You should give yourself a breast exam as often as once a month.
The best time to perform a self breast exam is 3 to 5 days after your period begins and you should perform the self breast exam the same time every month.
3 to 5 days after your period starts your breasts won't be as tender or lumpy in your monthly cycle.
If you have gone through menopause you should also do your self breast exam on the same day every month.
All women should check their breasts for lumps, thicknesses and other changes every month.
By examining your breasts regularly, you will know how your breasts normally feel.
To give yourself a breast exam at home.
Use the pads of your fingers. Use the pads, not the very tips, of your three middle fingers for the exam.
Use different pressure levels. The goal is to feel different depths of the breast by using different levels of pressure to feel all the breast tissue.
Take your time. Don't rush.
Follow a pattern.
Use the pads of the middle three fingers of each hand to examine the breast on the opposite side, do not use fingertips and keep the fingers together.
Move your fingers in dime-size circles using the three levels of pressure in each spot.
The 5 warning signs of breast cancer are.
New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).
Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.
Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.
Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.
Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.
A cancerous breast lump is usually hard, not soft or squishy.
And the cancerous breast lump often has angular, irregular, asymmetrical edges, as opposed to being smooth.
In order for you to feel a cancerous breast lump, it usually has to be rather large and closer to the surface of the skin.