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There are warning signs of breast cancer. Your best way to fight breast cancer is detect it early. You can do this at home through a self breast exam. Women who do this exam at home have been able to find 90 percent of all breast masses that have occured!
Breast self examination should not be done instead of a mammography or an examination by your doctor when recommended. Women still need to have a doctor’s breast examination once a year beginning in their early 20’s. And women who are older than 50 need to have a mammogram once a year. Every other month of the year you can
protect yourself by doing your own breast exam.
Each breast normally has a lumpy, fiberous feeling and you should be aware of. You need to memorize its normal shape and feel. Any noticeable and continual change in the, breast would be a warning sign to you to get a further evaluation by a doctor. I say noticeable and continual change, because breast tissue does change through out the breast cycle each month due to releasing hormones. The best time to do a breast exam is in the first few days after the period ends. This time of the month the hormones that spur on the female reproductive system, are relatively quiet.
The first step in doing your own breast exam is to lie down on your bed. Raise one of your arms over your head. Using your fingers of your other hand start at the nipple and massage / press in a circular manner. Your fingers should be flattened, do not use the tips because you will not be able to feel as many lumps. Continue circling the nipple and outward covering the entire breast and up under the armpit. More than 70 percent of all breast cancer lumps are found in the outer armpit region. Feel for any lumps or feelings of soarness. After you are done with this breast, switch to other one. Raise your arm above your head and use the opposite hand. If you want to be extra thorough it is recommended that you also massage the breast in a row like fashion, starting on the outside going up then down all the way across. A few things to look for when doing your exam are; lumps, thickening of the tissue, dimpling and pulling of the skin.
The next step in your breast exam is a visual exam. Stand in a well lighted room in front of a mirror. Put both hands on your hips, then raise both hands above your head. Look to see if both breasts are of equal size and shape like they would normally be. Some women do have one breast that is larger and this is normal; you are looking for any changes or differences from last month. Look for any pulling or dimpling that is out of the ordinary. Also look to see for changes in the color of the nipple or skin on the breast. Now squeeze the nipple to see if there is any discharge. Some women have a discharge from their nipple if they have breast fed their babies and this is normal. It will look yellow like colostrum. If there is any real pain on squeezing the nipple or unordinary discharge get it checked out by a doctor.
It is also recommended that you do the entire massage portion of the exam in the shower again. While you are standing or sitting in the shower raise one arm over your head and use your other hand to massage the breast in either a circular or up and down pattern to detect any lumps. The wetness of your skin will enhance the sense of touch and will enable you to detect differences more easily. Also changing from a laying down to an upright position will change the position of the breasts and you might detect something you would not have otherwise.
If you detect a lump it could be a benign lump, a fibroid mass or a cyst. In the worst case scenario it could be a cancerous melanoma. Some of the other symptoms you may have are pain or no pain, nipple discharge, red or itching nipple and a swelling red spot on the breast. You could also detect swollen lymph nodes in the arm pits, above the collar bone or near the breast bone. If you detect any of these symptoms see your doctor soon for an evaluation.
Each year 180,000 women get breast cancer, this is an increase of over 50 percent of the women who were developing breast cancer before 1950. The chances of developing breast cancer increases with age. But, don’t think that you don’t have to worry if you are younger than 40, because more and more young women are also developing breast cancer than ever before. Be vigilant in your breast exams and you will have greater peace of mind. Early detection methods of detecting breast cancer has improved survival rates tremendously. Even with the amount of women developing breast cancer increasing, the amount of women who actually die of breast cancer these days is decreasing due to early detection and better treatment methods.
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