Breast cancer self-examination

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor, but there are no obvious symptoms at the beginning. You may just feel breast pain occasionally, but the pain is not very intense. Therefore, many people do not pay much attention to this problem, which will only make their condition worse. In this case, you need to do a self-examination and observe the changes in your breast area.

The best time to do a breast cancer self-examination is one week after the end of menstruation, because before or during menstruation, due to physiological congestion of the breast, alveolar hyperplasia, duct dilatation and other tissue changes, the breast tissue will become thickened, affecting the examination results. If you have irregular menstrual cycles, it is best to do a self-examination at the same time each month.

1. Inspection

Take off your shirt in front of an upright mirror and visually examine both breasts facing the mirror under bright light, comparing whether the breasts are symmetrical and paying attention to any size or abnormal changes in appearance. The abnormal signs mainly include: axillary nipple discharge, nipple retraction, skin wrinkling, dimple sign, skin desquamation and abnormal changes in breast contour.

2. Touch check

Lift up your left upper limb and use the three fingers of your right hand (index finger, middle finger, and ring finger) to slowly, steadily, and carefully touch the breast. Move forward or backward gradually to check the left breast, starting from the outside of the breast and moving at least three times until the nipple. Inspection in an up-down or radial direction may also be used, but care should be taken not to miss any part. At the same time, check for enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit. Finally, gently squeeze the nipple between your thumb and index finger to observe for nipple discharge. If you notice cloudy, yellowish or bloody discharge, seek medical attention immediately.

Check the right breast in the same way as above.

3. Supine examination

When the patient is lying flat on the back for examination, the upper limb to be tested should be raised above the head and placed on a pillow or a folded towel should be placed under the shoulder to be tested. The purpose of this position is to flatten the breast and make it easier to examine, using the same method as palpation.

The earlier breast cancer is detected, the more likely it is to be cured. Do a monthly breast self-examination. If you find any abnormalities, you should go to a specialist hospital for further professional examination in time to achieve early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. [3]