Early Detection

WHAT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER !!

Although BSE is not a universal method, it is an important part of breast cancer prevention. In an ideal situation, a trained doctor or nurse should teach you BSE and answer any questions/concerns or correct your method at subsequent yearly breast exams, however if you practice carefully you can learn and perfect the technique yourself. Although whether or not you perform BSE is your personal choice, performing it may end up being the best health choice you ever make.
 

Although the whole BSE procedure is composed of both the looking and feeling elements, you should concentrate more time on the feeling part of the examination:
First, because, changes on the skin of the breasts may be so subtle that it is hard to distinguish them with an untrained eye, and can only be properly diagnosed by someone that has seen them before;
And second, major, easily noticeable changes in the look of the breast, such as, for example, changes in the shape of the breast, usually occur with large tumours which are easily palpated.

The first time you perform BSE you are likely to come across many strange structures, lumps and bumps that you had no idea existed in your breasts. Generally, the hardest thing is to figure out and feel what is normal. If you discover a lump, find that there is swelling, redness, puckering or pulling of the skin, pain, peeling of the skin on the nipple, or blood-coloured discharge coming from your nipple, you should see a doctor.