Your guide for self-examination of the breasts - Why? Because the self-examination is essential in a woman’s health because it allows an early detection of any cancer. The specialists teach us how we can examine our breasts. If it is diagnosed in an early stage (stage I), the breast cancer is curable, often without sacrificing the breast. The problem is how to diagnose it in such a phase, when it does not hurt and does not create any discomfort.

That is why the self-examination of the breasts remains the hand method, thru which the woman can detect some alarm signals, in which case she should go to the doctor urgently because and I said before, the disease can be cured if it is diagnosed in an early stage.

When? The self-examination of the breasts must be made once with the advent of the first menstruation of the life of a young woman. The doctors are drawing our attention to: The structure of the mammary gland varies both with age and the menstrual cycle. That is why it is so important that this regularly (monthly) self-examination of the breasts to be made at the fifth day from the menstruation debut, when the volume of the mammary glands is minimal and facilitates the detection of a suspect node.

The self-examination of the breasts involves several simple steps.
1. Sit in front of a mirror with your naked bust. Lift your arm overhead, the opposite arm of the breast that you want to examine. (The main alarm is the presence of a 1 cm nodule in the mammary gland structure. If it is larger the 1 cm, we can’t talk about cancer, and if it’s smaller it can’t be detected only thru mammography). For this, the breast won’t be palpated between two fingers but it must be pressed with your fingertips, performing small circular movements. Start the examination from outside and do not apply excessive pressure on the breast, but either not that soft because in this case you can omit the deep areas of the mammary gland. Make sure you use the same circular movements around the whole breast.

2. Then continue with palpation in the same way but this time between the armpit and breast area to observe any size changes of the glands from the armpits.

3. Look carefully and see if there are changes at the surface, changes of the skin color or blood vessels.
4. Search any breast lesions and ulcers, growths, position changes or shape of the nipple, changes of the breast size or symmetry.

5. See a possible nipple leakage or bleeding. Remember if you had somehow any leakage that colored your clothes or your bra.
6. Get down the arm that you have high and let it hang around your body. Repeat the palpation of the breast in this position.