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Empowering You Take Control of Your Breast Health.

Novant Health makes it easy for you to monitor your breast health so you can live stronger and healthier.

Breast Health

Get breast screening services when and where you need them.

Mammograms and other routine breast health checks are important for your overall well-being and can even help save your life. The screening and diagnostic breast imaging procedures at Novant Health provide you and your healthcare team with powerful tools for detecting breast conditions, including breast cancer.

The skilled breast specialists at Novant Health Imaging have advanced training in breast imaging and are certified in mammography. Our programs have accreditation from the American College of Radiology.

Find a Breast Center Near You

Breast conditions

Your breasts change often during your lifetime, especially between adolescence and menopause. Many people experience the following in their breasts at some point:

Lumps
Drainage
Sensitivity
Cysts
Mastitis

Talk to your primary care provider (PCP) or ob-gyn to help determine if what you're experiencing is due to a normal change in your body or if you need screening for breast conditions. Your PCP or ob-gyn will listen to your concerns and determine the right breast screening and — if needed — treatment for you.

Breast cancer

Many people diagnosed with breast cancer never have symptoms. Breast cancer is often first detected from a mammogram or clinical breast exam by your doctor. If your mammogram shows something abnormal, your doctor may recommend other tests, such as a breast biopsy, breast MRI, or breast ultrasound.

If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you will be referred to breast cancer specialists, including a breast surgeon and oncologist. At Novant Health, you’ll have access to advanced treatment options and dedicated breast cancer specialists who will surround you with compassionate care throughout your journey.

Fibrocystic breasts

Fibrocystic breasts, also called fibrocystic change, is a common breast condition. While not harmful, it can be painful. The pain in the breast is caused by fluid-filled round or oval sacs, called cysts. It normally affects women from puberty to around age 50 and often disappears during menopause.

Fibrocystic breasts are often found when conducting monthly self-examinations. You may find lumps or tender areas in one or both of your breasts. Your doctor can provide a clinical exam and offer options to treat your condition or refer you for additional testing if needed.

Symptoms

Multiple lumps in one or both breasts that are tender and offer resistance when pressed with your fingertips
Generalized breast pain, most often just before menstrual periods due to hormonal changes
Lumps that enlarge before menstrual periods and shrink after menstruation
Pain under your arms

You can help prevent fibrocystic breast pain by avoiding smoking and caffeine.

Routine breast screenings

Regular self-examinations, breast exams by your doctor, and scheduled mammograms — along with a healthy lifestyle — are your first and best defense against illnesses like breast cancer.

These exams can help detect problems early, when it is most easy to treat them. Work with your care team to make sure you're doing all your routine screenings when recommended.

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Self breast exams

Routine breast self-examinations make you familiar with how your breasts normally feel to help you more easily notice changes when they appear.

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Clinical breast exams

Make sure a breast exam is a part of your annual physical. Share with your provider any changes you've noticed in your breasts since your last exam.

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Mammograms

When you get your annual mammogram at Novant Health, you can expect leading-edge, precise images of your breast tissue that detect even the smallest abnormalities.

Explore Mammograms

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Genetic testing

Genetic testing can detect mutations in hereditary cancer genes, like BRCA1 and BRCA2, to help determine if you may have increased breast cancer risk.

Learn More - Genetic Testing

The Importance of Mammograms

Getting a mammogram is one of the easiest, yet most important, steps you can take to protect your breast health. Did you know you can schedule your routine screening mammogram online in minutes, without a referral from your doctor?

Use the following links to view locations near you and choose a convenient date and time for your mammogram. (Patients in the Wilmington area can conveniently schedule using MyChart.) Many locations offer extended hours, making it easy for you to take control of your health.

Woman having a mammography examination at a clinic with a female technician.

Diagnostic breast imaging

When you might need specialized breast imaging

Reach out to your doctor if have not had a breast exam in two years, or if you are experiencing any of the following:

Clear, red, or bloody fluid from your nipple
A lump in your breast or an enlargement of a lump that was previously diagnosed
Redness or puckering of the skin on your breast
An indentation or flattening of your nipple
New or unexplained symptoms develop in your breasts

If you are experiencing these, or based on findings from your routine annual screenings, your care team may refer you for additional diagnostic exams like the following.

Breast biopsy

A breast biopsy is a common procedure during which we collect a small sample of breast tissue. We then pass the sample on to a pathologist to examine and provide a diagnosis.

We use many methods to collect breast tissue samples. The type of biopsy we use depends on things like the location, appearance, and size of the abnormal breast tissue needing examination. Breast biopsy types include:

Ultrasound-guided breast biopsy
MRI-guided breast biopsy
Stereotactic breast biopsy

Breast MRI

If you are at high risk for breast cancer or your provider needs a more detailed look at your breast tissue, your care team may recommend a breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam. Using a strong magnet and radio waves instead of X-rays, MRI technology produces a highly detailed image of the breast. A breast MRI does not take the place of a mammogram, the preferred exam to annually screen for breast cancer. However, when used with mammography for high-risk women, MRI can be a powerful tool for finding breast cancer.

Your doctor may recommend that you have a breast MRI exam if you have:

Recent diagnosis of breast cancer
Extremely dense breast tissue
High risk for breast cancer:
- Carrier of genetic mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2
- Personal history of breast cancer or a prior breast biopsy that showed abnormal cells
- Strong family history of breast cancer
- Had chest radiation for Hodgkin's Lymphoma before age 30
Silicone breast implants and possible implant rupture (implant evaluation)

Abbreviated breast MRI

If you have dense breast tissue, you may need an abbreviated screening breast MRI. Dense breast tissue is less fatty, and instead more fibrous or glandular. Dense breast tissue may make it more difficult to find cancer on a mammogram.

An abbreviated breast MRI:

Is a shorter version of a full breast MRI
Doesn't use as many images
May find breast cancer that does not show on mammography or ultrasound

This is not a replacement for your annual mammogram — it is an additional screening exam for those who may be at a higher risk for breast cancer.

Be sure to check with your insurance provider if they cover this type of exam.

Breast ultrasound

If your mammogram shows changes in your breast tissue, an ultrasound may be your next recommended step. Ultrasounds make it easy to locate, measure, and evaluate lumps or other changes discovered in your screening mammogram to see if the lump is a cystic or solid mass.

Your care team may:

Combine ultrasound with diagnostic mammography if you are 30 or older and have suspicious lumps in your breasts
Determine whether a breast lump is solid or fluid-filled
Evaluate nipple discharge or other potential breast concerns
Use ultrasound as a guide tool during other procedures, such as breast biopsies or when removing fluid from a cyst

If you are under 30, you are required to have a breast ultrasound instead of a mammogram (unless a radiologist decides otherwise).

Ductogram

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Diagnostic imaging made convenient

If your care team has recommended advanced imaging to see if you have a condition needing further treatment, learn more about how to schedule your imaging appointment, how to prepare for your appointment, and more.

Expect inclusive care.

Everyone deserves to feel comfortable getting the care they need, including breast screenings at the recommended times. Our commitment to health equity helps ensure all patients, families, communities, and team members receive high-quality, compassionate care and services when and where they need them.