Breast health awareness is a vital part of how you stay healthy. Breast cancer affects women, at a rate higher than any other cancer except lung cancer. Why is breast health important? Why should be one aware of it? The reasons are many. Your breasts can be affected by benign breast changes such as cysts or intraductal papillomas. Most women experience some form of breast changes, and it’s important to know your normal breasts and keep an eye on any changes and contact your health care provider.
Breast health begins with a sense of what’s normal for your breasts. To promote breast health, consider doing regular breast self-exams. With practice, you’ll discover how your breasts vary in sensitivity and texture at different times during your menstrual cycle. For many women, breast health includes concerns about breast lumps, breast pain or nipple discharge. It’s also important to understand the common screening and diagnostic tests for breast health, such as clinical breast exams, mammograms and breast ultrasounds.
Regular self-exams increase your familiarity with your breasts and allow you to spot changes. It’s important to do self-exams at the same stage of your menstrual cycle as some changes through your cycle are normal. Breast swelling and pain right before you start your period is fairly common. There is some question as to whether self-exams are valuable, but most doctors continue to recommend them. Be aware that most of the time if you do find a change it is not cancer. It is far more likely that it is something hormone-related. You should only do self-exams once a month.
A mammogram is an X-ray picture of the breast. Doctors use a mammogram to look for early signs of breast cancer. Regular mammograms are the best tests doctors have to find breast cancer early, sometimes up to three years before it can be felt. Annual mammograms are recommended for most women starting at age 40 and strongly recommended at age 45.
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