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How do you self examine your breasts for breast cancer?
Place a pillow under your right shoulder and your right arm behind your head. Using your left hand, move the pads of your fingers around your right breast gently covering the entire breast area and armpit. Use light, medium, and firm pressure. Squeeze the nipple; check for discharge and lumps.
How often should you self examine your breasts?
The best time to do a monthly self-breast exam is about 3 to 5 days after your period starts. Do it at the same time every month. Your breasts are not as tender or lumpy at this time in your monthly cycle. If you have gone through menopause, do your exam on the same day every month.
How is breast examination done?
As you lay on your back with your arms behind your head, your health care provider will examine your breasts with the pads of the fingers to detect lumps or other changes. The area under both arms will also be examined. Your health care provider will gently press around your nipple to check for any discharge.
What fingers do you use when performing a BSE?
Use the finger pads of the three middle fingers on your left hand to feel for lumps in the right breast. Use overlapping dime-sized circular motions of the finger pads to feel the tissue closest to the skin; medium pressure to feel a little deeper; and firm pressure to feel the tissue closest to the chest and ribs.
What is BSE in mammography?
Breast Self-Exam (BSE) Monthly BSE helps you learn the way your breasts normally look and feel and allows you to notice changes. The following changes should be reported to your health care provider: new lump in or near the breast or under the arm. thickening or swelling of part of the breast.
Which is the correct sequence on the steps in breast self-examination?
Inspect your breasts in four steps:
- Hold arms at your side.
- Hold arms over your head.
- Press your hands on your hips and tighten your chest muscles.
- Bend forward with your hands on your hips.
Why is breast self exam not recommended?
Evidence does not show that regular breast self-exams help reduce deaths from breast cancer. However, it is very important for women to be aware of how their breasts normally look and feel and to report any changes to a health care provider right away.
Why is self breast examination important?
If you develop breast cancer, performing breast self-examinations can increase your chances of finding it at an early stage, which can improve your chances of a full recovery. Breast cancer survival rates are explained in terms of a five-year survival rate.
What are the seven Ps in breast examination?
One is called the seven P’s of BSE, after seven steps that are named to have the same first initial: Positions, Perimeter, Palpation, Pressure, Pattern, Practice, and Planning what to do if a change is found in the breast tissue.
How hard do you press for breast exam?
Pressure should be just enough to move the skin without disturbing the tissue underneath. Pressing too hard at first could cause a lump to move out of the way. Medium – On the second circle, use medium pressure to feel for changes below the sur- face to mid-level of the breast tissue.
What is BSE and CBE?
Breast self-examination (BSE) and clinical breast examination (CBE) are inexpensive and noninvasive procedures for the regular examination of breasts (ie, monthly BSE and annual CBE). Evidence supporting the effectiveness of these 2 screening methods is controversial and largely inferred.
What are the principles of breast self-examination?
Simple principles for breast self-examination The method suggests that the woman stands in front of a mirror and inspects her breasts for abnormalities in several positions: with the arms hanging next to the body, arms held over head, and hands on the hips.
How do you document a breast lump?
The Location description should include both a narrative and a drawing. It should note the side where the mass was found, its location as a clock face description, and the distance from the areolar edge (in cm). Note the size of the mass in 2 dimensions as 2 measurements (in mm).
What is a self breast examination?
A monthly self breast exam is an important tool in detecting breast cancer early. By doing BSE regularly, you get to know how your breasts normally feel so that you are more apt to detect any change.
What is a breast self-exam?
Breast self-exam, or regularly examining your breasts on your own, can be an important way to find a breast cancer early, when it’s more likely to be treated successfully.
Can breast self-exam detect breast cancer early?
While no single test can detect all breast cancers early, Breastcancer.org believes that performing breast self-exam in combination with other screening methods can increase the odds of early detection.
How do I perform a breast exam for breast cancer?
Using your left hand, move the pads of your fingers around your right breast gently covering the entire breast area and armpit. Use light, medium, and firm pressure. Squeeze the nipple; check for discharge and lumps.
How do I know if I have breast cancer?
With the pads/flats of your 3 middle fingers, check the entire breast and armpit area pressing down with light, medium, and firm pressure. Check both breasts each month feeling for any lump, thickening, hardened knot, or any other breast changes. 2) In Front of a Mirror Visually inspect your breasts with your arms at your sides.