Lidocaine Gel May Help Women Survive Pain Of Mammograms

Washington (dbTechno) - According to new study carried out by St. Luke’s Mountain State Tumor Institute in Boise, Idaho, lidocaine gel may be able to help ease pain women experience from mammograms.

Lidocaine gel is readily available, and is a topic anesthetic wich can be purchased over-the-counter.

For their study, they tested 418 women and gave them painkillers such as Tylenol, as well as a gel which was either lidocaine, or a placebo.

What they found was that though the painkillers were no help, the lidocaine gel helped reduce discomfort women experienced during a mammogram.

Mammograms are usually painful, or at least very uncomfortable for a women due to the fact that they have to have their breasts squeezed between plated.

The reasoning behind it is to try and detect any sign of an abnormality, as 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

The study was published in the July 22 online issue of Radiology.