Metal Clips in the Breast: Purpose, Procedure, and What to Expect - with Dr Tasha

[@SisterSeventies]

I've only just discovered that I have several clips in my breast (I think it was 4) after wide local excision 4 years ago. I saw them on the mammogram at a recent check-up. My Dr told me they were placed during surgery to aid the radiotherapy treatment that I had after surgery. I was so surprised that I didn't ask any more questions so I am very grateful to you for this very clear video.

[@drtashag]

Yes, clips are placed after surgery to help plan radiotherapy. The clips mark where the cancer was, which helps planning.

[@tracifowler]

Thank you so much for this channel and for this video in particular. I had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound earlier this month where a cyst was found and I was told I needed to come back to have it aspirated and possibly have a biopsy "depending on what they found". Not much more information provided other than that. So I left the appointment very uncertain and with so many questions. I am so grateful I found your channel. You are so detailed about "what to expect" at each stage of discovery and treatment. It really put me at ease so I didn't worry for the next two weeks as I waited for my next appointment. Yesterday was my aspiration/biopsy appt and as it turns out, I did not need a biopsy but I know that if we had to move to the next step, I am reassured that this channel exists. Thank you so much for taking the time to provide this kind of education. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@drtashag]

Dear Traci, thank you so much for your kind words. It takes time to leave comments and I am very appreciative of your efforts. I am so glad you didn’t need a biopsy after all. I created this channel to provide information for those who may need it and I am glad it has been helpful 🙏🏽

[@gloriaesperanzamoyano3897]

Very helpful. They don't tell you all these details. Thank you.

[@drtashag]

You are welcome. So glad it was helpful 👍🏽

[@renasager8822]

Thank you Dr Tasha for this important information!!

[@drtashag]

You are very welcome 🤗

[@kellyclaus2741]

I had a clip from a biopsy. Later had a mri on the mri report their is no mention of it on the mri report and is needing another biopsy but does mention the other clips from the other biopsys

[@irene1182]

Thank you Dr Tasha I presume I got these as had 2 multi focal tumours but this was never really explained very well. I do remember getting another mammogram after the biopsy but I can’t remember the reason why? I think I was in shock I never really took in all that was being said at the time. I got chemo first as cancer was TNBC and always remember my last mammogram before surgery they said couldn’t see any trace of a tumour. What a relief this was. I still opted for a mastectomy though as believe in my case it was for the best …being multifocal and TNBC . Thank you again for explaining this so well xxx

[@drtashag]

Hi Irene, yes you may have had these clips. Getting another mammogram after biopsy may indicate they wanted to check the positions of the marker clips. I am glad your cancer responded so well to chemotherapy! 🙌🏽

[@irene1182]

@@drtashag thank you Dr Tasha that explains why I got it. Yes the chemo did its job well …so thankful xxx

[@angelamhickslovestosing]

Thank you! So much

[@drtashag]

You are welcome 🙏🏽

[@LilyRoseChannel01]

I'm a breast cancer survivor of 29 years. My then surgeon did NOT tell me or even discuss he was placing and leaving 7 clips on my right side where lymph nodes (BENIGN!) were removed. I found out from an X-ray several years later. I do feel the pinching from them, for sure. Very uncomfortable when it happens. So it's not true that you don't feel them. Now I am faced with a biopsy in 10 days on the same breast & am being told I will need to have this metal clip placed in permanently. I do not want this in my body! I've already had one surgeon place clips in me and leave them there for HIS convenience, and without my permission. I also had radiation therapy back when and was given 4 tattoos to make the radiation more "accurate". This is BS. The technician was simply too lazy to redo the settings each time I came for radiation. Once again, something not necessary was added to my body. So now the "tiny" metal clip is looming in front of me for this biopsy. I don't care how small it is, or if you tell me I won't feel it. This has not been my experience so far with this type of thing. I feel suffocated from medical professionals taking away agency over my body. If the biopsy is benign, I certainly should not have or retain this clip. MARK THE MAMMO IMAGE with the location of the clip, NOT MY BODY! I'm fed up with doctors making excuses for doing things that I do not want or need, and which are solely for the purpose of their convenience. Do the work properly to begin with. Don't tell me the clips are are going to make any procedure more accurate. What you are saying with that is, that without the clip, you will be inaccurate??! I'm outraged by yet another procedure with something they want to introduce to my body, that they are trying to force on me, without my approval. I do not want the clip! Will someone please tell me that they've been able to have a breast biopsy without it!!??

[@gloriafeliciano1577]

For 2 months had aralyzed diaphram due to liver byopsy. I have autiimmune disease

[@karinamalina8463]

Thank you for this information ❤️ I had a biopsy a month ago and they said that they left a titanium marker inside only after the procedure. It turned out that I have a benign tumor and surgery is not needed, I am very worried that there is this marker inside me, please tell me, can I take it out or just live with it? Tell me if this can cause something serious. Thank you very much. My name is Karina and I am 29 years old

[@drtashag]

Hi Karina, these clips that are placed in the breast after biopsy are safe. They don’t cause any problems.

[@gloriafeliciano1577]

Ca.n I request anesthesia

[@ta-tanyshadavid5539]

Can you refuse the clip?

[@drtashag]

Yes you can if you wish. It is a discussion with the radiologist.

[@flowers3036]

​@@drtashagperfect

[@jfe1195]

I was told you cant refuse clip or they wont do biopsy

[@ishu4111]

Hello dr. i have been diagnosed from fibroadenoma 2cm in size in april 2024.....birads 3......since last month i feel 3 tiny lumps in same breast....are they fibroadenomas ?pls reply 😢

[@drtashag]

The best thing to do is go back to your doctor and get these checked.

[@ishu4111]

@@drtashag thank u ma'am for your kind response.

[@TahrimaHossainShara]

Are clips always placed during core needle biopsies? The radiologist that did my biopsy didn’t tell me anything about clips, I didn’t know she put any inside me until I saw this video

[@drtashag]

They are not always placed. The radiologist would normally tell you if they are going to do this.

[@TheLifestyleofNatashaMichele]

@@drtashag Why? Why is it that they place these clips inside of people?

[@yvonnejohnson1004]

I asked for them to be removed because they are causing me a lot of pain. I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and I’m in pain 24/7. It’s so hard to live with and some sufferers have the affected limb amputated hoping to stop the pain. Any medical intervention makes it spread and it certainly has. I rang my Doctor asking to have the clips removed and she said that she’d phone later. I got a phone call from an occupational therapist, She asked if I’d given any more thought to the suggestion of having a SCS implementation in my spine and up the spinal cord to try to stop the pain signals reaching my brain. I haven’t had a conversation with her and a CRPS specialist. I’m not under any specialist as there isn’t one here but mostly because I can’t walk, I’m in a wheelchair and can’t get over the steps and or the threshold. I’m allergic to many things including Nickel. I had to have the Mercury fillings in my teeth replaced. Here in the UK they are importing Titanium from China to be used by dentists as fillings and they add Nickel to it to make it go further. In many operations they leave Titanium screws and clips in now. Why is this allowed?

[@flowers3036]

Can we request no clip

[@healinhand]

Have you seen them migrate?

[@drtashag]

Occasionally. But it doesn’t migrate very much.

[@healinhand]

@@drtashag what about tumor location clips?

[@yvonnejohnson1004]

I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. I have many allergies and intolerances. Any Medical interventions can make CRPS spread. The pain is agonising and some people ask for the affected limb to be amputated because the pain is so bad. In July 2024 I was sent for investigations for breast cancer. I wasn’t told that I would have Titanium clips put in or they wouldn’t be taken out. I am now in agony and the CRPS has spread to my other leg and beyond. I didn’t have Breast cancer after all and now I wish I’d never reported the lump as the pains in my breasts are agonising. I asked my GP if I could have them removed but they won’t do it even if I pay for it myself. I’m in the UK.

[@yvonnejohnson1004]

@@drtashagthat’s not good enough. Titanium is inert outside the body but once inside the body the immune system considers it a threat. It changes inside the body into a toxin. Using Titanium in dentistry is not safe. Many people were poisoned when the British began to use Mercury to use as fillings. It was cheaper than the gold fillings that only the rich could afford and only the poor could afford the cheaper option.

[@jfe1195]

Can you go to Turkey or Thailand to have them removed? Get a copy or CD of your last mammogram. I hope you heal and am praying for you to be pain free.