Many women don't think about their breast health until they feel a lump or something else feels off. However, it’s important to be proactive with your breast health. When you are familiar with how your breasts look and feel, it becomes much easier to spot potentially concerning changes early. Awareness of changes can also help reduce anxiety as you can take steps quickly, like scheduling an ultrasound, to find out what is going on.
The fact is that proactive breast care can be lifesaving. Roughly 1 in 3 postmenopausal breast cancer diagnoses are linked to modifiable risk factors—things like weight, physical activity, and alcohol consumption that we can work to change over time. Making healthy lifestyle choices, staying on top of recommended screenings, and doing regular self-breast exams are all proactive steps that can help you better understand your body and catch potential problems earlier.
Monthly self-exams are one way to be proactive about breast care. It’s important that you become familiar with your breasts to know what is typical for your body. When you become aware of what is normal for your body and what isn’t, you are more likely to spot problems early.
A breast self-exam is an early detection tool that you can use to monitor for any changes to your breasts. When you know how they normally look and feel, you're more likely to notice any changes.
With that being said, self-exams aren’t a replacement for professional mammograms and ultrasound screenings, but they are an important complement.
Most professional healthcare organizations recommend that a breast self-exam be done once a month. That will help you become familiar with your normal breast tissue and notice things that are out of the ordinary.
The goal of breast self-exams is to learn what’s *normal for you* so you can quickly spot any new changes. Most women are encouraged to begin doing self-breast exams at around 20 years old. This can help you build an early baseline for what is normal.
The best time to examine your breasts is typically a few days after your menstrual cycle ends. They are less likely to be tender or swollen at that time. If you no longer have periods, choose the same date each month and schedule it in your calendar. That way, it becomes part of your routine. Ultimately, consistency is the key.
Over the years, recommendations around self-breast exams have shifted. Experts now emphasize breast self-awareness rather than focusing only on a formal, step-by-step exam. The goal isn’t to rely on self-exams as your primary screening tool, but to know how your breasts normally look and feel so you can recognize changes quickly and speak with your doctor.
Still, self-exams are helpful when used alongside other screening tools, like breast ultrasound and mammography. The goal is simply to understand your own baseline. Self-exams are useful for building that awareness, but they are meant to complement proven screening methods, not replace them.
Wondering how to do a breast self-exam? The good news is that it’s easy. You don't need any special tools or techniques. The goal is simply to become familiar with how your breasts normally feel and look.
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to do a breast self-exam and what to look for.
A breast lump is a common sign of breast cancer and definitely something to be on the lookout for when doing breast self-exams. But here are some other things to look for:
Many symptoms may also be associated with benign conditions. However, it's important to always have any new changes checked by your doctor.
If you have had a mammogram, you might have noticed this finding: dense breast tissue.
Are dense breasts firmer? No, this does not mean that your breast tissue feels dense or firm. It describes how it looks on imaging, like mammograms.
It's a pretty common finding; however, if you have dense breast tissue, it's even more important to do regular self-breast exams. That is because it can be harder to detect cancer on a mammogram if you have dense breasts. Therefore, supplemental imaging (ultrasound) and regular self-breast exams are especially important.
This can significantly improve detection. Research shows that adding an ultrasound to routine mammography can increase breast cancer detection rates up to 96% in women with dense breasts.
By conducting regular self-exams, scheduling annual mammograms with your doctor and making an appointment for a screening ultrasound at HerScan, you can stay on top of your breast health and be more likely to detect any abnormalities or changes as early as possible.