Questions? Ask Our Nurses!
The nurses at the Peggy V. Helmerich Women's Health Center are eager to help you gather the information you need in order to make healthy decisions.
Click here to ask our nurses a question.
Warning: include(footer.inc.php) [
function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in
/home/hillcres/public_html/services/womens_health/services/breast_exam.php on line
20
Warning: include(footer.inc.php) [
function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in
/home/hillcres/public_html/services/womens_health/services/breast_exam.php on line
20
Warning: include() [
function.include]: Failed opening 'footer.inc.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in
/home/hillcres/public_html/services/womens_health/services/breast_exam.php on line
20
Stand with your arms at your sides. Check both breasts carefully for any puckering, dimpling, scaling, skin color change, or discharge from a nipple. Next, clasp your hands behind your head and press forward. (Chest muscles should tighten as you press forward.) Repeat careful visual inspection. Press your hands firmly down on hips. (Again, chest muscles should tighten firmly.) Repeat careful visual inspection. Remember, it is normal for one breast to look different from the other.
Raise your left hand and use the fingertips of your right hand to examine the left breast. Beginning at the outermost top of your breast, press the flat part of your fingertips in small circles carefully checking for any lump, hard knot, or thickening. Then, move your fingers clockwise to overlap the area you have examined and repeat this process in diminishing circles around the breast until you reach the nipple. (A ridge of firm tissue around the lower curve of each breast is normal.) It is important to examine the areas from the breast to the armpits in the same manner.
Lie down on your back, with a pillow or towel under your left shoulder; place your left arm above your head. Use your right hand to make a circular examination of your left breast. Then, switch the support so that it is under your right shoulder, raise your right arm over your head and examine your right breast with your left hand. Examine the armpit area in the same manner.