subject: Self Breast Awareness: The Best Armour Against Breast Cancer [print this page] As you know breast cancer is the second leading type of cancer in the U.S. and more than 200,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with this disease, each year. Because of this people need to improve their breast cancer awareness. It is not true that this disease is just a womans issue. In fact, both men and women are at risk of developing this disease. However, there are less chances for men to get this disease as compared to women, but men do need to improve their awareness as well.
It is a fact that its cure is not known, but scientists and researchers have developed some risk factors along with methods to examine your breasts. The purpose of acknowledging the risk factors of breast cancer is to know them and alter them in such a way that you can have a reduced risk of getting this disease. Apart from breast cancer risk factors, knowing what is right for you and what changes are unusual for you is also of paramount importance. Many women do know how important it is to examine their breasts, but they do not know how to examine them to get better results.
Self Breast Examination
As you know self breast examination is designed to detect unusual changes in the breasts which might be breast cancer symptoms, it is important to be breast aware through self examination. Many women think self examination is a substitute or a replacement for breast screening and clinical breast examination, but in fact, this is not true. Self examination is just an addition, but a useful one to screening and clinical breast checks. If you regularly self examine your breasts, you will easily know their normal appearance and if any unusual change happens you will know it right away. This helps in the early detection of breast anomalies.
Knowing what changes to look for during self examination is part of improving your awareness. Below are some important changes you should look for while performing a self examination:
- Look for a change in size or shape of the breasts.
- Look for a change in position and shape of the nipples.
- Look for discharge from the nipples.
- Look for puckering or dimpling of the skin.
- Look for swelling under the armpit or around the collarbone.
- Look for persistent pain in the breasts.
- Look for rash on or around the nipple area.
- Look for thickening or lumpiness in any area of the breasts.
