Self examination is the key to catching breast cancer in an early stage. Catching breast cancer in an early stage of the disease means that it will be more treatable than a very advanced breast cancer. Breast cancer that is treatable is breast cancer that is survivable. Practicing regular self examination is the key to finding cancer in an early stage so that you can undergo treatment and survive with a minimum of physical and emotional trauma.
Many women avoid self examination, because they are afraid of what they may find. However, if you do find something during your self examination, you should be more glad than afraid, because the sooner you discover the cancer the more likely you will be to survive it. If you practice regular self examination, you are far more likely to catch breast cancer in one of its earliest stages before it spreads to other areas of your body. If you catch breast cancer early in its development, it is not only possible to survive your breast cancer, it is possible to treat it without a mastectomy or possibly even without chemotherapy. There are many treatments for breast cancer, and while none of them are a walk in the part, not all of them are going to be nightmarish ordeals. The earlier you discover your cancer, the less invasive the treatment will need to be, and the best way to undergo the kind of regular screening breast cancer requires to be found early is to practice regular self examination.
Self examination is easy to learn how to do correctly, and any doctor can help you find the literature you need to learn how to do your own self examination. Many women practice a self examination in the shower every morning, because it takes less than ten minutes and it does not require any special equipment or uncomfortable positions. Self examination is easiest kind of screening breast cancer doctors can recommend, and they do recommend it. No matter how old you are or what your family history is, you have no excuse not to practice a regular self examination.
Most women who practice a regular self examination never find a lump in their breast, and of those who do find a lump an even smaller number actually have cancer. There are other causes of lumps in the breast, and a self examination can reveal lumps that are caused by many things other than cancer. Some lumps are quite harmless, so if you do discover something during a self examination there is no need to panic. Make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible to find out what the cause of the lump is, but you do not need to assume that you have breast cancer. Consider yourself innocent until proved guilty, and go about your normal life until your test results are in.
When it comes to the process of screening breast cancer, a self examination is only the first step among many, so finding a lump in your breast is not in and of itself proof of cancer by a long shot. A self examination is often a crucial tool when it comes to discovering breast cancer early in its development, but a self examination is not by any means a complete diagnosis.