Breast Self-Exam
• If you are 20 years of age or over, check your breasts every month
Clinical Breast Exam by a Physician
• If you are 20 to 39, have your physician check your breasts every three years
• If you are 40 or over, this should be done every year
Mammography
• If you are 40 or over, you should have a mammogram every year

Be sure to consult your physician for full information.

If you menstruate, perform this examination a few days after your period ends. If you use oral contraceptives, do it on the day you begin a new pill pack.

•Stand in front of a mirror with your arms at your sides. Look for irregularities, puckering, dimples, changes in size or shape, or pushed-in or misshapen nipples.

•Look for the same changes while pressing your hands on your hips as you bring your shoulders and elbows forward.

•Look again for changes while clasping your hands behind your head as you press your arms forward.

• Lie flat with a towel folded under your right shoulder for support and with your right arm under your head. use your left hand to examine your right breast. Examine your armpit. Repeat this procedure for your left breast.

• Standing, (some women do this in the shower, when their skin is lubricated by soap.) raise one arm and place the flat part of your fingers (not tips) on your breast’s outer edge. Feel for thickenings, lumps, or changes as you firmly guide your hand in small circles, moving toward the nipple. Examine your armpit. Use this procedure for both breasts.

• Gently squeeze both nipples and look for any discharge.

If your breasts are normally lumpy, note how many separate lumps you feel and their locations. Next month, check for changes, especially an increase in size that persists after your next period.

• Any new lump or area of your breast that is thicker or harder than the rest

• Nipple discharge, particularly if it is bloody or dark or occurs without squeezing your nipple

• A nipple drawing inward or pointing in a new direction

• Any change in the shape or symmetry of your breast

• Orange peel skin - areas of skin on the breast where the pores stand out

• Any lump or thickening that does not shrink or lessen after your next period

• Any puckering, dimpling or swelling of the skin on your breast or around the nipples

• Tenderness, redness or pain in your breasts

A mammogram is an x-ray of your breasts that can detect a lump long before you might feel it during your monthly self-exam or even before your health care professional finds it during your regular clinical exam.

Q: Why is it important to find a lump early?

A: Finding a lump early increases your chances of surviving breast cancer, if breast cancer is diagnosed. And, when you find breast cancer early, you have more treatment options than when you find the cancer in a more advanced stage.

Q: If mammograms are x-rays, are they safe?

A: Yes. The techniques and equipment used for mammography are designed to deliver extremely low doses of radiation. Federal guidelines limit the radiation used for mammography. In practice, most mammograms deliver only a fraction of the specified amount of radiation.

Q: What’s it like to get a mammogram? Does it hurt?

A: When you get a mammogram, you stand next to a machine, and a specially trained technologist helps place your breast in the proper position on a plastic plate. A second plate is placed on top of your breast and, for a few seconds, a small amount of pressure is applied to the breast. This flattens the breast slightly so a good, clear x-ray can be taken. Two pictures of each breast are usually taken. You will feel a little discomfort during the process, but the process takes only about 15 minutes.

Back to Health Ministries