Unfortunately, breast cancer is considered as one of the leading causes of death in women, so check ups are something that every woman must include as a regular element of concern for their health. Every woman has at least once in their lifetime experienced a certain changes on breast. Breast vary depending on the menstrual cycle, thus it does not mean that every spotted change is necessarily malicious. In addition to the standard doctor checkups, every woman can review themselves. Women are advised to review the breasts once a month, and the best time for it is any day between the 5th and 10th day of the menstrual cycle, since that is the period of the smallest number of breast lumps.
Palpation
First, you should observe closely your breasts in the mirror to study closely the appearance of the skin and nipples, as well as the mobility of the breast when you lift your hand. After that, you can precede the process with the palpation, which includes breast examination using fingers.
When observing the right breast, lift the right arm above your head. With your left hand, which is placed above the nipple, move the lower part of the right breast in different directions, closely observing eventual changes on the breast.
The breasts should be palpated also in sitting and lying positions, because some of the changes can be observed better in sitting position and the other lying. The basic rule of the entire palpation process is that the right hand always fumbles left breast and vice versa.
Self-examination= life-saving process
Only with regular breast examination you can spot any benign and possibly even malignant changes that occur in the breast tissue, which may occur due to the menstrual cycle, age, weight changes, pregnancy, lactation process, hormonal contraceptive methods, or pathological nature.
Lumps and thickening are frequent cases because breasts are sensitive to hormonal changes, so most of these changes are completely harmless, however, to be fully and truly safe, do not leave it to chance and always consult your gynecologist.
Breast self-examination is an ideal way in which women alone can feel the structure of the mammary gland and identify any changes in it. Only regular care and control can raise the awareness about the disease, and contribute to the early detection of breast cancer, which is then much easier to treat.