Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article, I'll tell you why antiperspirant is prohibited before mammography.
Several horror stories have been written about breast cancer from deodorants. These tales are so thought out that you can listen to them. Now I will retell them to you.
They say that there are some carcinogens in deodorants that would not penetrate the skin and would not harm if it were not for the shaving of the armpits. But if you shave, then there are guaranteed to be small cuts through which poisonous chemicals will begin to penetrate into the body ...
There are not too many of these chemicals, but we use deodorant every day, so they penetrate and penetrate, gradually accumulate in the lymph nodes under the armpit and cannot come out because the antiperspirant does not allow anything to be released from then...
Gradually so many chemicals will accumulate that they will cause mutations in cells and cancer ...
Breast cancer is more often found in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, just closer to the armpit ...
Men are less likely to have breast cancer because they do not shave their armpits more often, and the hair under their armpits traps toxic chemicals on it ...
In fact, this is all nonsense.
Where is the truth?
There is no strong scientific evidence that using deodorants, antiperspirants, or underarm shaving contributes to the development of breast cancer.
There was some scandalous study that asked women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. These women used antiperspirants frequently.
Then experts criticized this study, because according to statistics, young women simply use deodorant more often than older women. So it was very easy to find addiction among young people. You couldn't use statistics that way.
Can chemicals pass through cuts?
No. Noticeable amounts of chemicals cannot penetrate minor skin lesions. And even less able to get to the mammary gland.
If your underarm skin is sore and irritated after shaving, deodorants will make it worse. It is a fact.
Conversely, if you use an antiperspirant for a long time and then stop, then more sweat will be released, and skin irritation may appear.
In any case, everything ends at the level of the skin.
What about parabens?
Parabens are chemicals that are used as preservatives and food additives. They can be absorbed through the skin. This is bad, because parabens are able to act like estrogens. Estrogens normally stimulate the growth of glandular tissue in the breast, but they can also stimulate tumor growth in the breast.
In 2004, a small but wicked scientific study emerged that found parabens inside the breast tumor itself. True, they were simply found, but they did not prove that it was the parabens that caused this tumor.
Regarding the fact that parabens are similar to estrogens - yes. But estrogens are thousands of times more potent than parabens in their activity. So rather, you need to worry about some kind of hormone replacement therapy, because there are certainly powerful estrogens.
Parabens can be found in shampoo, lipstick, and even food. Deodorant in this regard is not a very terrible source of parabens.
In addition to parabens, there are a bunch of other chemicals that act like estrogens.
It is now fashionable to buy all kinds of paraben-free skin care products. This is a separate topic. Interestingly, parabens were rarely found in deodorants even before it became fashionable to talk about it.
What about aluminum?
It is aluminum that blocks the sweat glands. It also has the unpleasant property of increasing the sensitivity of breast cells to estrogen. And aluminum can be absorbed through the skin.
Until now, it has not been possible to prove that aluminum is absorbed in noticeable quantities and somehow affects the risk of cancer.
Do antiperspirants interfere with the removal of toxins?
No. The lymph nodes have nothing to do with the sweat glands. So this question is generally past the box office.
What about the upper outer quadrant?
There really is more often breast cancer, but it is there that most of the glandular tissue of the breast. If you expect cancer somewhere, it is more likely in this place. This is unlikely to be related to the armpit.
Do underarm hair protect men from cancer?
Men get breast cancer because they have some glandular tissue there. Yes, and hormonal disruptions in men happen when there is more estrogen.
In general, in men, the glandular tissue in the mammary gland is 100 times less than in women in the mammary gland. Therefore, they also have less frequent breast cancer. Hair has nothing to do with it.
Why does the doctor prohibit the use of antiperspirant before mammography?
Mammograms are done to look for cancer in the breast. This is an x-ray examination. Antiperspirants contain aluminum. It looks like calcium deposits on x-rays. And calcium deposits can be a sign of cancer. In order not to be mistaken and not to find cancer where it does not exist, the doctor suggests giving up the antiperspirant before testing. Maybe this is where all the other deodorant stories started.
