Breast
How to do a breast self-exam, step by step
Breast self-examination is not a screening test, and there is no evidence that it reduces deaths from breast cancer. It is simply a way to get to know your body, so that you are more likely to notice a change early.
You can start from your twenties and check once a month, around 5 days after your period starts. If you don’t have periods, pick a day of the month and stick to it.
Step by step
- Stand in front of a mirror in a well-lit room, without your bra, with your arms by your sides. Look for any change since last time: redness, skin thickening, swelling, visible lumps or bumps, dimpling, crusts or sores, a new asymmetry. Look at your nipples: has the shape or direction of either changed? Is there any discharge or crust?
- Raise your hands above your head and look again.
- Put your right hand behind your head. With the middle three fingers of your left hand, examine your right breast, quadrant by quadrant. Feel for any nodule, lump, area of different texture, thickened skin, tender spot, or firmer tissue that doesn’t move freely.
- Check the nipple: make sure it hasn’t turned inwards, and gently squeeze to check for discharge.
- Examine your armpit, where there is often breast tissue too.
- Put your left hand behind your head and repeat on the left side.
Checklist
- Skin thickening, redness or a warm area
- Swelling or a new asymmetry
- A change in texture
- Pain
- Lumps, bumps or nodules
- A change in the shape or direction of a nipple
- A crust or nipple discharge
This list is a reminder, not a complete list of the signs of breast cancer. If something doesn’t feel right, please see your physician.
This article gives general information and doesn’t replace advice from your physician. Want to know which screenings apply to you? Take the ScreenMe questionnaire.