3 min read
Many of us have done it. Lie.
Admit it, you’ve looked your gynecologist right in the eye and said: “Yes, I do monthly self-breast exams.”
Here’s the thing, we know early detection is key in fighting and surviving breast cancer. We knowself-breast exams can help us to do that. Yet many of us are afraid to touch our boobs. I mean really touch them. Look at them in the mirror, massage them, pinch our nipples, and give them a good once over.
Chances are YOU will be the first to notice something different with your breast, way before your annual exam with your physician. You don’t want to chance a delayed breast cancer diagnosis just because you won’t simply touch your own breast do you? At diagnosis, this is precisely the time that you may ask yourself, “if I had been doing self-breast exams all along would I have found it sooner?”
For some of us, we avoid breast self exams because we don’t really know how or what we’re looking for - we’re not doctors right? Basically, on the outside it’s anything that looks a little different than what’s normal for you. A pimple or bug bite that won’t go away. An orange peel-like rash. Hot swollen areas. Or one breast looking even slightly different than the other. These can all be signs of breast cancer. Is this overwhelming? Okay, let’s break it down to a quick three step pre-shower exam: