woman that was entitled to have a free mammogram, right. So obviously I was nervous because, I think most women will be because you're sort of, although you're fairly confident that you're all right the very thought that you're going to have a mammogram plants the idea into your head that you could have a problem. So I went along and I had the mammogram and the experience of the mammogram itself was OK, I'd been told a lot of frightening things about how much it hurt and how embarrassing it was. I found it quite embarrassing, you know, having to be undressed etcetera but everybody is so kind. And it's very uncomfortable but not painful, not painful. And I think at the end of the day the discomfort's worth it, to have the knowledge that you're OK or even otherwise so that if there is a problem they pick up then you can start doing something about it.
Although she knew what to expect, she still felt nervous before her first mammogram.
Although she knew what to expect, she still felt nervous before her first mammogram.
Age at interview: 60
Sex: Female
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Well I was picked up for breast screening as most women are when I became of age. And I got my, and I knew it, obviously knew it was going to happen, working for the Health Service, I was well aware of what was available to women and patients and I did know that I would eventually be called. But I must admit when the letter actually came, inviting me to go for a screen, I must admit I did felt a little apprehensive. I remember thinking oh my God I am you know, it's here, this is the time now.
So the letter came and off I trotted and nothing was unfamiliar to me because I was very, I'm very familiar with clinical areas and with the way Health Service people and people who work in health manage themselves. So I, nothing was unfamiliar. But when I got into the room where the actual procedure was being carried out I felt really very, very nervous indeed.
There was a big sign on the wall which said "We squeeze because we care." And it wasn't until I'd actually been squeezed by the machine that I really knew what they meant by emphasising that, by putting it up on the wall.
Some women had lost close friends to breast cancer or had heard about the experiences of friends and neighbours. For many women later mammograms became an accepted routine.
She was terrified before her first mammogram and looked for more information.
She was terrified before her first mammogram and looked for more information.
Age at interview: 56
Sex: Female
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The first screening was just after I was 50 so that was 6 years ago and I was absolutely terrified [laughing] and waiting for the results seemed like an eternity. And that was okay, that was clear. It wasn't painful, slightly uncomfortable, and I was surprised because so people had said, "ooh, it hurts."
I didn't know what to expect and I'd just lost 2 very good friends to breast cancer within the previous few months. And one of them had said to me "whatever you do, you must always go for a screening when you're called." And the other one had said to me "oh, I've been called for breast screening but I can't be bothered, I haven't got time."
She had breast cancer?
She did and it went undetected until it was too late, yes.
So when you talked with her, what were her reasons for not going?
She was too busy. 'I've never had anything wrong with me' she would say 'so there won't be anything wrong now, why should I worry?' It didn't do her any good [laughing].
So you were a bit frightened that it might be diagnosed?
Oh yes, oh I felt sure it would be. Oh yes, I became totally self-centred, totally focused on breast cancer. I found out everything I could possibly find out about it. I was absolutely convinced that obviously I would have it.
This was even before the mammogram?
Yes, yes [laughing].
Shirin has always gone for her three-yearly mammograms but worries about cancer and how it can...
Shirin has always gone for her three-yearly mammograms but worries about cancer and how it can...
Age at interview: 62
Sex: Female
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In your case, every time you have had a letter you have always attended for cervical screening and breast screening?
Yes.
You have always attended?
Yes, yes, I have. Every three years I have. But that doesn't mean that it eradicates my thoughts, you know, always at the back of my mind, this does lurk, you know.
Has it been something, that these thoughts have come more with age?
With age and then the dependency, you know, obviously an illness like that means a lot of treatment, maybe family life being disturbed, you don't want to impose problems, your problems, onto your family. They have their own life to lead. I don't know, I have seen and I have heard as I previously mentioned of what families have to go through, how much they have to suffer to see, and even the family members go beyond recognition with that person's illness because they spend so much of the time visiting his wife or visiting the patient who has cancer, lying in the hospital. That person, or the visitor I should say, goes beyond recognition, you know. Like losing weight, stressed out. And sometimes the family member feels relieved if, when the person departs you know, they feel relieved because this is so much suffering and obviously it has a purpose but personally I wouldn't want to go through that, believe it or not. I mean it is such a curse on a woman. I wouldn't want to go through that. No.
Delfina didn't know what to expect when she went for her first mammogram and found it...
Delfina didn't know what to expect when she went for her first mammogram and found it...
Age at interview: 58
Sex: Female
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When I was there, I didn't know what to expect. So I didn't know how the machinery works or anything, you know. It just took, placed, compressing to your breast and things like. It was a bit sort of, I wouldn't say shocked. A bit, you know, not familiar and I needed to do it, you know, you feel a squeeze of your breasts, especially if you have small breasts like me. They make an effort to try to get it through and they catch a bit under your arm. A little bit more then. I remember a bit the very first time was more painful. That it was painful, not painful, uncomfortable, I don't think you can really call it a pain, you know, uncomfortable, not pleasant. The second time and the third time I was prepared and I think there was nothing to it, just a few minutes, you go through and feel a little squeeze on your glands, but that is it. It wasn't a traumatic dreadful experience.
And when you went the very first time, was there a leaflet with your invitation?
It was a leaflet but I am one who never reads leaflets. You know, I just go unprepared and hope for the best. You know, it depends on people, you know, sometimes I just don't bother. Nowadays I think I read a little bit more. But then I was na've I guess.
So you didn't know what to expect?
No, no.
Some women felt embarrassed about having to undress to the waist. Others felt comfortable because the radiographers were women and experts in their field. Many found having a mammogram uncomfortable but not painful. Most women emphasised how quick the process was, so any discomfort was short-lived, and some noted that the benefits outweighed the discomfort (see 'Reasons for attending breast screening').
She feels comfortable going for mammograms.
She feels comfortable going for mammograms.
Age at interview: 64
Sex: Female
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You go in and you take your bra off and stand at this machine as the nurse tells you, and obviously at different angles and obviously your boobs get rather squashed. Sometimes it hurts, it's tender but not always. Last time I didn't feel anything, I was most surprised, it was very good.
Is there ever any embarrassment involved, some people say they feel it's embarrassing?
I don't think so, when you get to my age, when you've had three children, I don't think you, and they're all ladies and they're all very pleasant and they're all very gentle [laughs].
She finds the mammogram uncomfortable, but quick.
She finds the mammogram uncomfortable, but quick.
Age at interview: 54
Sex: Female
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So when you went for your first mammogram, did you know what to expect of the actual procedure?
Yes, I mean because being in the medical profession, you've been to lots of lectures about screening and what happens and things so I knew what to expect. Obviously you don't know, different people have told you different things, some people say it hurts, some people say it's uncomfortable. I actually didn't find, I couldn't have used the word "hurt" or "painful". I would definitely use the word "uncomfortable" [laughing]. But because it, you know, it's a very short time and it releases, I was, I think the worry is that you have to wait for the radiographer to come back into the room and release it but, of course, it releases automatically once they've taken the film so the pressure, although it is uncomfortable, it soon releases.
For some women having a mammogram caused no pain at all. One of these wondered whether this was because she had small breasts. Another, who found it uncomfortable, wondered if having larger breasts would make mammograms more painful. A few women said the x-ray machine felt cold.
She wondered if having larger breasts would make mammograms more painful.
She wondered if having larger breasts would make mammograms more painful.
Age at interview: 56
Sex: Female
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I didn't know what to expect and I was quite surprised when this machine squeezed me so hard, I thought Oh God, you know [laughs]. It doesn't hurt but it's not very comfortable and I was amazed at how flat your bosom could go, do you know what I mean. It doesn't hurt but it's not something you enjoy.
They make you feel comfortable. They do it as quickly as they can because the pressure they put on your breast is quite intense for the moment but it doesn't last long, it's very quick so I wouldn't like bigger bosoms, I think it must be harder for people with bigger breasts, I don't know, maybe it is I don't know.
Some women found the procedure very painful. One woman's breasts hurt for a few days after a mammogram. Another said she'd had bruises. Some women said that their first mammograms were painful, but later ones varied. Some wondered whether this depended on the radiographer's skill. One woman wondered whether this was because, as she got older, her breasts had become 'softer'. Another person noted that some of her mammograms were more painful than others; she was taking HRT and her breasts were more sensitive during certain times of her menstrual cycle. Some women wondered whether squashing the breasts so much could damage them.
She had painful breasts a few days after a mammogram. (Translated from Cantonese)
She had painful breasts a few days after a mammogram. (Translated from Cantonese)
Age at interview: 65
Sex: Female
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I felt that it was very painful when they, you know, put pressure on my breasts but after a few days I still felt pain. And then, you know, I felt that I didn't want to go back. Well I know its because of the pressure when they checked me so I did not tell my doctor, I did not go to see the GP. I still went again after three years. I still go because I heard people say that lots of women die from breast cancer so I think its better to go. So I still went after three years.
She wondered whether her experiences of mammograms depended on the radiographer's skill.
She wondered whether her experiences of mammograms depended on the radiographer's skill.
Age at interview: 68
Sex: Female
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No it was only after I'd had it [the mammogram]. And I really was literally bent over in pain when I came out. Not everybody finds it painful, some do. So foolishly I said to myself I'm not going back for any more, and I didn't.
So if I was to ask you to sum up your views on screening - breast screening, what would you say?
Well I would say yes, I think it's a good thing, but I don't know if they could train operators to make it less painful.
Did they say beforehand, this might be a bit painful?
No.
And when you've had them on other occasions it's been a bit painful, but never like that first time?
No, that's correct.
So you'll carry on going?
Yes, I would.
Some mammograms hurt more than others and this depended on her menstrual cycle.
Some mammograms hurt more than others and this depended on her menstrual cycle.
Age at interview: 64
Sex: Female
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Has it ever been painful?
I think yes because I think that at certain times of the month because of my age, I'm still on HRT and I do get tender breasts. This time I wasn't, and I do get, I do have periods still so, and I haven't got, I think I'd planned it. When the letter came I changed the appointment because I couldn't go to the first one and I planned the next one to make sure that I hadn't got this tenderising of my breasts, so I was fine.
So you tried to make the appointment for a date after a period or before?
Yes, it's something like that, and after I'd finished one, so it was fine. It didn't hurt, not at all. Because I do get slightly tender breasts still, even though I feel silly at my age [laughs].
Did you have them before as well?
Oh yes I had it before I went through my change yes, yeah. So I suppose on those times I didn't realise that was what was causing the tenderness more than anything. If you're building up to a period time, that your breasts will hurt more, being squashed in the machine, yeah. But it's nothing, it's over so quickly, yeah.
Shirin finds the breast screening unit cosy and homely, but has wondered about mammograms and...
Shirin finds the breast screening unit cosy and homely, but has wondered about mammograms and...
Age at interview: 62
Sex: Female
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When you have been for screening, what have you thought of the whole process? You know, when you have gone in, you waited to be called in, have you been happy with the whole process?
Oh yes. Yes. Very, very, ' very homely environment. I love that trailer. I could sit in there for hours [laughs]. It is such a nice break from domestic life, you know, really I mean it. I love sitting in that trailer. It is just very homely and very cosy environment and well everything has been quite well. It is well organised let's put it this way. No problems, no.
And when you have been for breast screening has it always been in that trailer there?
Yes, yes, as far as I remember but obviously I cannot remember the start of the screening, where it was. I just cannot remember that.
Were you still living in this area?
Yes. Yes. I have been here since '75. I don't, unless it was in the local clinic by hand, I don't remember.
And the actual procedure of the x-ray, how have you found that? Some people have said it is uncomfortable, other people painful, and other people said they didn't notice too much. What was your experience?
Painful yes, it is like, it is like a sandwich, you know, I mean, of course this is a delicate part for a woman. And when it is sort of squashed between the two, like slabs or whatever you call it, it is painful and hurtful and very often, as I mentioned before, I feel that I hope it is not damaging something internally, that tremendous pressure. But then, if that is the only way for screening and it is the only successful way of screening that it can not sort of damage internally the tissues or whatever you call it, or sense or whatever, then it is acceptable. You have to just bear and grin.
And in your case it was painful. How long did the pain last? Only a while or afterwards too?
No, not afterwards, no, only at the time when the machine, when the screening machine is compressed for the film to be taken. That is the time, yes, yes.
And afterwards?
Afterwards back to normal, yes, yes.
A few women compared having mammograms with cervical screening (smear tests), but said that mammograms were much less painful.
Smear tests bother her more than mammograms.
Smear tests bother her more than mammograms.
Age at interview: 56
Sex: Female
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They're very good, they know what they're doing. They must know it's not particularly pleasant having your bosom squeezed to bits so they're quick and they're good you know, they're very good.
So now you go for mammograms every three years. You've never missed an appointment. Do you also go for other kinds of screening as well like cervical smear tests?
Smear tests, yes I do. Now those I don't like but I still go, I dread those, when I get my appointment I think oh God, whereas I don't think that about the mammogram I just think oh I've got a mammogram but with the cervical smear I think oh God and I really don't look forward to it [laughs].
Last reviewed March 2016.
Last updated February 2013.
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