10 Steps To Do Self Breast Exam!

Every woman should know about the benefits and limitations of breast self-examination.

It is essential to know how your breasts normally look and feel.

Don’t forget to report to your health care professions, if you observe any new breast changes.

Identifying a breast changes doesn’t necessarily mean there is a cancer.

You can easily recognize changes of your breasts:

• If you know how your breasts normally look and feel


• If you have proper breast awareness


• If you make a step-by-step approach for breast self-exam


• If you use a specific schedule for examining your breasts
  

It is best to exam your breasts if they are not tender or swollen. Women who want to do breast self-examination should know the technique during the periodic health exams by your health care provider.

Women who had breast implantation can also do breast self examination. With the help of your practitioner, identify the edges of implants so that you can easily identify what you are feeling. Pregnant or breast-feeding women can also choose self examination of breasts.
Step-by-step approach for breast self-examination:

1. Breast examination can be performed while you are lying down. Lie down on your back by placing your right arm behind the head. While lying down, your breast tissues spread evenly across the chest area and is very thin thus making it easy to feel all the breast tissues.


2. Use left hand to test your right breast. With the helps of finger pads of your three middle fingers, feel for any lumps in your breast. Moving the fingers in circular motion can make it easy to fell all the breast tissues.


3. You need to apply pressure of three different levels. Apply light pressure in order to feel the tissues closer to your skin. Use medium pressure to feel the tissues little deeper and rigid pressure to feel the tissues very closer to ribs and chest.


4. At the lower curve of each breast, you may feel a firm ridge. But, no need to worry, it is normal. Apart from this, if you find anything else, make sure that you tell your doctor.


5. If you can not apply the pressure properly and unable to check your breast, ask your doctor or nurse for suggestions. Make sure that you apply each pressure level properly.


6. Move the hand around your breast in an up and down pattern starting at an imaginary line drawn straight down your side from the underarm and moving across the breast to the middle of the chest bone. Make sure that you check total breast region until you identify only ribs and up to the neck or collarbone.


7. Research proved that up-and-down pattern can be the most popular choice to test your entire breast and to not to miss any tissue.


8. Use the same procedure to test your left breast with right hand finger pads and keeping left hand behind your head.


9. You can also test your breast while standing. Stand in front of the mirror by pressing your hands hardly down on the hips. Then observe the shape, size, dimpling or contour, scaliness, or redness of the nipples or breast skin.


10. Also, you can exam your underarms when you are sitting up or standing. Raise the arm slightly so that you can easily feel the area. If you raise your arm straight, the tissues of the region become tight and it is harder to examine.
    

These steps can greatly help you for breast self examination. Applying the properly and regularly can increase your ability to detect the abnormal areas of the breast. Early detection breast abnormalities can reduce the risk of breast cancer.