"I found it extremely painful"

I went for a mammogram. I have just turned 50 so this is the first one I've had. I went to the mobile unit in Bromley. It was easy to find and was clean, tidy and well organised. They were ready at the time I'd booked and the two staff I met were pleasant and professional.

I wanted to give some feedback about the actual procedure. The booklet says, Having a mammogram can be uncomfortable, and some women find it painful.

I found it extremely painful and I also found it hard to get into the positions the radiographer wanted me to and to maintain them while I was in pain. It was not clear what positions they wanted me to get into. I do have some shoulder stiffness but not an unusual amount. They could have done with a poster or illustration or maybe a mirror? I realise when you do procedures all day it's obvious to YOU what you're trying to achieve but the radiographers should keep reminding themselves that for many of the women they see, this is the first time they've experienced it.

Also "some women find it painful" doesn't really make it clear that we are talking about a significant amount of sharp pain (akin to a smear) repeated 4 times - I think next time I'd take a couple of paracetomol first. I am fairly flat chested and I also wondered if the manual handling is more of a problem if there's less tissue to get hold of? I have quite a high pain threshold by the way.

I also noticed that as well as the automatic compressing function on the machine, the radiographer had a manual setting so maybe offer the manual setting straight up rather than waiting till your patient has shouted OUCH!?

Anyway, this service deals with 50-70 year old women. Be honest! Say that it can be painful, offer the option of gradual manual adjustment for the compression and explain up front WHY compressing the breast leads to a better image (they couldn't tell me this).

Overall it was a fairly horrible experience, enough so that I would seriously have to consider whether it was worth doing again for a 1/100 chance.