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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffA breast exam is a self-inspection of your beasts. During a breast exam, you use your eyes and hands to observe the appearance and feel of your breasts.
Breast exams allow you to become more familiar with your breasts. This may give you a greater awareness of the condition of your breasts. Breast exams may help identify potential breast problems.
Breast exams, once thought essential for early breast cancer detection, are now considered optional. While other breast cancer screening tests have been proved to save lives, there's no evidence that breast exams can do this. What's now stressed is breast awareness — being familiar with the normal consistency of your breasts and the underlying tissue, as well as inspecting your breasts for new changes.
- How to perform a breast self-exam. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_How_to_perform_a_breast_self_exam_5.asp. Accessed Nov. 19, 2009.
- Breast awareness and breast self-exam. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/breast-self-exam.cfm. Accessed Nov. 19, 2009.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for breast cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2009;151:716.
- Breast self-examination. Breast Health Access for Women with Disabilities. http://www.bhawd.org/sitefiles/bse/bse_broc.html. Accessed Nov. 19, 2009.
- Breast cancer screening: Q&A. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/BreastScreenQandA. Accessed Nov. 19, 2009.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 19, 2009.
