Patient Preparation
-
You must wait at least 3 months after major breast surgery, or completion of radiation or chemotherapy, before having a thermal scan.
-
You must wait at least 1 month after having a biopsy or minor surgery.
-
Avoid sun tanning or sunburn approximately 1 week before your scan. The longer the time away from tanning, the better.
-
Please inform your technician of any moles, birthmarks, scars, recent skin lesions, bruising, or other skin disorders, such as rosacea. These conditions can read as false positives on the thermal images.
-
At least 2 hours before to your exam, avoid solid food, alcoholic beverages, and caffeinated products. You may drink room-temperature water. Avoid breath mints, gum, or mouthwash 2 hours before your exam.
-
Refrain from shaving at least 12 hours prior to your appointment. The purpose is to avoid skin irritation.
-
Do not smoke any product or use any products containing nicotine 2 hours prior to your exam.
Do not exercise for at least 12 hours before your appointment, including brisk walking, running, swimming, yoga, sauna use, massage therapy, chiropractic treatments, physical therapy, or intimacy.
Do not use any lotions, creams, oils, powders, makeup, or deodorant on the day of your exam. (If you need to moisturize, shower/bathe the evening before.)
-
Wear loose-fitting clothes. Avoid wearing any style of bra before your appointment. Remove all jewelry and electrical devices, including smartwatches, etc.
-
Avoid taking supplements (such as Niacin) or other vasodilators before your appointment. Please notify the technician if you take blood pressure, heart, or thyroid medications early in the day. If it does not pose a health risk, please wait until after the imaging to take these medications. That is ideal.
-
Blood pressure and heart medications are permitted. Please notify the technician.
Procedure
A Patient Intake Form will be provided during your appointment. The technician will review the information and ask questions to complete your health history and discuss any specific concerns. This information will be included with your images and provided to the reporting doctor for review. A full report will be available within 5–7 business days.
You will be asked to disrobe the areas to be imaged to help your body acclimate to the room temperature. The equilibration time is approximately 15 minutes. The room temperature is maintained between 68–72 degrees. It may feel chilly. You may wear undergarments, and we can adjust clothing positions depending on which study you choose. For women, please avoid wearing any style of bra before your appointment.
For men, if you are including the Prostate Study (5 additional images), which is available only with the Men's Full Body Study, please wear briefs (not boxers). Please note that this area will be completely undressed at the end of the imaging session.
Test Results
Reports are provided to the patient within 5–7 business days from the day of the scan.
If this is your first thermal screening, it is considered a "Baseline" study. Your report will recommend either 3 or 6 months before scheduling a Comparative Study to establish your thermal pattern stability. This second "Comparative Study" is key to the real benefits of using thermography as a visual imaging tool. It also allows you time to make proper lifestyle adjustments so that we may potentially observe improvements in the second Comparative Study. Once changes have been established, it is then recommended that you return for an Annual Study.
For Men Only
If you are having a Men's Health Study or a Men's Full Body Study, you will need to do the following:
Both of these studies will include imaging of your face and full cranial areas. Because men have facial hair, we ask that you refrain from shaving at least 12 hours before your appointment. The purpose is to avoid skin irritation and allow the skin to rest so there is no "false positive" reading.
If you have facial hair such as a goatee, mustache, or beard, these artifacts will interfere with imaging of the complete facial area and make it more challenging for the doctor to interpret the images. The less facial hair, the better. The choice is yours whether to shave the facial hair or leave it. Just remember, your skin will need to be non-irritated from removing that hair, so allow enough healing time, at least 12 hours prior to your appointment.
If you are having the Prostate Images (included only in the Men's Full Body Study), please trim any hair in the genital area to approximately 1/4"–1/2" in length. Body hair is considered an "artifact" and can interfere with accurate temperature readings.