Breast self-exam guide

How to do a proper BSE
We've all seen the doorknob hanger diagrams with squiggly lines fanning a nipple, looking rather methodical and painstaking. These diagrams illustrate a thorough methodology for BSEs and are recommended for optimal examination, but this is not the one and only way to do them. Dr. Verna Mai, director of screening programs for Cancer Care Ontario, says the point of BSEs is to know your breasts.

"There are various BSE techniques and it's not possible to say which method is better," she says. "Basically, do whatever works for you. There are such strong messages in terms of how to do an exam and when, but they just haven't had adequate scientific scrutiny. The technique of a BSE is a process of looking and palpating. That's all."

Breastselfexam.ca, funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, is a multimedia website built by the Thunder Bay Breast Health Coalition and gives excellent instructional advice on how to examine your breasts. The following are some of their tips on how to do a BSE.

Click here to download breastselfexam.ca's instructional pdf pamphlet on how to do a breast self-exam.

1. Look
Stand in front of a mirror and observe your breasts:
• while standing
• with your hands on your hips
• turned sideways and leaning over slightly.

2. Feel
• Use soap or lotion to help you explore your breast tissue.
• Use three fingers -- index, middle and ring finger -- to examine your breasts.
• Apply firm but gentle pressure.
• Compare both breasts evenly -- you should feel the same or similar things in both breasts.
• Check the whole breast area -- from under your arms up to your collarbone.

3. Examine
Use what feels comfortable and works well for you, either standing up or lying on your back or side.
• Clock pattern
• Circle pattern
• Grid pattern

Click here for an image of these three examining patterns.

4. Record
Record the date and any changes in a journal, a calendar or anything that works for you.

• Click here to download the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Monthly Breast Exam Chart pdf.
• Click here to download breastselfexam.ca's Personal Breast Map pdf.

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