How do you check for breast dimpling?

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer that afflicts American women and the second leading cause of death from cancer for women (after lung cancer). About 1 in every 11 women eventually develops breast cancer. However, when breast cancer is found early and treated immediately, the chances for cure are much improved. For this reason, all women over the age of 18 should be sure to perform monthly self-exams.

Nội dung chính Show

Why it's done
Get the latest breast cancer information from Mayo Clinic delivered in your inbox.
How you prepare
What you can expect
Begin with a visual examination of your breasts
Next, use your hands to examine your breasts
What's normal
When to contact your doctor
Clinical trials
What does breast dimpling feel like?
What does pitting of the breast look like?
What does IBC dimpling look like?

A breast self-exam checks for lumps, thickening, dimples in the breast, and discharge from the nipple. Examine your breasts once a month at the end of your period, when your breasts usually aren't tender or swollen. To conduct a breast self exam, follow this simple, 3-step process, referring to the pictures below for more information:

Step 1

Examine your breasts in the shower or bath. With your fingers flat, move gently over the entire area of each breast, checking for any lump, hard knob, or thickening.

Step 2

Examine your breasts while standing in front of a mirror. Look at them first with your hands at your sides, then with your hands raised over your head, then with your hands pressed firmly on your hips so that your chest muscles are flexed. Look for lumps, new differences in size and shape, and swelling or dimpling of the skin. It is usually normal for your right and left breasts not to match exactly.

Step 3

Examine your breasts while lying down. Put a small pillow or rolled up towel under your shoulder on your left side and put your left arm under your head. With your right hand examine your left breast by pressing gently in small circular motions around an imaginary clock face. Begin at 12 o'clock (top of your breast), then move to 10 o'clock, and around the circle back to 12. Then move in an inch, toward the nipple, keep circling until you reach the nipple. Squeeze the nipple gently between thumb and index finger. Any discharge should be reported to your health care provider as soon as possible. Repeat with your right breast. Feel for any lumps or thickening which cannot be felt in the same area in the other breast.

If you find a lump, dimple, or discharge during your breast self-exam, see your provider as soon as possible. Don't be frightened. Most lumps are not cancerous, but only a health care provider can make the diagnosis. Call the Sexual Health Clinic at 245-5738 to schedule an appointment.

Overview

A breast self-exam for breast awareness is an inspection of your breasts that you do on your own. To help increase your breast awareness, you use your eyes and hands to determine if there are any changes to the look and feel of your breasts.

If you notice new breast changes, discuss these with your doctor. Though most breast changes detected during a self-exam for breast awareness have benign causes, some changes may signal something serious, such as breast cancer.

Most medical organizations don't recommend routine breast self-exams as a part of breast cancer screening. That's because breast self-exams haven't been shown to be effective in detecting cancer or improving survival for women who have breast cancer.

Still, doctors believe there is value in women being familiar with their own breasts, so they understand what's normal and promptly report changes.

Why it's done

A breast self-exam that you do for breast awareness helps you understand the normal look and feel of your breasts. If you notice a change in your breasts that seems abnormal or if you notice one breast is different when compared with the other, you can report it to your doctor.

There are many conditions that can cause changes in your breasts, including breast cancer.

Although the breast self-exam technique isn't always a reliable way to detect breast cancer, a significant number of women report that the first sign of their breast cancer was a new breast lump they discovered on their own. For this reason, doctors recommend being familiar with the normal consistency of your breasts.

Get the latest breast cancer information from Mayo Clinic delivered in your inbox.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Risks

A breast self-exam for breast awareness is a safe way to become familiar with the normal look and feel of your breasts.

However, there are some limitations and risks, including:

Anxiety caused by finding a lump. Most of the changes or lumps women find in their breasts aren't cancerous. Still, finding something suspicious in your breast can make you anxious about what it may mean. You may endure several days of worry until you can see your doctor.
Additional tests and procedures may be necessary to check out lumps or changes. If you discover a suspicious lump, you may end up having imaging test such as a diagnostic mammogram or a breast ultrasound, or a procedure to remove breast tissue for examination (biopsy). If it turns out the lump was noncancerous (benign), you might feel that you've undergone an invasive procedure unnecessarily.
Overestimating the benefits of self-exams. A breast self-exam isn't a substitute for a breast exam by your doctor (clinical breast exam) or a screening mammogram. Becoming familiar with the normal look and feel of your breasts can supplement breast cancer screening, but can't replace it.

Discuss the benefits and limitations of being familiar with the consistency of your breasts with your doctor.

How you prepare

To prepare for your breast self-exam for breast awareness:

Ask your doctor for a demonstration. Before you begin breast self-exams for breast awareness, you may find it helpful to discuss the instructions and technique with your doctor.
If you menstruate, choose a time in your cycle when your breasts are least tender. Your hormone levels fluctuate each month during your menstrual cycle, which causes changes in breast tissue. Swelling begins to decrease when your period starts. The best time to perform a self-exam for breast awareness is usually the week after your period ends.

What you can expect

Begin with a visual examination of your breasts

Sit or stand shirtless and braless in front of a mirror with your arms at your sides. To inspect your breasts visually, do the following:

Face forward and look for puckering, dimpling, or changes in size, shape or symmetry.
Check to see if your nipples are turned in (inverted).
Inspect your breasts with your hands pressed down on your hips.
Inspect your breasts with your arms raised overhead and the palms of your hands pressed together.
Lift your breasts to see if ridges along the bottom are symmetrical.

If you have a vision impairment that makes it difficult for you to visually inspect your breasts, ask a trusted friend or a family member to help you.

Next, use your hands to examine your breasts

Common ways to perform the manual part of the breast exam include:

Lying down. Choose a bed or other flat surface to lie down on your back. When lying down, breast tissue spreads out, making it thinner and easier to feel.
In the shower. Lather your fingers and breasts with soap to help your fingers glide more smoothly over your skin.

When examining your breasts, some general tips to keep in mind include:

Use the pads of your fingers. Use the pads, not the very tips, of your three middle fingers for the exam. If you have difficulty feeling with your finger pads, use another part of your hand that is more sensitive, such as your palm or the backs of your fingers.
Use different pressure levels. Your goal is to feel different depths of the breast by using different levels of pressure to feel all the breast tissue. Use light pressure to feel the tissue closest to the skin, medium pressure to feel a little deeper, and firm pressure to feel the tissue closest to the chest and ribs. Be sure to use each pressure level before moving on to the next spot. If you're not sure how hard to press, talk with your doctor or nurse.
Take your time. Don't rush. It may take several minutes to carefully examine your breasts.
Follow a pattern. Use a methodical technique to ensure you examine your entire breast. For instance, imagine the face of a clock over your breast or the slices of a pie. Begin near your collarbone and examine that section, moving your fingers toward your nipple. Then move your fingers to the next section.

If you have a disability that makes it difficult to examine your breasts using this technique, you likely can still conduct a breast self-exam. Ask your doctor to show you ways you can examine your breasts.

Results

What's normal

Many women find lumps or changes in their breasts, since some of these are normal changes that occur at various points in the menstrual cycles. Finding a change or lump in your breast is not a reason to panic. Breasts often feel different in different places. A firm ridge along the bottom of each breast is normal, for instance. The look and feel of your breasts will change as you age.

When to contact your doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you notice:

A hard lump or knot near your underarm
Changes in the way your breasts look or feel, including thickening or prominent fullness that is different from the surrounding tissue
Dimples, puckers, bulges or ridges on the skin of your breast
A recent change in a nipple to become pushed in (inverted) instead of sticking out
Redness, warmth, swelling or pain
Itching, scales, sores or rashes
Bloody nipple discharge

Your doctor may recommend additional tests and procedures to investigate breast changes, including a clinical breast exam, mammogram and ultrasound.

Clinical trials

Explore Mayo Clinic studies of tests and procedures to help prevent, detect, treat or manage conditions.

What does breast dimpling feel like?

If your skin dimpling is caused by inflammatory breast cancer, you may have the following symptoms: The affected breast may swell and feel warm. The affected breast may be especially tender. You may feel pain in the affected breast.

What does pitting of the breast look like?

Pitting breast skin This type of cancer also changes the appearance of your breasts. You may notice dimpling or pitting, and the skin on your breast may begin to look like an orange peel due to underlying inflammation.

What does IBC dimpling look like?

Symptoms of IBC progress quickly, over three to six weeks, and may include: Areas of discoloration (red, pink or purple), a bruise or rash spread over one-third of your breast. Dimpling, pitting or thickening of your breast skin that resembles an orange peel.