Breast Self Examination Procedure

Women in their early 20’s should be told about the benefits and limitation of breast self examination (BSE). They should also be aware of how their breast normally feels and to report any breast change to a health professional as soon as they feel the difference or discomfort.

There are many benefits for doing a breast self examination monthly.

It is easy to do and the more she does it, the more better she gets at it
When she knows her breast normally, she would be able to feel any changes. Many suspicious breast lumps are found by women performing this self examination.

For menstruating women, do the breast self examination a few times in a month

Do the BSE a few days before your period
Do the BSE when you ovulate.
Do the BSE a few days after your period.

Understand and able to feel the cyclical changes of your breast

For peri menopausal women

Do the BSE after her period. This is the best time to notice how the breast feel

For menopausal women

Pick a day in a month (for example to pick every 1st Monday of the month) to do your BSE. Feel it.

Techniques on Breast Self Examination

Lie Down on the bathroom floor. Put both your arms above your head and then turn to one side
Check if breast is moving in the correct direction. If the breast is not moving in the correct position as your laying down position, there is possibility of a lump that is restraining it to move correctly. Turn over to the other side and repeat step 1 and Step 2.
Next Take one arm down and leave the other arm above your head. Use your fingers and palpate beneath your arm pit and feel if there are any lumps obstructing your lymph node.
Repeat Step 3 for the other side to check for lumps in the other arm pit.
Stand up and face the mirror. Lift one arm up and use the other hand’s fore and middle finger and grab your nipple, pull it and release. Feel if nipple retracts back properly? Check if there is any discharge?
Repeat Step 5 for the other nipple.
With both hands on the hips, look into the mirror and look at shape of your breasts.
- – Is one breast higher than the other? Or is one breast lower than the other? This is because if there is a lump on the breast, it gets stretched up.
- – Look at both your nipples – are they pointing correctly?
- – Look at the skin around the nipples – is there any change of skin colour? Check for orange colour skin tone.
When all the above has been done, now do this 3 steps check on each of the breast. Please follow the diagram below to exam the breast by using the pad of your middle three fingers. Repeat this checking 3 times to feel your own breast.
Complete the full self breast examination as stated above from Step 1-8 and if you find any growth or lump, do not get panic. Make an appointment with your gynaecologist to do a momography xray.