Breast Cancer Awareness Month: 5 steps to self-examine your breasts at home
The month of October is observed as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month during which the people spread awareness about this type of cancer and how early diagnosis can help save life of patient. A silent but potentially fatal disease can affect both women and men, though cases in men account for 1 per cent of all cases, according to experts. Its cell can develop in any part of the breast leading to ductal cancer, lobular cancer, phyllodes tumour, angiosarcoma among others. The common sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass on the breast. As self-examination is an important screening tool for women, it even keep the chances of getting them affected by breast cancer minimal.
All women should regularly perform breast self-exams as part of their overall breast cancer screening strategy. This is why we have enlisted 5 ways how you can self-examine your breasts to find out if there are lumps or not.
Step 1: Look at the breasts in the mirror with shoulders straight and arms on hips. Look for one or more changes mentioned above.
Step 2: Raise your arms and look for skin changes such as skin dimpling, skin ulceration or elevation.
Step 3: One should look for nipple flattening or inversion. Do not try to express nipple discharge. But please see the doctor if you notice spontaneous, unilateral, bloody or watery nipple discharge.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Step 4: Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few finger tips of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion to feel the breast.
Step 5: Feel your breasts while standing or sitting. The easiest way to feel your breasts is when skin is wet and slippery.
Apart from this, you can even go for imaging tests such as mammograms, breast ultrasound, and breast MRI to diagnose breast cancer.
-With IANS inputs
