Ladies, How Often Do You Self-Examine Your Breasts? Here Is Why It Is Crucial For Your Well-Being

How alarming is it that in every 4 minutes, a woman in India is diagnosed with breast cancer?

October is marked as International Breast Cancer Awareness Month and everyone world wide makes multiple efforts to spread awareness.

Did you know that breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer affecting women across the globe?

Needless to say, we need more conversations around it. While regular self-examination is the key, do not forget doctor visits every once in a while.

But firsts things first… know that the devil is in the details and the details can be self-examined at home. However, due to the lack of understanding of routine breast self-examination many women succumb to this deadly disease.

The majority of breast cancer cases in women are discovered at the critical stages 3 and 4 but with regular self-examination you can eliminate the chances of advancing it any further.

But what is it that you can do?

You might know that the most common symptom for breast cancer is a painless lump. While not all the lumps are not cancerous, there’s a way to differentiate.

A cancerous lump is typically firm, difficult to move and painless.

Additionally, here are some of the other common symptoms that you can watchout for.

Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area
A rash around the nipple
Swelling under the armpit or near the collarbone
Irritation near the breasts or armpits
Mild or severe pain in your breasts or around

Unsplash

Pro Tip: Always consult your doctor if you feel any of the above symptoms. Google has mysterious (read: usually hyped) way of putting you in shock. *wink*

There is no set age at which you should start worrying about breast cancer or start booking regular checkups, breast cancer can strike people as early as in their 20s.

The biggest myth related to breast cancer is that only women can get it. Men also possess breast tissue. Although the number is quite low, a small number of men are affected by breast cancer in India.

It is best advised to start young, make it a part of your daily self-care routine because self-examination of your Double OOs can be life saving. Wondering why we said Double OO?

To extend awareness about Breast Cancer and how self-examination is the key to self-care, SBI Life in collaboration with iDiva continued its “Thanks a Dot” breast cancer awareness campaign with a focus towards empowering women.

SBI Life

This unique campaign was conducted to promote the importance of self-examination and detection of any irregularities.

This was completed by taking over the native iDiva website, where every mention of the letter “oo” (double O) was changed into a message about breast cancer awareness and a reminder to fight the disease.

Here are some of the examples;

Check it out here

SBI Life