It is generally recommended that you perform self-examination of your breasts once a month. Generally speaking the self-examination involves an examination of your breasts, both by look and by touch. No woman is excited about performing a self-examination, but this is one of the most important breast cancer tests and vital for early detection. The earlier a cancer is detected the more likely it is to be cured.
When examining your breasts don't become over every lump that you feel. Most women have lumps or lumpy areas in their breasts that can be felt all the time, this is normal. If there is an actual lump of something there, chances are good it is not cancerous. 80% of lumps found in the breast are benign. However if you do find something it is important to go and see a doctor right away.
The more you perform these breast cancer tests and the better you get to know your breasts the better you will be at finding anything out of place. It might take some getting used to but eventually you will develop the skills to know your breasts and know if there is something that could potentially be a problem.
When you go to see your doctor to take tests for breast cancer, it will usually take one of several forms. The most common is the mammogram. Mammography basically involves taking an x-ray of the breast. It is the only one of the breast cancer tests that can detect cancer at the earliest, non-invasive stage before a lump is formed. Mammography can be painful, as each breast must be squeezed between two plates for the x-ray to be taken. However the process only takes a few minutes and most women describe the pain as mild to moderate.
Another of the tests for breast cancer is an ultrasound. This is usually used on younger women, below the age of 35, whose breasts are too dense or solid to take a proper mammogram. This is a painless procedure that uses sound to look into your breast. These breast cancer tests are also taken to find if a lump is solid or if it is filled with fluid (a cyst).
Biopsies are breast cancer tests that take a sampling of cells from your breast and examining them under a microscope. The doctor looks to see if these cells are cancerous or not. This is another of the more important tests for breast cancer.
Breast cancer tests are a very serious issue. 1 in 8 women in the United States is expected to get breast cancer at some point during their lifetime. Breast self-examination (also known as BSE) is one of the most important ways that women can keep aware of their breasts and to watch for anything unusual or suspicious. This leads to earlier detection. The earlier cancer is detected the more likely the probability of success in treatment.