Women's Health

What Affects the Test

Reasons why the results may not be helpful include:

• Changes in your breasts or breast tenderness that occur during your menstrual cycle.
• Examining your breasts at different times in your menstrual cycle. This may make it difficult to compare results of one examination with those of another.
• Having fibrocystic lumps. These may make a breast self-examination difficult because lumps occur throughout the breast. The fibrocystic lumps can also become tender before your menstrual cycle.

What To Think About

• Medical experts disagree about the need for regular breast self-examinations. Some doctors still encourage regular BSE. But it is unknown if breast self-examinations are helpful in finding breast cancer.¹
• An apparently normal breast self-examination does not rule out breast cancer. Breast self-examinations should not replace regular clinical breast examinations by a doctor and mammograms. For more information, see the topics Clinical Breast Examination and Mammogram.
• If you have a breast lump that you are concerned about, see your doctor to determine the cause. Remember, most breast lumps are not caused by cancer. A breast biopsy may be needed to fully evaluate a breast lump. For more information, see the topic Breast Biopsy.
• A pad, the breast self-examination (BSE) pad, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as an aid in breast self-examination. The sensor pad is made of two layers of plastic with a small amount of liquid silicone inside. It is supposed to make breast lumps easier to detect by reducing the amount of rubbing (friction) between the fingers and the breast skin. The sensor pad is available without a prescription at many pharmacies.

Other Places To Get Help

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