Standing Techniques for Male Breast Exams

Video Transcript

"Monthly breast examinations are equally important for men as they are with women. Breast cancer symptoms are the same in men as they are in women. However, men don't associate their symptoms to the disease. This enables breast cancer to grow to later stages. And male breast cancer diagnosis are often diagnosed in later stages, which allows breast cancer to grow and spread, making treatment options more difficult and mortality rates higher. One way men can fight back against the fight against breast cancer is to perform monthly breast self examinations. One method of performing self examination is standing in the shower. In a vertical position, a man raises his right hand over his head to examine his right breast. He protrudes his right breast tissue forward or outward and examines his breast using the pads of his left hand. With the first two or first three finger pads, a man examines his axillary area here, extending across the collar bone to the sternum, down below the breast and back up to the underarm area. Pay special attention to this quadrant, the upper, outer quadrant, which is where most breast tissue actually occurs. With the pads of the first three or two fingers, the man presses firmly but gently and prods or palpates the breast tissue, looking for any abnormality such as lump, which may be hard or soft, or areas of tenderness. The man should perform the, the examination using a grid fashion. With the fingers palpating or walking slowly across the breast tissue, the man can look for any abnormalities in the axillary area or down across the breast tissue. It is important to know that men do get breast cancer and following a monthly routine to check your breasts will help you to become more familiar with your breast tissue and enable you to better detect a change in breast tissue that should be referred to your physician immediately."