October is the “Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign Month” every year, and more and more women are paying attention to breast health. Method 1: Self-examination Method: Once a month, the most suitable time is one week after menstruation, and women can do it from the age of 20. Self-examination should be done one week after menstruation because before menstruation, the breast tissue is engorged with blood, which can make the whole breast swell and make it easy to judge wrongly. Tip: Self-examination is to familiarize yourself with the normal bulges, lumps and bumps of the breast so that you will be sensitive to notice when it changes. The examination should pay particular attention to all those lumps that actually appear and have persisted in the same location for one or two menstrual cycles. However, about 90% of breast lumps are benign. The difference between benign and malignant lumps is that benign lumps can appear at any time in response to hormones and are especially noticeable around the time of menstruation. Method 2: Doctor’s palpation Method: Women after the age of 30 can have this done once a year as the first step in a professional mammogram. The examination includes: whether there is nipple depression, elevation, and overflow; whether there are lumps and dimples in the breast; whether the position of both breasts is consistent and whether there is any change in color. Tip: On the day of the examination, it is best to wear cardigans to facilitate the examination. During the examination, face the doctor, either in a standing or sitting position, and try to relax so that the doctor can come up with an accurate result. The doctor usually uses the middle 3 fingers to touch and expand in a spiral clockwise direction starting from around the areola to the entire breast tissue. If a lump is found during breastfeeding, wait until after weaning for further examination. Method 3: Infrared Scan Method: Infrared scan is particularly suitable for screening women during pregnancy and lactation. This test focuses on diagnosing breast disease by using the difference in infrared absorption rates between normal and diseased tissues to show different grayscale images such as translucent and dark. Tip: Because this test is fast and non-radioactive, it is often used as a primary screening test for breast disease in medical examinations. Note: Infrared mammography has been proven to be unable to detect breast cancer at an early stage, therefore, doctors do not recommend the use of infrared mammography in routine breast checkups in order to avoid missing the diagnosis and delaying the disease. Method 4: Ultrasound Examination Method: Ultrasound examination is mandatory when a lump is suspected in the breast. This is a preliminary screening test for breast lumps and can be used to determine the nature and location of the lump. However, it is less able to identify lumps less than 1 cm in diameter, and smaller lumps may be missed if this test is done alone. Tip: For microscopic breast cancer, the examination procedure is: breast ultrasound – if a lump is found – then mammography – if dense calcified spots are found –and finally a pathological section. Method 5: Mammogram Method: Women should have a mammogram every year after the age of 40. This exam is performed by clamping the breast to the pallet of the mammography machine in order to hold the breast in place to get a clear image, and can detect small tumor sprouts that are not palpable by hand. If these examinations are performed annually, the mortality rate of patients can be reduced to 30-40%. Tip: There may be slight pain during the examination, which is caused by the pressure of the splint on the breast and can be relieved by adjusting the body position.