How to Check for Lumps

Save your life by checking for lumps on a regular basis. Checking for lumps is not limited to women or breasts. You should also check under your arms, your neck and everywhere on your body. Cancer can show up anywhere in the body, even on the soles of feet. You should check your body periodically to find signs of cancer. Lumps do not necessarily mean that you have cancer, but you should see a doctor as soon as possible to find out if it is malignant (cancerous) or benign (non cancerous). There are many other things besides cancer that can cause a lump, do not panic if you find one. The Mayo Clinic advocates early detection and evaluation.

Lumps are not usually squishy, soft, fleshy material. Lumps are normally rock hard. Whether they are minutely small are getting larger, any lump that is hard should be evaluated by a doctor.

Check Your Breasts (even if you are a man)

Thoroughly check your breasts once a month by doing a breast exam. It is easy to do in the shower. Gently press down using the front of your fingers to see if you can feel a lump, keep all of your fingers together, not spread apart. If you feel a pain or notice a tender area along with a lump, contact your doctor for an appointment. Your doctor will also do an exam once a year at your annual visit.

Check Under Your Arms (armpit)

Use the same technique to check for lumps under your armpits. It is easy to check your armpits when you are doing your monthly breast exam. Because most people to not exam their under arms very often, this is a place where a lump can sneak up on you.

Check Your Neck

Check for lumps on your neck. You may want to visually check for lumps on your neck also. Cancer can move quickly, if you notice something unusual, talk to your doctor.

Check All Over Your Body

Check for lumps all over your entire body. Once a year is enough to detect a lump. If you have a family history of breast cancer or any type of cancer, you may want to do the all over body check sooner. You should also learn the techniques to recognize skin cancer, so that you can check for it each year.

Reduce your risk of cancer by living a healthy lifestyle. Avoid smoking, drinking and illegal drug use. Eat healthy and maintain and healthy body weight.