Breast cancer is the number 1 most common cancer in Thai women. Every woman should check her breasts regularly to find out early whether she has breast cancer or not. Because detecting breast cancer in the early stages will help prevent it from spreading to other organs and can be cure.
Breast self-examination is another way to diagnose breast cancer. It was found that 80% of breast cancer patients will present with symptoms of a lump in the breast. And most patients will be able to detect or feel it themselves. Regular breast self-examination will allow you to know what normal breasts look like and can notice if there are any abnormalities. This will allow the doctor to treat from the beginning, which will result in excellent treatment results.
A method to check for breast cancer yourself can be done by palpation with your hands. There are 3 types of palpation. You can choose any type, but you must be sure to cover all breast tissue. Including the bottom edge of the bra, ทางเข้า ufabet, the nipple area, the armpit area, and the collarbone. And do not lift your fingers from the breast while palpation.
Breast cancer self-examination type 1: Up and down palpation. Feel from the collarbone to the bottom of the breast, starting from under the armpit. Or under the armpit to the base of the breast, then move three fingers up and down and alternately all over the breast.
Breast cancer self-examination type 2: spiral palpation. Start by palpating from the top of the breast near the areola along the spiral line until reaching the base of the breast, covering the armpit and collarbone area.
Breast cancer self-examination type 3: Wedge palpation. Start by feeling from the top of the breast near the areola to the base and then back up to the top. Continue doing this all over the breast, including the armpit and collarbone.
In addition, the breast should be palpat at 3 levels as follows: press lightly to feel the area under the skin, press moderately to feel the center of the breast, and press hard to feel the breast near the breastbone. If a lump is palpat at a size of 2-5 centimeters, the survival rate is 75-90 percent. However, if a lump is palpat at a size of 5 centimeters or more, the survival rate is only 15-30 percent.
Regular breast self-examination is the first line of defense that helps us quickly detect any abnormalities. Every month, we should examine and feel our breasts at least once.
You should try to practice continuously until it becomes a habit because the benefit of regular breast palpation is that it will allow you to know the normal characteristics of your breasts. If there is any abnormality, you will be able to know immediately.
On the other hand, if we only examine our breasts once in a while. We may miss the important time when cancer starts to appear. Or sometimes, if we are not familiar with our breasts well enough. We may misunderstand and worry about various things, thinking that we have found a cancerous lump. When in fact, it may just be a part of normal tissue.