Empowering women to get needed checkups during National Women’s Health Month
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — May is National Women’s Health Month and it’s a great time for women to schedule or go to health checkups.
“The goal is to empower women to make their health a priority and help women understand what steps they can take to improve their health,” Emily Bolin, a mammography technologist for Northwest Radiology in Greenwood, told News 8.
Steps that women can take to improve their health include routine checkups, checks on issues like blood pressure, a Pap smear, and a colonoscopy.
One of the most important exams for women over 40 is the annual mammogram, Bolin says, and all women should have a breast cancer risk assessment by age 30.
Women do not need a doctor’s order for a screening mammogram.
Bolin says 75% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history, according to Bolin.
Signs and symptoms of breast cancer include:
- A new lump in the breast or underarm
- Thickening or swelling of part of the breast
- Irritation or dimpling of breast skin
- Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or breast
- Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area
- Nipple discharge other than breast milk, including blood
- Any change in the size or the shape of the breast
- Pain in any area of the breast
For more information about breast cancer, click here. For more information on Northwest Radiology, visit their website.