Women’s Health: Breast Cancer Prevention

The American Cancer Society recommends that all women should do monthly breast self-examination according to the following guidelines:

• Women aged 40 and older should have a screening mammogram once a year.
• Between the ages of 20 and 30, women should have a clinical breast examination by a health professional every 3 years.
• After age 40, women should have a breast exam by a health professional every year.
• Beginning at age 20, women should perform breast self-examination (BSE) on a systematic monthly schedule. By doing the exam regularly, you get to know how your breasts normally feel, allowing you to more readily detect any changes. A change might be the development of a lump or swelling, skin irritation or dimpling, nipple pain or retraction (turning inward), unusual redness of the nipple or breast skin, or a discharge other than breast milk.  If you detect changes, see your care provider as soon as possible for evaluation. It is important to remember, however, that most breast changes do not prove to be cancer.

Breast Self-exam

1. With a pillow under your right shoulder, lie down with your right arm behind your head.
2. Feel for lumps or thickening using the finger pads of the three middle fingers on your left hand. Your finger pads are the top third of each finger.
3. Press firmly enough to know how your breast feels. If you’re not sure how much pressure to use, ask your health care provider or duplicate the way your health care provider presses the finger pads during a breast exam. Learn how your breasts normally feel.  A firm ridge in the lower curve of each breast is considered normal.
4. Move around the breast in a standard way. You can choose to use a circular direction, up and down lines, or a wedge .Use the same pattern every time; it will help assure that you’ve gone over the entire breast area and help you remember how your breast feels. In addition, you should check your breasts while standing in front of a mirror right after you do the breast exam each month. Look for any changes in the way your breasts look, such as dimpling of the skin, changes in the nipple, redness or swelling.  Some women also like to do a breast self-exam while in the shower, as their soapy hands glide easily over the wet skin.
5. Repeat the examination on your left breast, using the right hand’s finger pads.
6. If you detect any changes, see your doctor immediately.