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Breast cancer screening methods Breast self-exam - Learn the normal look and feel of your breasts, and check for changes every month. Many women have a pattern of lumpiness in their breasts, which is normal. But if you feel a change or a new lump in your breasts or underarms, ask your doctor to examine the area. Clinical breast exam - A breast exam by a trained medical professional should be part of your regular medical checkup. If it is not, ask for it. It includes visual examination and carefully feeling the entire area of breast tissue. If you are 40 or older, schedule your mammogram close to the time of your clinical breast exam. Mammogram - A mammogram is an x-ray picture of the breast. It is done with a special x-ray machine designed just for this purpose. A mammogram can find many cancers before they can be felt. Find your age on the chart below and read to see which screening methods you should do and how often you should do them. Now is the Best Time Believe it or not, the best time to check for breast cancer is when your breasts feel fine. If you can find cancer early, there is a much better chance for survival. Three basic screening methods are used to look for early breast cancer: breast self-exams, clinical breast exams, and mammograms. Mammography and clinical breast exams are the best methods currently available for finding breast cancer early. So it may surprise you to learn that they are not perfect. Many breast lumps found by these methods turn out not to be cancer, and sometimes a real cancer is missed. But if you do all the methods regularly (based on your age - see below), a problem missed one time may be caught the next. Or one method might find a problem that another does not. Remember, even if you feel perfectly healthy now, just being a woman and getting older puts you at risk for breast cancer. Getting checked regularly can put your mind at ease. And finding cancer early could save your life.
If you have a history of breast cancer in your family, talk with your doctor about when to start getting mammograms and how often to have them. If your mother or sister had breast cancer before menopause or in both breasts, you may need to start getting mammograms and annual clinical breast exams before age 40. Questions to Ask Talk with a trained medical professional about your breast health needs. If you have not had any of the screening methods before, ask which ones are right for you. If you have already had the methods, it is still a good idea to ask your health care provider any questions you may have about them. Here are some questions you might want to ask:
Trouble Signs That Should NOT Be Ignored Although doctors are specially trained to find breast lumps and a mammogram can find even smaller lumps, most breast lumps are found by women themselves at home. A woman who knows the look and feel of her own breasts may notice a new lump or a change in-between doctor visits. When you do your breast self-exam every month, look and feel for the following signs of possible problems in your breast or underarm area. If you notice any of them, make an appointment to show them to a trained medical professional right away.
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