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Maintaining a healthy breast is vital to our overall health including the early detection of conditions, such as breast cancer. Self exams and screenings are also key in keeping tabs on breast health and to catch abnormalities when they happen so they’re easier to treat.
Table of Contents
Understanding Breast Health
The breast is made of fat, glandular tissue, and connective tissue. While over time women may develop cysts or fibrocystic changes, a benign condition, or breast cancer, a malignant condition. Monitoring breast health may help detect changes early and allow actions to be taken before the situation becomes worse. The earlier the detection of the disease, the more treatment options are available and better your odds of a favorable outcome.
Breast Health: The Role of Self Exams
One easy, at home method of checking for changes or abnormalities in your breast is with a breast self-exam. Self-exams won’t replace a professional, but they’re an invaluable resource for early detection. It’s important for people to conduct regular self-exams of their breasts so they are familiar with what their breasts look and feel like normally, which allows them to pick up if anything is unusual, like lumps or skin changes.
How to Perform a Self-Exam:
- Visual Inspection: Hold up your arms at your sides and stand in front of a mirror with your shoulders straight. Check for any size, shape, or skin texture changes such as dimpling and redness, or skin swelling.
- Palpation (Feeling for Lumps): With one arm raised, use your opposite hand and move across your breast tissue in small, circular motions. Check all of the breast area — including under the arm, and the area around the collarbone.
- Nipple Check: Squeeze the nipples gently to see if you get any discharge other than breast milk and look for any abnormal texture changes or inverted nipples.
- Signs to Look Out For: When you’re doing self exams, look for unusual lumps, changes in breast size, pain or changes in the skin or nipple. If you experience any of these symptoms it is essential you contact a health care provider to further investigate.
How often should you perform self exams?
Once a month, women should do a self exam. The easiest way to remember is by doing the exam at the same time every month, say a few days after your period is over when the breasts will not be so tender. Self exams are still possible for postmenopausal women, but it is recommended that they be performed at the same time every month, since hormone changes do not apply.
Breast cancer screening recommendations
Mammograms:
The most common screening tool for finding breast cancer early is mammography. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast used to find abnormal tissue, lumps, or changes in the breast. The American Cancer Society recommends that women at average risk for breast cancer start getting mammograms at age 40. They do not need to start earlier or later based on their family history or other risk factors for breast cancer, or how they feel physically. It’s important to consult with a gynecologist for personalized advice and recommendations regarding mammograms and other breast health screenings.
Other Screening Options:
- Ultrasound: Dense breast tissue or an abnormal area found during a mammogram may be further evaluated by ultrasound.
- MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): For high risk patients, including those with a family history or genetic mutations such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, an MRI may be used. MRIs give a closer look to breast tissue and can often diagnose cancers that mammograms can’t.
Importance of professional screening
Self exams are obviously very important for personal awareness, but they’re not enough – professional screenings by health care professionals are also key components to a comprehensive breast health monitoring program. Clinical breast exams (CBE) (a doctor or nurse manually checks the breasts for lumps and other abnormalities), and mammograms are the screenings that may be done. Regular check ups catch any changes at their most curable point.
If You Find Anything Unusual, What to Do
If you feel a lump, or notice any changes, don’t panic – just get medical advice from a gynecologist in Karachi at oladoc. Not all lumps are cancerous, and with early detection, they are much easier to treat. If your doctor suspects that an abnormality is due to cancer, he or she may recommend additional tests such as a biopsy, ultrasound, or MRI.
How to maintain general breast health
Reducing the risk of breast cancer is heavily dependent upon having a healthy lifestyle. All breast health is important: regular physical activity, a balanced diet, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and a restricted amount of alcohol and tobacco. Obesity is also related to increased risk of breast cancer and maintaining a healthy weight is important.
Conclusion
All women should pay attention to their breast health, and self exams and professional screenings are vital to early detection. There are things you can do to help preserve your breast health, which may also improve your long term prognosis; this includes monthly self exams, following recommended screening guidelines, and living a healthy lifestyle. Remember, screenings are a regular thing, and it is important to remain self aware, as it will make all the difference.
