Breast Self Exams

The American Cancer Society has recently updated its instructions for monthly breast self-exams to reflect new scientific data.

Follow these steps to perform your own breast self-exam:

Lie down to perform the exam. When you’re lying on your back, the breast tissue spreads evenly over the chest wall and becomes as thin as possible. This makes it easier to feel all of the breast.

Move across the breast in an up-and-down pattern. There’s evidence that this is the most effective technique for covering the entire breast.

Use different levels of pressure; light to examine breast tissue closest to your skin, medium to feel a little deeper, and firm to reach the tissue closest to your rib. A firm ridge in the lower curve of each breast is normal.

Sit or stand and slightly raise your arm to probe the underarm area. Go deep into the armpit.

Check your breasts at the same time every month to increase your chances of finding any lump that shouldn’t be there.

A great resource for breast cancer questions and answers is http://www.komen.org.

The earlier breast cancer is detected, the better chance we have of beating it.

Please feel free to leave a comment or discuss this on our message board.