Breast Cancer: Self-Diagnosis

It was a recommendation from the doctors earlier to perform a proper breast self-exam once a month to look for changes. However, that recommendation has since been rescinded. Women are encouraged to still perform self-exams fairly regularly. However, there needs to be no set pattern for checking. Self-exams once every couple of months is also an acceptable routine.

Women performing regular breast self-exams may often be stricken by panic when they find a lump within the breast tissue. However, in most cases these lumps are benign tumors. If you seem to have a lump developing in your breast you should still go to the doctor to get it checked out. In most cases however, these tumors tend to be benign. Benign tumors will not become malignant and may go away on their own sometimes.

A majority of breast cancer patients have a history of the problems within their families or their extended families. If anyone in your family has developed breast cancer, then it is highly likely that you are predisposed to the disease. There is no need to panic though as regular breast self-exams will be a good starting point. If any anomalies are detected, it can be addressed and treated before it metastasizes or develops into stages which may be far more difficult to treat.

Often propagated by the media, it is a wrong notion that breast tissues shouldn t feel lumpy at all. The feel of breast tissues can differ among individuals. Some parts of the breast tissue may feel naturally lumpy, although the lumps may seem more like a band of hard tissue. What you have to look out for are changes in the feel of the breast. Deviations from the norm over a period of time may be concerning rather than the actual feel of the breast.