Breasts are one of the cornerstones of our femininity. Every day we take care of their beautiful appearance, exposing their values. We try to replenish our wardrobes with more and more beautiful underwear that will make us feel special. However, the question is, do you really do everything to properly take care of your treasures? Do you realize how important prevention is? It can save not only your breasts, but also your life? For unknown reasons, women are afraid of breast self-control, thinking that if they detect any abnormality it will be the worst scenario in their lives. There is no more erroneous assumption. As numerous studies show, a clinically detected neoplastic change gives a substantially bigger chance of a complete cure. Among women participating in screening (mammography), early detection of neoplastic lesions reduced mortality by as much as 40%. The conclusion is simple – self-check can save your live. Therefore, breasts should be regularly monitored and, above all, examined. Do not be afraid and touch your breasts. Self-examination is just as important as other forms of diagnosis. Here are some great tips on how to do it properly.  

1. Before mirror

Watch your breasts carefully, look at them and check if there are any changes in shape or symmetry visually (remember, that breasts may be slightly different from each other, it is natural). The breasts should be viewed in the following positions:

• Standing, arms freely lowered along the body.
• Standing, hands resting firmly on your hips.
• Standing, hands raised.
• Standing, arms raised and resting on the back of the head.

2. Under shower

   Gently but not very gently touch the breast in a circular motion in a clockwise direction, always towards the armpit.

How to do it:

• If you want to examine the right breast, lift your right arm and put it on the back of your head. Connect the fingers of the left hand, making shape of a boat, touch upper part of the breast.
• Repeat this action with bottom of the breast.
• Starting from the armpit towards neckline, move down and up and again and again
• While still holding your arm over your head, press nipple gently, in this way you will check if any secretion is coming out of it.
• To examine the left breast, do the same but everything mirrored of course.

3. Laying

In this stage of the test you have to lay down and touch your breast in a specific way:

• If you want to examine the right breast, lift your right arm and place it under your head. Connect the fingers of the left hand, making shape of a boat, then touch the upper part of the breast.
• Repeat this action with bottom of the breast.
• Starting from the armpit towards neckline, move down and up and again and again
• While still holding your arm behind your head, press nipple gently, in this way you will check if any secretion is coming out of it.
• Left breast examination looks the same

As you can see this stage looks exactly like the ‘shower stage’. Immediately go to your gynecologist if you notice any of these symptoms:

• Your breasts lose symmetry and start to differ significantly.
• You will feel that the lymph nodes under the arms are enlarged.
• The chest hurts, it becomes too sensitive to touch.
• The nipple has changed and is excessively stretched or, on the contrary, hardly visible, or if any secretions are emptied from it.
• You feel the lump / change under skin.

It is important that the examination should be done with the whole hand and not just the fingertips. Taking care of your health and well-being, do not forget about proper bra selection. Unfortunately, numerous analyzes indicate that up to 80% of women wear a wrong size of underwear. This may result in not only irritation of the skin, back and headaches, but also permanent postural defects. However, the most dangerous consequences of wearing a badly fitting bra is greater chance of dangerous lumps appearance. Do not hesitate, take care of yourself, take care of your breasts today.