Breast Cancer Screening-For Your Prevention Now
Shiv Majumdar

Defined Tag: Breast Cancer Screening.

If you think that you may be at risk for breast cancer, or just want to stay more aware of your health so that you can take preventative measures, you'll want to ask your doctor about breast cancer screening. These tests can be done when you schedule them at the doctor's office, and there are certain parts of your yearly physical, including the mammogram, that will let you know if you are at risk.

The mammogram is the most common form of breast cancer screening; the breasts are placed in a machine that compresses the tissues and allows the doctor to see if there are abnormal lumps or gatherings of fibroids in the breast. This is essentially an X ray that will help doctors to detect lumps of tumors that may be too small to feel with the hands, which is why some women may not know that cancer is developing simply by doing self-examinations. After a woman reaches the age of forty, this type of breast cancer screening is recommended every year. Other screening methods include the clinical breast exam, which is a more thorough screening. The tissues are tested, as well as the areas around the breast, to make sure that the body is not contaminated with cancer in other areas that can spread to the chest area. This test is usually done by hand, and the doctor will feel under the arms as well for this breast cancer screening.

More detailed screening tests may be done if you request them, such as taking a tissue sample, or getting an MRI. These tests will let you know if you need to make any major lifestyle changes in order to reduce your likelihood of developing cancer, and will let you know if there are any small lumps of tumors that need to be removed right away.

Before you go in for your breast cancer screening, it is important to do examinations yourself every month or so, even though these tests will not always tell you everything you need to know about cancer. However, when you are testing your breasts on a regular basis, you'll be able to detect lumps quicker. It's also important to be familiar with the regular shape and size of your breasts, so that you will not think that something is wrong if your doctor sees that one breast is larger than the other.

If you want to know more about breast cancer screening, and think that it's time for you to make an appointment with your doctor, you can visit sites like www.breastcancer.org for more information on the different types of tests that are available to you.