Most of us are aware that the chance of surviving breast cancer increases with early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. A proven method for early detection is self-breast examination. You may have heard about this term before, but you may not know how exactly to examine your breasts. If you would like to know, you have reached the right page. But before we begin, let us understand a little more about self-breast examination.
What Is a Self-Breast examination?
Self-breast examination is a way to thoroughly inspect your breast for changes, like lumps, thickenings, or discolorations. You will need to observe and feel both the breasts. If you feel something is unusual, you should visit a doctor. Many times, these changes in the breast are not cancer, but to be on the safer side, you should see your doctor to find out.
This method is a convenient, no-cost tool that can be used regularly at any age. All women should regularly perform self-breast examination as a part of their cancer screening strategy.
Steps to examine your breasts
There are different steps to examine your breasts; they are discussed below.
Step 1: Standing in front of the mirror
For this exam, remove all your clothes from the waist above and stand in front of the mirror. Keep your arms and shoulders relaxed and look at both your breasts in the mirror. Observe if:
- Breasts have their usual size, shape, and color
- Breasts are evenly shaped, without any visible distortion or swelling
- There is any dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
- The nipple has changed the position or is inverted
- There is any redness, soreness, rash, or swelling.
Now, raise your hands and check for these abnormalities on your breast and armpits. Place your hands on your hips, tighten your chest muscles and see if there are any skin changes.
Step 2: Examining manually in the shower
In the shower, raise your right hand above the head or place it at the back of your head. Use the pads of your three middle fingers of your left hand, not the tips, and move them in one of the following directions on your right breast:
- Circular motion, clockwise and anticlockwise, in an increasing spiral from the nipple towards the armpit.
- Radial motion from the nipple towards the armpit.
- Vertical motion, up and down in the entire breast region.
You can slightly squeeze your nipple to check for any secretions. Now, repeat the same with your left hand above the head, your right hand used to examine your left breast.
Step 3: Examining while lying down
Without any clothes from the waist above, lie down facing the roof with a pillow under your right shoulder. You can examine your right breast with your left hand in a similar way mentioned in Step 2. Repeat the same on the opposite breast with your other hand. Make a note of any changes felt.
If you find any unusual changes in your breasts, reach out to your doctor for further evaluation. If your doctor agrees that these changes can be suggestive of breast cancer, other diagnostic tests may be performed.
About #PinkSelfCheckChain
#PinkSelfCheckChain is an initiative by Dr. Pragnya to bring awareness among women about the importance of self-breast examination and walk a step towards early diagnosis of breast cancer. You can visit https://www.drpragnya.com/pinkselfcheckchain/ to learn more about self-breast examination and take an oath that you would examine yourself regularly.
References:
- Breast Self-Exam. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/3990-breast-self-exam. Accessed on 2nd February, 2022.
- Breast Self-Exam. Breast Cancer.org. https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam. Accessed on 2nd February, 2022.
- Breast Self-exam for breast awareness. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/breast-exam/about/pac-20393237. Accessed on 2nd February, 2022.
- Should You Do a Breast Self-Exam? Web MD. https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/breast-self-exam. Accessed on 2nd February, 2022.