Breast Health

Breast Health

What is Breast Health?

Breast health starts with a sense of what is normal for the breast. For promoting breast health, you should perform regular breast self-exams. With little practice, you will understand how your breasts vary in texture and sensitivity at different times of your menstrual cycle. 
For some women, breast health includes concerns regarding breast pain, breast lumps, or nipple discharge. If you have some concerns about your breast health, you can consult a breast surgery doctor in Delhi.

Request an appointment at Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Karol Bagh, New Delhi

Call 1860 500 2244 to book an appointment

About Breast Health

Breast health self-exam or examining your breast on your own can be one of the best ways to keep a close tab on your breast health. While no single test alone can detect breast cancer, regularly performing breast self-exams and other screening methods will increase the odds of early detection.
To do a breast self-exam, here are the steps you have to follow -

• Check if your breasts are of the usual shape, size, and color
• Check if the breasts are shaped evenly without visible swelling or distortion
• In case you notice any of the following changes, report them to your doctor:
• Bulging, puckering, and dimpling of the skin
• A nipple that has changed its position, or an inverted nipple
• Soreness, redness, swelling, or rash

Raise your arms and check for the same changes. As you check yourself in the mirror, look for signs of fluid oozing out of the nipples.

Who Qualifies for a Breast Health Exam?

Anyone who is experiencing some abnormalities in their breast can opt for a breast health exam. Women should also do it to be familiar with their breasts. Thus, they will know what is expected and what is not, to report any changes promptly.

Why is a Breast Health Exam Performed?

A breast self-exam performed for breast awareness helps understand the regular feel and look of the breasts. If you notice some changes in your breasts and they appear abnormal, you should report them to your doctor.

Various conditions can lead to changes in the breasts. Even though the breast self-exam technique is not always reliable when it comes to detecting breast cancer, many women report that the first sign of breast cancer was a new lump in the breast that they discovered all by themselves. This is the reason you should be familiar with the regular inconsistencies of your breasts.

What are the Benefits of a Breast Health Exam?

A breast health exam helps in identifying breast cancer early on. The earlier you detect it, the better are your chances of surviving it.

You might require a mastectomy or chemotherapy in case breast cancer is detected at an early stage. Thus, if you notice anything out of the ordinary while checking your breast, you should consult a breast surgery doctor in Karol Bagh.

What are the Risks Associated with Breast Health-Exam?

A breast self-exam for breast awareness is a safe method to be familiar with the normal feel and look of the breast. Nevertheless, here are some risks and limitations associated with it-

• Anxiety caused by discovering a lump. But in most cases, lumps in the breasts are not cancerous. Yet, finding something suspicious in the breast might make a person anxious. 
• Overestimating the advantages of self-exams. Always remember, breast self-exam is not a substitute for a breast exam done by your doctor or a mammogram. 
• Additional procedures and tests might be required for checking out the changes and lumps. In case you find a suspicious lump, you might end up getting tests you imagined, such as breast ultrasound or mammogram. In case the lump turns out to be non-cancerous, you might feel that you have undergone the procedure unnecessarily. 

Discuss the limitations and benefits of being familiar with breast consistencies with your doctors.