Years ago, after my career in cancer research and before my transition to natural health, I had a mammogram – in my 30’s! Intuitively, I didn’t feel good about it. Radiation is a known carcinogen, so it seemed counterintuitive to be exposing my breasts to radiation. I was also not a fan of the crushing 40 PSI (pounds per square inch) of pressure being applied to my breasts.
Fast forward a few years to our move to the Midwest and meeting my friend, Diane Bulman – a thermographer. Diane did my first set of thermograms and I was sold! Not only is there no risk of any damage – no radiation, no crush injury – it showed me areas that were expressing heat BEFORE I had any symptoms.
Thermography is thermal (heat) photography. It uses a highly sensitive and calibrated camera, combined with state of the art software to demonstrate areas of heat (inflammation) or cold (poor circulation). Thermography doesn’t penetrate (like X-rays do), it reads the infrared radiation that the body is emitting and evaluates the parasympathetic nervous system via the skin blood flow (4mm). This gives thermography the opportunity to detect therma abnormalities BEFORE a symptom presents itself (like it did for me!). The thermal images are sent to a thermologist; a medical doctor with special training in interpreting the scans. The thermologist then provides you with a report of findings that will highlight areas of concern.
Themography can be used on every part of the body except the brain. Your skull is too thick (just like you mother always said!) for the thermal imaging to penetrate. The rest of your body is fair game. Many people use thermography to monitor their progress in their healing process whether it is inflammation in your intestines or your elbow, thermography is a great tool to observe changes. Athletes will often use thermography to track the healing progress of an injury. We are really excited to monitor our PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field) therapy clients!
Breast health is certainly the most common reason that people seek out thermography. When using thermography to monitor breast health, there is a recommended schedule for best results. It involves two appointments. The first appointment is your initial breast scan. The second appointment, approximately 3 months later, is your baseline breast scan. The thermologist compares these two scans to determine your baseline thermal patterns and identify any changes between scans. If nothing concerning shows in those scans, you then move to an annual scan.
Save $50 with the Initial Breast Health Package: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=217160&stype=40&prodId=126
Schedule Thermography Scans: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=217160&stype=-9&sTG=6&sView=day&sLoc=0
After 11 years of doing mobile thermography scans, Diane asked me if I would like to take over her practice here in the Coulee Region. Diane will continue to do thermography at her Iowa location (and some mobile visits) where she also does wellness and nutrition coaching. We are honored that Diane is passing the thermography baton to us and we are excited to offer this service.