How to self-examine your breasts

A breast self-exam for breast awareness is an inspection of your breasts that you do on your own. To help increase your breast awareness, you use your eyes and hands to determine if there are any changes to the look and feel of your breasts. In the video below Pall Mall GP, Dr, Vadia shows us the ways in which you can self-examine your breasts each month in order to help you notice any abnormal changes. Breast self-exam, or regularly examining your breasts on your own, can be an important way to find breast cancer early. Four out of ten of breast cancers are found by women self-examining, so it’s crucial you check your breasts monthly, no matter your age.

Three techniques of inspection

Place both hands either side of your body and look at your breasts for any signs of swelling, lumps or puckering or swelling. Also ensure you check the nipples for evidence of cracks or inversion
Next, place both hands above your head and look down at your breasts for any hidden swelling or lumps
Finally, place the palms of hands either side of hips – gently lean forward and look to identify any puckering or skin dimpling that wasn’t previously visible

The palpation process

Once the inspection process is complete you can move on to the palpation process:

Use the three middle fingers of your hand to check the breast on the opposite side of your body. Ensure you use the palm of your fingers rather than the fingertips.

It is useful to follow a pattern to ensure all areas are being checked, try moving in circular strokes from the nipple proceeding outwards.

It’s important that the whole breast area is covered, this includes the collar bone area, breastbone area, under the breast and finally covering the entire armpit area.

For the final stage of the palpation process you should lye down with one hand above your head, gently palpate your breasts as above for any lumps.

In the event that you do find a lump, please contact your GP or any of Pall Mall Medical’s doctors promptly for a full examination.

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How to check your Boobs for Breast Cancer, even with Implants.

Our aim is to educate people so that they have the right knowledge and information needed to detect early signs of breast cancer.

Last year Cancer Research UK found that around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK. Yes, men can get breast cancer too!

It is vital to get to grips with your own breasts, knowing how they look, feel and understanding what’s normal for you. It's normal for our breasts to change at different times of the month, as you age, and after you’ve had children or surgery but, it’s important to recognise the difference between these changes in order to identify potential health problems early.

How to check your boobs with implants?

Breast examination is the same with implants as it is without because the implants are placed either in front or behind the muscle and away from the breast tissues. Any defects with the breast tissue can still be detected.

Click here to watch the video of Dr Vadia explaining the correct way to self examine your breasts at home.

An important thing to remember before examining your breasts at home after you've received a breast augmentation is to wait until you are fully healed. We recommend waiting till after the six week mark, this way you can recognise the difference between scar tissue and regular tissue.

Can I have a mammogram with breast implants?

Yes. If you have breast implants, you should still get regular screening mammograms. It's important to mention when booking your mammogram that you have breast implants, as your doctor will need to take extra pictures to ensure they can see as much breast tissue as possible.

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