Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>>>Dr. Harness: One of the important questions that patients ask me is about applying something
local to the area where a breast biopsy has been done or to an area where a lumpectomy
has been done, or any sort of surgery to the breast, or for that matter elsewhere within
the body, and so the question becomes “cold versus heat”.
In the short-term, generally 24 hour certainly 48 hours or so after surgery, cold is the
better thing to apply. As a good example, what we do core biopsies with either ultrasound
guidance or stereotactic guidance, patients are often provided with one of these little
ice packs that freezes up when you put it in your freezer, apply it. So cold not only
numbs the area, it constricts the blood vessels a little bit, which should help with the swelling
that comes from any surgery.
Think about a good example in your life, what if somebody popped you in the eye and you
were getting a swelling, would you want to apply cold or would you want to apply heat?
You would want to apply cold because you want the blood vessels to constrict, you want to
sort of numb the area. Conversely, if you apply heat to a newly injured area, what it
is going to do is actually dilated up the blood vessels, make the swelling in the area
worse as the swelling becomes worse, the pain increases and you are in a vicious cycle that
you do not want to be in.
So, certainly for the first 24, 48 hours, may be even up to 72 hours after any kind
of surgical procedure, think cold not heat.
*****
Hi, I am Dr. Jay Harness and I want to share with you an important information that I believe
that every newly diagnosed patient with breast cancer needs to know.
Susan Denver: “I am a breast cancer survivor.”
Katherine Stockton: “I am a breast cancer survivor.”
Coree: “I am a breast cancer survivor…”
Susan Denver: “…and I want every woman to know…”
Katherine Stockton: “…about personalized breast cancer treatment…”
Susan Denver: “…and the Genomic Test.”
Coree: “A test that helps guide a woman and her doctor…”
Katherine Stockton: “…to the best treatment options for her.”
Susan Denver: “Pass it on!”