Breast Self-Examination

Doctors recommend that women start to practice breast self-examination after their first menstrual period, and continue the habit monthly throughout their lives. Most doctors want their patients to learn the technique and will take the time to teach it, or will ask a nurse or physician's assistant to do so. Although breast cancer is rare in women under 30, it is useful for a woman to examine her breasts consistently throughout her life, since there are benign conditions that can occur at any age.

The best time to examine your breasts is about a week after your period. You should examine them monthly, at the same time each month, since the breasts change during the menstrual cycle. Postmenopausal women and others whose periods are irregular should choose one day in the month for breast examination and do their examinations on the same day each month.

Breast self-examination should be done when you are relaxed and not rushed or distracted. The examination begins with inspection and palpation, or feeling. To begin the inspection portion, stand in front of a well-lighted mirror and let your arms hang at your sides. Note shape, depressions or bulges, moles, dimples, dark or reddened areas, swellings, sores, or skin with a rough or orange peel-like texture as well as prominent veins. Observe nipples and areola color changes, scaling, dimpling, or retractions, as well as the direction in which the nipples point. Then repeat the inspection with hands pressing on hips (to make the pectoral muscles bulge in the chest, see figure 9.24) and with hands raised (figure 9.25), placed behind your head, and elbows flexed. Then with one hand behind your head, use the other to examine your breast (figure 9.26). This step can also be done in the shower, with the breast soaped to make it easier to examine. The second part of the breast self-examination is most easily performed in the shower or lying on a couch or bed. Each arm should be raised and the breast felt with the other hand, then examined with the arm at the side (figure 9.27). The breast should be felt gently and systematically with the flat of the fingers of the opposite hand. The goal is to know the individual and unique feel of your breasts so that you can recognize any changes early in their development.

 

Breast Self-Examination.(Cancers Common to Women)

Article from: The Columbia Univ. Coll. of Physicians & Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide