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Center For Wellness > Medical Services > Thermography
Thermography is an infrared measurement of temperature changes across the skin. This technique often helps identify pre cancerous lesions or areas of inflammation leading to increased blood flow as well as areas of poor blood flow leading to cooler temperatures along the skin surface.
Below are inserts from a newsletter I wrote about Thermography in Medicine. To read the full article, click here.
In medical practice, thermography is the process of taking a snapshot of your skin temperature. With an infrared camera, a person snaps a picture of your skin surface and then aided by computers, a digital picture of the varying skin temperature is seen. It looks a bit like a cartoon, but is an extremely useful technology for assessing abnormalities in skin temperature. Your thermograph is almost like your fingerprint. It should not change over time, yet it is a dynamic (flowing) way to assess your health. Why have one done, you might ask?
Because of the body’s symmetry, the skin temperature should not vary from the left hand to the right hand, or the left breast to the right breast for example unless there is a problem. Indirectly, the thermogram is measuring the factors that affect blood flow to the skin surface and when the blood flow to one side of the body varies from that of the other. The factors that affect blood flow include growth proteins produced from tumors, blood clots, infection, and variations in the activity of the autonomic nervous system and a host of others.
While thermography is not a diagnostic tool, it can certainly identify if there is an actual problem with blood flow and when used in conjunction with mammography, helps identify more tumors than the mammogram alone can.
This technology is now being used in airports to determine if people are lying about what they take on board as well as identifying when their skin temperature is higher than normal thus identifying them as an “at risk” passenger to spread infection. There are over 8000 studies documenting the technology and benefits of thermography. Its application ranges from breast cancer and damaged nerves from a bulging disc to TMJ syndrome.
Certification for thermography is done by the American College of Clinical Thermography at Duke University Medical Center. Our office offers full body or region of Interest (such as the breast, or face, etc) thermography. You may benefit from thermography if you are concerned about the following conditions:
1) Breast cancer
2) Fibrocystic breast disease
3) Blood clots
4) Bulging discs in your neck or back
5) Tempromandibular Joint Syndrome
6) Kidney infections
7) Liver problems
8) Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)
9) Thyroid nodules
10) Stress Fractures
11) Chronic arm or leg pain that has not been resolved.
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