Get Familiar
Hands Up
Raise your hands up over your head and run down the list again, checking for changes in size, shape, color, bulges or skin abnormalities. In addition, also quickly look at your nipples. If you see any fluids—milky, yellow, watery or bloody—tell your doc.
Feel Around
Next, lie down on your back and feel your entire breast from the collarbone to the top of your stomach, and from your armpit to your cleavage. Use your right hand to feel your left breast, and vice versa. BreastCancer.org advises using the first few fingerpads on your hand, moving in a quarter-sized circular motion with a “firm, smooth touch.” It’s essential that you cover your entire breast, so use a pattern that’s easy for you to track.
Go Deep
Apply various pressures based on what type of tissue you’re checking—you want to cover all layers of breast. For the tissue just below the skin, use a light circular touch, for the middle of the breast use medium pressure, and for the deep tissue you should use firm pressure. When you can feel your ribcage, you’ve gone all the way to the deep tissue, covering all layers.
Stand Up
Repeat the self exam process, doing it just like you did while lying down: Feel both your breasts from top to bottom and side to side while standing up. Lots of women do this in the shower while their skin is wet so that fingers can easily slide over the breast tissue.
Check Your Estrogen
Even better than catching a lump is preventing the cancer from forming—and prevention starts at home. Dr. Sara Gottfried, ob-gyn and author of The Hormone Cure, says there are a few simple things every woman can do. First on the list? Addressing the key hormone. Too much estrogen relative to progesterone, and you're looking at an increased risk of breast cancer. "Find out your levels of the good and bad estrogens, and start taking steps to address it if you’re elevated," says Gottfried. As a starting point, she recommends assessing your personal breast cancer risk with this tool from the National Cancer Institute.
Balance Your Hormones
The main hormones determining breast cancer risk are estrogen, progesterone, cortisol (aka the "stress hormone"), thyroid and testosterone. "Do a self-assessment, get your hormone levels tested by your physician and start taking steps now to prevent hormonal imbalances snowballing into something much more serious down the road," Gottfried says.
