Clinical Breast Awareness

Pure breast care - Clinical Breast Awareness. Ok, you can read more than for your breast cancer and breast cancer education. The first is Clinical breast exam, and then Breast awareness and self exam. So lets see here Pure breast care - Clinical Breast Awareness. (more : Tips For Your Mammogram - When You Have a Mammogram)

Clinical breast exam
A clinical breast exam (CBE) is an exam of your breasts by a health care professional, such as a doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse, or doctor's assistant. For this exam, you undress from the waist up. The health care professional will first look at your breasts for abnormalities in size or shape, or changes in the skin of the breasts or nipple. Then, using the pads of the fingers, the examiner will gently feel (palpate) your breasts.

Special attention will be given to the shape and texture of the breasts, location of any lumps, and whether such lumps are attached to the skin or to deeper tissues. The area under both arms will also be examined. The CBE is a good time for women who don't know how to examine their breasts to learn the proper technique from their health care professionals. Ask your doctor or nurse to teach you and watch your technique.

Breast awareness and self exam
Beginning in their 20s, women should be told about the benefits and limitations of breast self-exam (BSE). Women should know how their breasts normally look and feel and report any new breast changes to a health professional as soon as they are found. Finding a breast change does not necessarily mean there is a cancer.

A woman can notice changes by being aware of how her breasts normally look and feel and by feeling her breasts for changes (breast awareness), or by choosing to use a stepby-step approach (see below) and using a specific schedule to examine her breasts. If you choose to do BSE, the information below is a step-by-step approach for the exam.

The best time for a woman to examine her breasts is when the breasts are not tender or swollen. Women who examine their breasts should have their technique reviewed during their periodic health exams by their health care professional.

Women with breast implants can do BSE, too. It may be helpful to have the surgeon help identify the edges of the implant so that you know what you are feeling. There is some thought that the implants push out the breast tissue and may actually make it easier to examine. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding can also choose to examine their breasts regularly.

It is acceptable for women to choose not to do BSE or to do BSE once in a while. Women who choose not to do BSE should still be aware of the normal look and feel of their breasts and report any changes to their doctor right away.