Training of Roma Health Mediators in Reproductive Health

Participant document
BREAST SELF-EXAM
Check Your Breasts Once a Month
For menstruating women, check your breasts after your period stops. If you have reached
menopause and no longer menstruate, pick a day that is easy to remember (like the first
day of the month).
Look at Your Breasts in the Mirror
1. Stand in front of a mirror, with your arms at your side, and look at your breasts.
2. Lift your arms over your head and look at your breasts.
3. With your elbows raised, hold your wrists together just below the chin. Press
firmly on your arms and look at your breasts.
In each of these positions, look for any changes in the size or shape of your breasts.
Look at the skin also. Does it pucker or dimple? Has the texture of the skin changed?
Check Each Breast Completely
4. Lie flat on your back. Put a pillow under the shoulder of the breast that you are
checking. Lift your arm on this side and place that hand behind your head. Then,
start checking the breast with your other hand. Begin checking in your armpit,
feeling for any grainy or firm lumps. To feel for lumps or changes, use the finger
pads of your middle fingers and make three little circles. With the first circle,
press gently. With the next two circles, feel a little deeper in the same position.
Then move your fingers down slightly, without lifting them, and make three more
little circles. Continue making little circles as you move your hand up and down
the entire breast area. Make sure you check the entire breast. Since you have
breast tissue that wraps around the side of your chest, remember to check that
area, too. Some women prefer to start at the nipple and work outward in a
circular motion until the entire breast is checked. Others check from the nipple out
to the edge of the breast, and back to the nipple, like the spokes on a wheel. The
important thing is to check every part of the breast. Check the same way each
month and remember how your breasts feel from month to month.
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RFHI/JSI Romania Training of RHMs in Reproductive Health Session 12: Breast and Cervical Cancer