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Improved Wellness with Thermography with Shayla Shearer episode cover

EPISODE 13 · Oct 8, 2026

Improved Wellness with Thermography with Shayla Shearer

Thermography technician Shayla Shearer explains what infrared heat mapping can and cannot show, how scans work, and when to follow up with your doctor.

Hosted by Bree Allred, PT, DPT, PRPC

Featuring Shayla Shearer

24 min

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Many women reach a point where they know something in their body feels off, but they cannot name it. Labs look fine. Symptoms get brushed aside. The quiet conclusion becomes, "Maybe I am just imagining this." You are not imagining it, and you deserve answers.

In this episode of Healing At Your Core, host Bree Allred, PT, DPT, PRPC sits down with Shayla Shearer of Cache Valley Thermography to talk about thermography: what it is, what it can and cannot tell you, and where it may fit alongside established medical screening. This article covers how infrared heat mapping works, why symmetry matters, what an appointment involves, and how to think about results responsibly.

What Thermography Is, According to Shayla Shearer

Shayla Shearer is a thermography technician and a certified breastfeeding specialist. Her interest in breast health, combined with a holistic-minded household, drew her toward offering women another way to learn about their bodies.

Thermography uses an infrared camera to read the heat your body naturally gives off. Rather than looking at structure, it creates a heat map that reflects physiology, including blood flow, inflammation-related activity, metabolism, muscle activity, and nervous system patterns.

Our bodies always are giving off infrared heat, and a thermography camera can just pick up that very specifically, and it just paints you a beautiful picture of what your body's heat map is.

The key reference point is symmetry. One side of the body should generally look like the other. Shayla compares it to rolling an ankle: blood flow increases, the area throbs and warms. When something inside the body is active, that activity can change local heat patterns. Inflammation may widen blood vessels and create warmth, while constriction may read cooler.

This is also why a baseline scan can be useful. Knowing what your typical pattern looks like makes it easier to notice when something shifts during pregnancy, perimenopause, or other seasons of change.

What Thermography Cannot Tell You

This part matters most, and Shayla is clear about it. Thermography is not a diagnostic test and it is not structural imaging.

I can't look at a heat pattern that's abnormal and be like, "Hey, that's a cyst." That's not what thermography can do. But it can say, "Hey, look, there's something going on here."

It does not replace a mammogram, ultrasound, MRI, or X-ray. It cannot see your pelvis or your ribs. It cannot confirm cancer, cysts, or inflammation on its own. A blood test or a physician would be needed to verify what is actually happening.

Shayla also distinguishes between roles. As a technician, she is trained on camera setup, positioning, and acclimating you to the right room temperature so readings are not falsely skewed. A trained thermographist interprets the images, asks clarifying questions, and recommends what type of clinician to see next. If something unexpected appears, the next step is a conversation with your primary care provider, OBGYN, or another appropriate clinician who can order diagnostic testing.

She also notes that acceptance within the broader medical world varies. Some providers refer for it, particularly in women's health settings, while others remain hesitant.

Why Some Women Choose It, and What Else Gets Scanned

One commonly cited benefit is that thermography involves no radiation. Because the camera only reads heat coming off the body and puts nothing into you, Shayla says it is considered safe during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

It may also appeal to women with dense breast tissue, where a mammogram cannot always get a clear reading. Breast implants or reconstruction do not disqualify someone, though they do affect what the images show.

Breasts are not the only area scanned. Shayla says thyroid questions are among the most common reasons women come in, along with pelvic and lower torso scans. Women with a history of ovarian cancer often want to monitor whether anything looks different over time, and breast cancer survivors frequently return for checkups. If you are curious about one survivor's experience with screening and follow-up, Bree shares her own in My Breast Cancer Story.

When asked about pelvic findings, Shayla keeps the framing appropriately cautious: if someone has endometriosis symptoms and an area also lights up on a scan, that is a reason to get it properly evaluated, not a diagnosis.

What an Appointment Actually Looks Like

Before you arrive

Preparation starts about 24 hours ahead. Shayla asks clients to avoid caffeine, skip hot drinks beforehand, stay off heated car seats, and avoid wearing a bra for four hours before the scan. Each of these can alter surface temperature and create misleading readings. Clients receive a full instruction list in advance.

During the scan

The scan is private and non-invasive. Nothing touches you, and there is no compression. You undress to the level appropriate for your scan type behind a closed curtain, then acclimate to the room for 15 minutes so your body temperature stabilizes. Imaging itself is quick: roughly six images and about five minutes for breast thermography, or up to 10 to 15 minutes for a full body scan.

After your results

Results typically return in about seven to 10 days. A thermographist then reviews the images with you, answers questions, and provides referrals if follow-up is warranted. Shayla says repeat intervals of every six months to a year are most common, depending on history and findings.

Action Steps

  • Write down what you have been noticing in your body, including when symptoms started and what makes them better or worse, before any appointment.
  • Ask any screening provider directly what the test can and cannot detect, and whether it is diagnostic or a prompt for further evaluation.
  • Bring unexpected imaging results to your primary care provider or OBGYN so appropriate diagnostic testing can be considered.
  • Keep established screening on schedule. Thermography is described as a complement to medical care, not a replacement for it.
  • If your symptoms involve pelvic pain, leakage, or discomfort with intimacy, talk with a pelvic floor physical therapist who can assess your whole body.

Trusting What Your Body Is Telling You

Shayla hears the same sentence often: something feels wrong, but I do not know what it is. That feeling deserves curiosity, not dismissal. As Bree puts it, the goal is never to convince women that one test or one provider holds every answer. It is to help you understand your own normal and keep asking questions when something changes.

If pelvic or postpartum symptoms are part of what feels off, request an appointment and let's look at the whole picture together.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT
Bree Allred: Hi, everyone. Welcome to Healing at Your Core. I'm Dr. Bree Allred. I'm really excited for our [00:00:30] guest today. We have Shayla Shearer with Cache Valley Thermography, and we are gonna [00:00:35] talk a lot about what thermography is, what it can and cannot tell [00:00:40] you about your health, and where it may fit alongside kind of the established medical [00:00:45] screening and care. Bree Allred: So I'm excited to have you with us, Shayla. Um- Tell us a little [00:00:50] about yourself, and how did you get into thermography? Shayla Shearer: Like she said, I'm Shayla Shearer. Um, [00:00:55] I got into thermography because I'm super pas- passionate about breast health. I'm actually a [00:01:00] certified breastfeeding specialist, um, on top of a thermography technician. Um, and so [00:01:05] I've been super passionate about breast health, obviously, because it's, it's important, um, for breastfeeding. [00:01:10] But also, my husband's a chiropractor, so we kind of do the whole holistic, [00:01:15] holistic thing. Um, and so thermography really drew me in because I like the [00:01:20] idea of giving, giving women, um, another way to learn about their bodies. We're [00:01:25] always told to be aware about your body, be checking your breasts, all these things, and having a way to do that [00:01:30] beyond, "I think everything's fine," was super important to me. Bree Allred: For someone who's [00:01:35] never heard of thermography, what is it? Shayla Shearer: So thermography gives us a different kind of information [00:01:40] than what your typical things, like you hear a breast ultrasound or ma- mammography. Um, but [00:01:45] thermography looks at something different. It looks at heat maps, um, and the patterns that heat has within [00:01:50] your body. So it looks at blood flow, inflammation-related activity, metabolism, [00:01:55] muscle activity, um, the nervous system. Just different things can give off different heat patterns. Um, and [00:02:00] our bodies always are giving off infrared heat, and a thermography camera can just pick up that very [00:02:05] specifically, and it just paints you a beautiful picture of what your heat map, your body's heat map [00:02:10] is. Bree Allred: So when we're looking at this heat map, why should we care about it? Like, why is a [00:02:15] heat map important? Shayla Shearer: Yeah, so your body's heat map or your heat pattern's really important because your body's [00:02:20] supposed to be symmetrical. So, um, one side should look like the other side, and the infrared camera can [00:02:25] pick up the heat coming off of your body, and if there's something that is not symmetrical or not [00:02:30] looking appropriate, then we can tell because it'll give off different heat patterns. So your blood flow [00:02:35] can generate more heat. I like to think of it like when you hurt your ankle, right? You roll your ankle, [00:02:40] it starts to throb, it starts to get warm, you wanna put an ice pack on it, different things like that. So [00:02:45] if there's something else going on inside your body at a different position, um, we can see [00:02:50] how the blood flow, inflammation, what's going on, the muscle activity through that heat map. Bree Allred: So what [00:02:55] causes different areas of your body to be hotter versus colder? Shayla Shearer: Inflammation, for example, can make [00:03:00] your blood vessels grow. They get bigger. As they get bigger, it gets warmer, and different things like that, and so if there's [00:03:05] things that are constricted, it als- also can make it colder, and so we just wanna be able to see the differences. [00:03:10] And so if you are a healthy woman and you don't know why you should get thermography, it's really a good time to [00:03:15] get like a baseline to see like, "Hey, this is what my healthy body looks like. This is what my normal, um, [00:03:20] thermographic patterns are." And so when something, um, does change or you go through [00:03:25] premenopause or a pregnancy or just different things with your body change, we can kind of see how that [00:03:30] heat pattern shifts. And, uh, it's a really good preventative measure to be like, "Hey, we probably should watch this area of my [00:03:35] body. It's doing something asymmetrical." Hmm. Bree Allred: That's really interesting. Do they have, like, a [00:03:40] recommended age when people should start getting, like, a baseline thermography scan? Shayla Shearer: Um, [00:03:45] they just say whenever you want to. Um, so, like, 18-year-olds we c- we... is typically what I would say [00:03:50] 18 years old and up, um, you wanna get it. You can get it before a recommended mammogram age, so that's [00:03:55] also a really great, um, option for, that thermography provides. Bree Allred: Can [00:04:00] thermography diagnose a condition? Or kind of where is its role [00:04:05] in the screening process? Shayla Shearer: Yeah. So thermography is not a diagnostic test, [00:04:10] so it, it doesn't diagnose things. I can't look at a heat matter- or a heat pattern that's abnormal and be [00:04:15] like, "Hey, that's a cyst." That's not what thermography can do. But it can say, "Hey, look, there's something going [00:04:20] on here. We sh- this warrants a test with this type of doctor." And a therm- a thermogra- a [00:04:25] thermographist who would be reading it and giving you your interpretation, um, they, they would be able to say, [00:04:30] "Hey, this is what the kind of doctor we would recommend you go see for this," and then you could have a diagnostic test after [00:04:35] that. Bree Allred: Tell me kind of, like, the difference when you're saying, like, a thermographist. Like, do you know what kind of [00:04:40] education they've gone through to be able to read the thermograms, and then someone that's more like a [00:04:45] technician and what the differences between these, those two roles are? Shayla Shearer: Yeah. So a thermographist, [00:04:50] the, there's a training for- For thermographers, where they go through and they [00:04:55] understand different heat mapping areas and what it should and shouldn't look like, what's abnormal, what's not. And everyone's built a [00:05:00] little different. Like, I know that, um, I have a lower blood, blood, blood pressure than the average population, [00:05:05] and just knowing like what your normal is, everyone has a different normal. Our bodies are all not [00:05:10] perfectly made identically. But we have a good idea, right, of what it should look like. And so [00:05:15] they, they go through lots of training to see what the heat mapping should look like. Um, and then they can interpret that to [00:05:20] you, and they also have like lots of references or referrals that they can give out to you to go see [00:05:25] other things. I'm a thermography tech, so I don't have all of that training, so I can't look at your heat map problem and be [00:05:30] like, "Hey, this is what I think you should do," or, "This is where you should go see," or, "This is actually abnormal." Or... [00:05:35] And they, then they have a good idea based on like patterns what it typically is. Like if they see something light up in the [00:05:40] jaw, I've, I've sat through two screenings with them where they're like, "Oh, did you just have dental work? [00:05:45] That's probably not something to worry about." Like they know what kind of questions to ask. Like, "This is kind of normal. You just [00:05:50] had a tooth extracted, so that's not super something I'm super concerned about." Um, [00:05:55] so they would know all the ins and outs of different things like that. But as a thermography tech, I'm just trained on how the [00:06:00] camera works, the positions you're supposed to be in, acclimating you to the right temperature because [00:06:05] you want your body to be the correct temperature, um, with the room so that we're not getting false [00:06:10] readings. And so I'm just skilled in making sure we don't get any false readings and how the camera should be [00:06:15] set up. Bree Allred: So what would you say that thermography does not tell us? Thermography Shayla Shearer: is not a [00:06:20] structural, um, e- exam or test. So it's not like an ultrasound or a, or a [00:06:25] mammogram that's looking at the structure. It's looking at the physiology. So it's looking at how well your body is working [00:06:30] and, and the, a proper amount of heat it is giving off. So it, it doesn't look at structural things. [00:06:35] It's not like an X-ray. I can't see your pelvis. I can't see [00:06:40] your, um, your ribs or anything, but I can see if it's abnormal heat pattern. Bree Allred: So it's not [00:06:45] really looking very, like a mammography, uh, or a mammogram would look like or [00:06:50] an ultrasound or an MRI. Um, it's doing a different type of imaging. Shayla Shearer: Yes, [00:06:55] and it, and it's really great. Um, one reason we have lots of people come get thermography is because a mammogram can't [00:07:00] always pick up on dense breast tissue. So if you are someone with dense breast tissue, thermography's a really [00:07:05] great option because it can show you what is normal and not normal going on there, versus it might just be [00:07:10] hard to get an accurate reading. Bree Allred: So breast thermography is probably what most women, right, are [00:07:15] associating thermography with. What do changes in, like, breast temperature typically [00:07:20] indicate? Shayla Shearer: Yeah, so changes in breast temperature, like if it's cooler or hotter in different areas, it can, it can [00:07:25] signify, hey, there might be something growing here. Hey, your lymph nodes might be, um, clogged and you might need some [00:07:30] lymph drainage. You, you might wanna get this checked out for a cyst or obviously breast cancer, which is what it's, like, [00:07:35] most known for. And I'm not gonna be able to say, "Hey, yes, look, you have breast cancer," like based on this scan, but [00:07:40] I am gonna be able to say, "Hey, this is an abnormal reading for a breast and it is not looking the [00:07:45] same as your right. Your right and left are not looking the same." So this is something that we would wanna get checked out [00:07:50] preventatively, especially if it's minor, you wanna get that checked out really quickly. Um, and [00:07:55] that's also why a baseline when you, you are younger is really great to have with thermography 'cause like, hey, this is [00:08:00] what my normal healthy breast tissue looks like with, um- heat [00:08:05] pattern-wise, and then, hey, something's off now, so let- let's get this checked out. Let's go, let's go talk to [00:08:10] my doctor. Bree Allred: So you're basically saying this is a great baseline, but it's not gonna [00:08:15] replace a mammogram, right? Right. Um, and so when you start to see something [00:08:20] concerning, um, the client gets these readings back from the thermographist, [00:08:25] um, what would a woman do next? Shayla Shearer: So the first thing I would do is I would take your results. [00:08:30] You can take your, your imaging straight to your doctor. You can say, "Hey, this is something that was concerning." The [00:08:35] thermographist can also send different things over, or, or in our clinic where we d- we actually, where [00:08:40] I work and our, our, as a technician, our chiropractor in our office can even refer [00:08:45] out to those things. So if you wanted an ultrasound immediately after, we would be able to do that for you immediately after. [00:08:50] Um, but you can always go see your primary care doctor obviously, or your OBGYN or whoever is, [00:08:55] who's taking care of you at that point, um, your primary care doctor. Bree Allred: And then they can kind of start the more [00:09:00] diagnostic process to see how much it needs to be followed up on. Shayla Shearer: Yep. Bree Allred: How is [00:09:05] thermography accepted in the general medical world right now? Do you feel like doctors are [00:09:10] supporting its use? D- are they a little hesitant with it? What do you feel like the reception's [00:09:15] been overall with thermography within that medical system or that global [00:09:20] medical system? Shayla Shearer: I would say it's all over the place. Um, thermography has been around for thousands and thousands of [00:09:25] years. In fact, thermography first started when they would put clay on women's breasts to see if it [00:09:30] would dry faster. Like, it's been around for a really long time. Um, it [00:09:35] hasn't been widely accepted, I would say, in general, but there's quite a few doctors who will [00:09:40] refer out to this, and specifically like nurse practitioners or women health, health, the [00:09:45] women's health world or healthcare providers, they are, they're using it more and more. So we get quite a [00:09:50] few referrals from healthcare professionals here in Cache Valley. Bree Allred: Beyond the breasts, like, [00:09:55] what else do women ask about that you're doing maybe thermography scans on? What else might you be looking [00:10:00] for? Shayla Shearer: Yeah. Um, one of the biggest ones is thyroid, so thyroid function. So we- we'll do a scan of the [00:10:05] neck. We get a lot of thyroid, um, questions and a lot of thyroid health. And we also get a lot of pelvis, [00:10:10] um, lower torso, um, if, especially if they've previously had like ovarian cancer and they're just [00:10:15] wanting to look for things that are, is it, is it still looking how it did [00:10:20] after I had cancer? Is it, is there something new I should be worried about? Um, and then obviously [00:10:25] We get tons and tons of breast cancer survivors who are, who are just getting checkups, so. [00:10:30] Bree Allred: What kinds of patterns would you say that you typically see in women? Shayla Shearer: Oh, [00:10:35] I think that, that it's the things that all healthcare providers are seeing. We see a lot of, um... well, see a [00:10:40] lot of inflamma- inflammation because life is stressful. A lot of hormone dysregulation is a lot of things [00:10:45] people l- And I'm not saying we see these on thermography. I'm saying that we find these patterns, and then they go get [00:10:50] it checked out, and these are their results, is they have abnormal hormone patterns or premenopausal women [00:10:55] who their body's just changing, and they don't really know why or where to start looking first on what's going on.[00:11:00] Um, so we see a lot of that. Bree Allred: And it may show maybe some inflammation [00:11:05] more in the uterine area, and so you're like, "Okay, maybe you should go talk with your OBGYN [00:11:10] about things this way." Maybe an area to start looking. Shayla Shearer: Mm-hmm. Yeah, like, if they [00:11:15] have endometriosis symptoms, and then they also see it light up on a thermography scan, it's a good sign that they should [00:11:20] probably have that checked. Bree Allred: As women, I feel like we constantly hear the word inflammation, right? We [00:11:25] tend to be Higher stress beating beans. We have higher cortisol, which we [00:11:30] carry more inflammation in our bodies. I think that's why a lot of women are at higher risk for, like, autoimmune conditions [00:11:35] and things along those lines. Um, can thermography actually [00:11:40] see inflammation, or would you say that's an oversimplification? Shayla Shearer: I would [00:11:45] say that it's really easy to see when the whole body lights up, that there's a lot of color going on. [00:11:50] Um, I can't... We can't verify that it's inflammation. A blood test or your doctor or different [00:11:55] things like that would have to do it. But it, like, as a someone who has seen a lot of [00:12:00] scans and has done a lot of training, like, it's definitely pretty apparent when you're pretty sure it's, [00:12:05] it's inflammation and that they need to find sort of, some sort of lifestyle change to [00:12:10] help, help reduce that. Bree Allred: Do you notice areas of, like, if there's somebody that has muscular [00:12:15] tension or an injury in their muscles, can you see that? Shayla Shearer: Yeah. Yeah. Um, injuries typically [00:12:20] light up either cold or hot. It just depends on what kind of injury it was and what kind of, what happened. [00:12:25] Um, but yeah, they- they'll, they'll show right up. So obviously in your intake paperwork we always are [00:12:30] like, "What do you know recently happened?" And versus, "What are we looking at that you might not even known what was [00:12:35] going on?" Bree Allred: Tell us a little bit as far as, like, what you see maybe in a woman going through hormonal [00:12:40] changes. Um, we kind of talked a little bit about maybe some endometriosis. We may see some different [00:12:45] changes in, in those thermal patterns in the, the pelvis. But let's talk a little bit [00:12:50] about, like, what would you see if somebody's struggling with hormone changes or perimenopause/menopausal timeframes? [00:12:55] Shayla Shearer: So a great example of this would be, like, a hot flash, right? You're going through perimenopause, you have hot flashes. Uh, that obviously [00:13:00] is a temperature re- regulated thing, right? So where is that coming from? Why are you, why are you getting these, these [00:13:05] hot flashes? Also hormones obviously, um, different things like if things are working in [00:13:10] overdrive because you're lacking a hormone or you have too much of a hormone, like that's gonna, that's gonna increase, um, [00:13:15] different, uh, temperatures in different parts of your body. The, um, other [00:13:20] thing, metabolism. Like, obviously when they're going through those things, their metabolism is sometimes hindered or [00:13:25] different things like that as things are changing. And so we'll see, we'll see, um, also temperature [00:13:30] changes es- Because of that. Bree Allred: Somebody has decided, they're like, "Okay, I'm on board. I wanna get a [00:13:35] baseline thermog- thermogram." Walk me through what would an appointment look like for somebody from the [00:13:40] moment-- Like, I'm coming to see you. From the moment I walk through the door, what is that gonna look like? Shayla Shearer: It starts before you [00:13:45] walk through the door. So 24 hours before, we wanna make sure you're not having caffeine, 'cause [00:13:50] again, that, that can spike different things. So you don't wanna be drinking any caffeine. You don't wanna be drinking any hot [00:13:55] drinks like coffee right before you come, because obviously that, that impacts your, your temperature. We [00:14:00] also don't want like, um, sitting on a seat warmer on your way to your appointment. That totally throws [00:14:05] things off. We don't want you wearing a bra for four hours before. There's things like that. And [00:14:10] so we will send you a list of things that we wanna make sure you don't do, or you [00:14:15] do do before you, you show up to our office. But once you're here, we'll take you back to our thermography [00:14:20] room. It's totally private. This is one of the best parts about thermography is it's non-invasive. I'm not [00:14:25] going to touch you. You're not gonna have a machine touch you. You're not gonna be squished [00:14:30] or prodded or pulled on. Um, and so I'll take you back to the room. We will shut, shut [00:14:35] the c- the curtain so that you're completely private by yourself in a room, and we'll have you undress, [00:14:40] um, depending on what kind of thermography you do. We, we do breasts, so then you'd only [00:14:45] undress from the, obviously the waist up. We do full body where you would be completely [00:14:50] nude, or we, um, also just do torso, so like when we're looking at your abdomen and [00:14:55] different things like that, so then that would again be from the waist up. So we'll undress you to your appropriate [00:15:00] scan type, and then we have you acclimate to the room for 15 minutes. And [00:15:05] everyone, this is the worst part for everyone, because you have to just stand there for 15 minutes. But don't worry, we'll [00:15:10] talk to you. We won't make it awkward. We will make it as entertaining as possible. But, [00:15:15] so you'll acclimate for 15 minutes, um, and once that is done, then we will [00:15:20] position you. And there's not very many, um, positions we actually have to put you in. So if you had like a breast [00:15:25] thermography, it's probably about six images, so it's pretty quick. After that, like maybe five minutes. [00:15:30] Super fast. If you're doing a full body, it could be up to 10, 15 minutes, depending on how easy it is for [00:15:35] you to move into all the different positions and things like that. Um, and then once [00:15:40] that's done, you just get dressed, and it would be like seven to 10 days for you to get your results back, just like [00:15:45] most tests. Takes a couple, a couple days. And then once that's back, then you will, you [00:15:50] would have a meeting. And w- with us, it's virtually. You'd have it virtually with a thermographist, and they would [00:15:55] just go over all your scans with you, answer all your questions, get you the referrals that you needed. [00:16:00] Or if you prefer to be seen in person, our doctors here in our office are actually, um, [00:16:05] trained to be able to look over th- look over those after they get the thermography report from [00:16:10] the doctor. So they'll get the thermographist's report, and then they can go over it with you. Bree Allred: If something [00:16:15] unexpected shows up in those reports, then it's more just, okay, here's the next steps and letting you know where [00:16:20] to go Shayla Shearer: Yep, yep, or everything looks great. This is a really good baseline. Um, [00:16:25] for breast health they recommend every six months to come back and s- be seen. Um, if everything's looking really [00:16:30] good, they might recommend a year. Bree Allred: So let's talk about some misconceptions with [00:16:35] thermography. Um, does it expose you to radiation? Shayla Shearer: It does not. That is one of the biggest [00:16:40] benefits of thermography, no radiation. Bree Allred: Can you have a therm- like a thermogram while you're [00:16:45] pregnant? Shayla Shearer: Yes, you can. It's safe for pregnancy. Bree Allred: Um, can you have it while you're breastfeeding? Shayla Shearer: Yes, you can have it when you're [00:16:50] breastfeeding. Um, it does- thermography doesn't put any on- thing onto you or in you. Like, it's only reading [00:16:55] things off of you, so there's no output with thermography. Bree Allred: So I'm a breast cancer survivor, and I did have a [00:17:00] reconstruction and I have breast implants. Um, would that affect my reading? Shayla Shearer: It would affect your [00:17:05] reading, but it wouldn't mean that you would be disqualified. So it would just impact what they see and what they don't [00:17:10] see and, and obviously how much heat comes off of an implant. Bree Allred: So generally speaking, [00:17:15] um, who would you recommend get a thermogram? Shayla Shearer: I think that [00:17:20] all women should get one from the age 18 up. Uh, you should at least get a baseline so that you can follow up later [00:17:25] in life. So if you come in and get a baseline, um, when you're feeling good or you don't think that there's [00:17:30] anything you should be concerned about, that would give you a really solid baseline. But if you are unable to, you already have [00:17:35] concerns, like that is great too. Come and get a thermography scan and see what you should be watching [00:17:40] or what is abnormal, because a lot of us have no idea what's abnormal going on in our body [00:17:45] until the symptoms are life-changing or ability- or affecting your day-to-day [00:17:50] life. Bree Allred: And then how often would you say people typically repeat the imaging?[00:17:55] Shayla Shearer: If they have already had, um, a cancer, they will repeat every, every six months is [00:18:00] what we'll see. If they are doing really healthy and they just want a baseline, they just wanna make sure that they're [00:18:05] continually doing well, or if they have had, um, family history, uh, a, [00:18:10] six months to a year is the most common. We don't usually see bigger gaps between scans than that. [00:18:15] People usually like to do it every six months or every year. Bree Allred: Would you say there are women [00:18:20] who a thermogram really isn't useful for? Shayla Shearer: Hmm. No, I wouldn't say. I would say that it [00:18:25] would work for almost anyone because your body puts off temperatures. Even if you've had like a breast reconstruction, I [00:18:30] still think that it's good to see the tissue surrounding that and, and h- how that's impacting the [00:18:35] rest of your body, even with the reconstruction. Um, but also like breast [00:18:40] thermography isn't all we do, so there's other parts of your body. So I would say it's good for anyone just because there's no [00:18:45] radiation and it, I mean, it's not gonna harm you regardless. Bree Allred: What is one [00:18:50] situation where you would immediately tell somebody, like, "Don't get a thermogram," like, "Go directly [00:18:55] to your physician"? Shayla Shearer: If they already had a positive test of some sort and they weren't wanting to, to [00:19:00] go do the things that their physician had said, then I would be hesitant to, [00:19:05] um- To just accept them immediately. I would mark [00:19:10] them, and if they, they, they pushed and they wanted a thermography exam even though I knew that they needed [00:19:15] an ultrasound, they needed a mammogram, they needed something different, um, I mean, I would still do it, but I [00:19:20] would mark it urgent, um, on my ther- thermographist's report because then they would get to it [00:19:25] really fast and the, the thermographist themself would be like, "You really need to do X, Y, and Z," as another, [00:19:30] another voice of reason. Bree Allred: One thing we're really passionate about at Aylara is [00:19:35] helping women become more curious about their bodies instead of simply just accepting common [00:19:40] symptoms or certain symptoms as normal. Um, so how can thermography [00:19:45] potentially contribute to that bigger picture of just understanding your own body? Shayla Shearer: [00:19:50] Something that we hear all the time is, "I just feel like I'm crazy," or, [00:19:55] "I, I-- something is wrong, but I don't know what it is. I just f- like..." And, and [00:20:00] women, we're, we're hard on ourselves, right? We, we are always like, "I need to put [00:20:05] everyone else first. Different things need to come first. I just am feeling slightly off." Um, but [00:20:10] getting the preventative health, whether it's at Aylara or, or with a thermography scan, scan, [00:20:15] is really important for women. Like, you, you deserve to not live [00:20:20] and d- deal with things that are common but not normal. Bree Allred: With your, uh, [00:20:25] thermography tech, um, lens a little bit, like, what would you, [00:20:30] what would you want every woman to know? Shayla Shearer: that you matter, um, and that you're [00:20:35] important, and that there are things that we don't know, and if with preventative [00:20:40] healthcare you can prevent lifelong changes like p- detecting, um, breast [00:20:45] cancer early on can change your life, and detecting thyroid problems early on can change your [00:20:50] outlook on your everyday life. And being able to take care of yourself and put yourself first is really [00:20:55] important, and we don't do that enough as women. Bree Allred: I agree. And I love just going back to that last [00:21:00] thing where it's like we know our bodies, right? And we know when something's wrong, and sometimes [00:21:05] we need to look outside of the typical proverbial box to find what's going on. And I [00:21:10] think this could be a great tool for a lot of women to be able to see like, hey, [00:21:15] here's, do you know what I mean, some patches that are asymmetrical or that's showing up maybe atypical from what [00:21:20] we normally see, and can give us a place to start maybe knowing where to look for why we're [00:21:25] feeling off. So if you had a woman that was listening and wondering like, "Should I [00:21:30] try thermography," uh, what would you tell her? Shayla Shearer: I would tell her, "Yes, absolutely [00:21:35] try thermography," because thermography can give you, give you that bas- baseline and that peace of mind. [00:21:40] A lot of women are scared of what they're gonna see on scan results regardless of what kind of [00:21:45] test is done, but, um, like preventative medicine is, [00:21:50] is life-changing, so. Bree Allred: So at Aylara, our goal is not to convince [00:21:55] women that one treatment, test, or provider has every answer. Um, [00:22:00] it's really all about understanding your body, knowing what your normals are, [00:22:05] and challenging the status quo when you know that something's not right, and [00:22:10] looking at, for resources and options that you can do to help you [00:22:15] find why you're feeling the way that you're feeling, 'cause we are very intuitive beings, [00:22:20] and I really believe that we, um, that we know and we need to trust that [00:22:25] instinct. So, um, Shayla, tell me a little bit more about where our guests can [00:22:30] find you guys and learn about your services. Where can they find you? Shayla Shearer: So Cache Valley [00:22:35] Thermography, we're on Instagram and Facebook. Um, we're located in North Logan, Utah, and [00:22:40] we are inside of Ideal Family Chiropractic. We have our own space though so we're away from [00:22:45] everyone else, which is really nice. Um, and you can reach out to us there or you can reach out to [00:22:50] us on the Ideal Family Chiropractic website. There we have a whole thermography page under them. Bree Allred: So [00:22:55] great. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I think this was a great conversation, um, [00:23:00] and I hope that this educates women on another resource that we have, and that maybe we [00:23:05] don't think about that's typical that's maybe in that alternative region for, or, [00:23:10] um, uh, just alternative care I guess that maybe people haven't heard of. So [00:23:15] we appreciate your time today. Thanks everyone for joining us at, uh, Healing at Your Core, and [00:23:20] please look in the show notes if you're interested in looking into thermography. ​[00:23:25] [00:23:30] [00:23:35] [00:23:40] [00:23:45]

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