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Breast cancer awareness is not just for October. You should be checking your breasts for changes every month. We’ll help you take the confusion out of doing your breast self-examinations. BSE, your first line of defense against breast cancer.
Once you start doing regular breast self-examinations, you’ll become familiar with how your breasts normally feel, and you’ll be able to notice any changes that may occur.
Breasts often feel lumpy because of fibrous and fatty tissue, milk glands, and ducts. Fifty to 60% of the lumps you may feel are harmless, such as a fluid-filled cyst that you can move around, which will feel like a mini water balloon, with some give to it. This cyst may change size during your menstrual cycle. A build-up of fibrous tissue may also feel like a hard lump that is moveable. There are also pseudo-lumps, which could be scar tissue from a breast surgery, a dead fat deposit, a rib pressing into the breast tissue, or hardened silicone from a breast implant.
Cancerous lumps are oddly shaped, not round. They can feel bumpy like a golf ball and very hard or firm like a slice of carrot. They will not move, but the tissue around them may. A clinical exam and mammogram can tell if the lump is cancerous. 80% of breast lumps turn out to be non-cancerous.
All women over the age of 20 should be doing monthly breast self-examinations, and it only takes 15 minutes. The best time to examine your breasts is at the end of your menstrual cycle, when breasts are not as tender. If you no longer have a menstrual cycle, do your exam the same day every month.
If you are nursing, do your exam after your breasts are empty.
The breast self-examination is done by seeing, and feeling. The first part of your BSE is seeing. Check your breasts by standing in front of a full-length mirror. Become familiar with how your breasts normally look with your arms down at your sides, raised over your head, and from the side. It’s normal for one breast to be larger than the other.
You should be looking for changes in shape, a flattening, dimpling, or bulging of the breast, a texture change to the skin – including a white scale-like appearance or orange peel skin – a hard knot which can be smaller than a pea, tenderness or soreness, color changes, moles, rashes or skin irritations, and nipple changes – such as a change in position, an inverted nipple, or any discharge. The discharge may include blood, or may be watery, milky, or yellow.
You should also check for changes by pressing your hands into your hips and tightening up the muscles around your chest.
Then bend forward at the waist with your arms relaxed at your sides. These positions help you notice any dimples or puckering, which could possibly be a tumor pulling on the breast tissue.
The second part of your BSE is “feeling.” Check your breasts, both lying down and standing up. Pause the video here, and grab a pillow for this part of the exam. While lying down, place a pillow under your shoulder and place your hand under your head. This extends the breast tissue, allowing you to examine all of the breast area, from your collarbone to under your bra line and your armpit area.
Use the pads of your three middle fingers to feel your breast. Using a smooth touch, vary the pressure from soft to firm, so you can feel from shallow to deep into the tissues. Examine the entire area with a circular motion the size of a dime. Repeat this technique under your armpit as well. Gently squeeze your nipple to check for any discharge. Now repeat this process with your other breast.
There are three different methods of checking your breasts. Choose the one that you’re most comfortable with:
- The circular method. Starting with your nipple, work outward in a spiral, checking the entire breast and armpit area.
- The line method. Starting in the armpit area, move your fingers down to below your breast to the bra line, then over to the width of your fingers, and back up to your neckline. Continue working up and down, checking the entire breast area to the center of your ribcage.
- Or the wedge method. Starting at the outside edge of your breast, work towards your nipple. Like slicing a pizza, you’re checking one slice at a time until the entire area has been covered. Then check your armpit area.
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After you’ve checked both of your breasts while lying down, repeat using one of these methods while standing. Some feel it’s easiest to do this while in the shower.
If you think you feel something, or you’re not sure that what you’re feeling is normal, see your doctor for a more complete examination. During your visit, your doctor may ask you the following questions:
- When and how did you first notice the lump?
- Do you have any pain, nipple discharge, or fever?
- Do you check your breasts regularly and is this lump a recent change?
- Have you had any type of injury to your breast?
- Are you taking any hormones, medications or supplements?
You should begin having annual mammograms at age 40, or earlier if recommended by your doctor. Mammograms are effective at discovering lumps. On average, a mammogram will detect a lump 1 to 3 years before it can be felt.
Approximately 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Don’t be a statistic. Check your breasts regularly and schedule your annual mammogram.
