Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in step 4. Most women have some lumps or lumpy areas in their breasts all the time, and most breast lumps turn out to be benign not cancer.
There are a number of possible causes of non-cancerous breast lumps, including normal hormonal changes, a benign breast condition , or an injury. This is especially true for changes that last more than one full menstrual cycle or seem to get bigger or more prominent in some way. If you menstruate, you may want to wait until after your period to see if the lump or other breast change disappears on its own before calling your doctor. The best healthcare provider to call would be one who knows you and has done a breast exam on you before — for example, your gynecologist, primary care doctor, or a nurse practitioner who works with your gynecologist or primary care doctor.
Know what to expect. At an appointment to evaluate a breast lump, your doctor will take a health history and do a physical exam of the breast, and will most likely order breast imaging tests. Ultrasound is often the first or only imaging test used to evaluate a lump in women who are under age 30 or are pregnant or breastfeeding. Both an ultrasound and a mammogram are typically recommended to evaluate a lump in women who are over age 30 and not pregnant or breastfeeding.
He or she may also refer you to a breast specialist typically, a breast surgeon for further evaluation. Make sure you get answers. Make it routine. The more you examine your breasts, the more you will learn about them and the easier it will become for you to tell if something has changed.
Try to get in the habit of doing a breast self-examination once a month to familiarize yourself with how your breasts normally look and feel. Examine yourself several days after your period ends, when your breasts are least likely to be swollen and tender.
If you are no longer having periods, choose a day that's easy to remember, such as the first or last day of the month. The lower half of your breast can feel like a sandy or pebbly beach. The area under the nipple can feel like a collection of large grains. Another part might feel like a lumpy bowl of oatmeal. In most cases, this lumpiness is no cause to worry. Lumps that feel harder or different from the rest of the breast or the other breast or that feel like a change should be checked.
This type of lump may be a sign of breast cancer or a benign breast condition such as a cyst or fibroadenoma. Share Your Story or Read Others. Changes in nipple appearance can happen over time and can be considered normal.
But talk to your doctor if you notice a newly inverted nipple. This is easy to identify. Instead of pointing outward, the nipple is pulled into the breast. Some women normally have a flat nipple that looks inverted, and other women develop an inverted nipple over time.
Still, your doctor should investigate and rule out cancer. This is a symptom of breast cancer, but it can also be a symptom of atopic dermatitis , eczema , or another skin condition.
It can also cause these symptoms. You may not associate breast cancer with redness or a skin rash , but in the case of inflammatory breast cancer IBC , a rash is an early symptom. This is an aggressive form of breast cancer that affects the skin and lymph vessels of the breast. However, your breasts may become swollen, warm, and appear red.
This type of cancer also changes the appearance of your breasts. You may notice dimpling or pitting, and the skin on your breast may begin to look like an orange peel due to underlying inflammation.
Cancer can be aggressive and life-threatening, but with early diagnosis and treatment, the survival rate is high. According to the American Cancer Society , the five-year survival rate for breast cancer if diagnosed as stage 1 to stage 3 is between percent and 72 percent.
But once the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, the five-year survival rate drops to 22 percent. Mammogram recommendations vary depending on age and risk, so make sure you talk to your doctor about when you should start and how frequently you should have a mammogram. Find support from others who are living with breast cancer. Read this article in Spanish.
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