What women need to know

CLEVELAND, Ohio. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Annual mammograms save lives by detecting cancer in earlier and more treatable stages. And the COVID vaccine, of course, will save lives by preventing many people from contracting and spreading the virus. But there is an amazing side effect of the COVID vaccine that you will want to know about, especially if you have a mammogram scheduled soon.

During a mammogram, technicians not only represent the breast, but also the area near the armpits. At this time, some women who have had the VOCID vaccine have an unexpected reaction.

“Not everyone, but some patients will see enlarged or swollen lymph nodes on mammograms,” shared Holly Marshall, MD, head of the breast imaging division at Cleveland University Hospital Medical Center.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that 11 percent of COVID vaccine recipients have swollen lymph nodes after the first dose. Sixteen percent have swelling after the second. The swelling begins about two to three days after the vaccine. That’s why doctors say it’s important for women to tell their providers if they’ve recently had a vaccine, what arm it was in, and whether it was the first or second dose.

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“This provides us with information to help us read the mammogram. Other things, like cancer, can cause inflammation of the lymph nodes. That’s why we want to know the history of vaccines, ”Dr. Marshall explained.

Doctors say the swelling should go away in four to six weeks and is the body’s normal response to the vaccine.

“If the lymph nodes haven’t shrunk in size in about two months, it would be time to check them, come for an ultrasound, and make sure there’s nothing else,” Dr. Marshall shared.

The CDC reports cases of swollen lymph nodes in patients who have had the Pfizer vaccine and the Modern vaccine.

Doctors say that sometimes patients have felt the swelling under their arm, and in other cases, swollen lymph nodes are detected on mammography, but they do not feel them.