Acing the Exam
The better you know your girls, the more likely you'll be to notice if something out-of-the-ordinary—and potentially dangerous—pops up. And while breast self-exams can feel like a stressful search-and-destroy mission if you haven't done a ton of them, they can also be a great tool for keeping tabs on your breast health—once you get comfortable with the process.
First of all, you don’t have to go through stages of up down and all around.
You can perform a self-exam
Standing in front of a mirror (great way to see if there are any visual changes to your girls)
In the shower (the easiest, in my opinion, because the skin is wet and slippery)
Lying in bed
Newsflash: there is no right or wrong way of using your fingers to feel your breasts – the whole idea is that you get familiar with what you’ve got.
If you’re feeling your breasts while standing, you need to know that there is A LOT of lumpy bumpy tissue in there, especially around the outside (think “side boob” a la Family Guy.) So, just because you feel something like a lump, doesn’t mean you should freak out. Lie down and see whether or not you can feel it from a different position. If you can’t find it or it feels different lying down, that’s a GOOD sign and likely nothing to be concerned about.
I was shocked to learn how few young women knew that breast exams should be done around the same time as your period. Based on comfort levels, you should be checking your girls somewhere between Day 3 and Day 10 of your period (assuming you count Day 1 as they day you get it.) This was described to me as “the quietest time in your breasts” and typically the easiest time to do an examination.
The coolest thing about boobs is that they come in a pair, so make sure that you use one to compare what is “normal” to the other.
At the end of the day, if you see ANY of changes or have ANY concerns whatsoever, call your doc. Even if you’re not actually sure whether or not they’ve always looked like that.
Oh, and dudes? This method applies to you guys, too.
