HOW TO DO A BREAST SELF EXAM

It is important for women, beginning from their 20s to learn how to do
a breast self exam(BSE) and more importantly to learn how to do it
correctly. Women need to be properly acquainted with their breasts, to
learn how they look and feel normally so that any abnormalities can be
detected early and proper medical help sought.

The best time to do a BSE is 3-5 days after your period because at
this time, your breasts are not so tender and lumpy.

There are basically 5 steps to doing a BSE and they are as follows:

Step 1

- Undress from the waist up and stand in front of a mirror, with your
shoulders straight and both hands on your waist, look at your breasts.
Check for their normal size, shape and colour, Your breasts should be
evenly shaped without any distortion to the normal outline of the
breast.

- If you see any of the following, go and see your doctor

Any dimpling, puckering of the skin

Any change in the position of the nipple or a nipple that is inverted(
that is, now directed inwards as opposed to the normal outward
position.

Step 2

- Next, raise both arms above our head and look out for the same changes.

Step 3;

- Lie down and examine your breasts. To examine your right breast, put
your right hand under your head and use your left hand to examine the
right breast. Lying down helps to spread out the breast tissue evenly.

- Then using the first three fingers, place them flat on the breasts,
not the tips . starting from the outer part of the breast move in
small concentric circles inwards, using a circular motion. Examine up
to the collarbone. Then from the upper outer quadrant, feel the breast
tissue that extends into the axilla(armpit). Examine downwards until
you feel only your ribs and towards your midline until your breast
bone is felt.

- Three different levels of pressure are used while examining the
breast. .light pressure to feel the tissue closest to the skin, medium
pressure to feel a little deeper and firm pressure to feel the tissue
closest to the ribs.

- Note any areas of pain or lumps of any nature.

- Finally squeeze the nipple between your thumb and first finger. Note
any discharge.

Step 4:

Examine your left breast. To do this, put your left hand beneath your
head and using your right hand, examine the breast as above.

Step 5:

While standing or sitting, examine your breasts as above. This step
can be while taking a shower also so lack of time is not an excuse.

Remember early detection is key to beating cancer. Until next post,
stay alive, stay healthy!

From MyDoctorAndI