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The overall ratio of female to male breast cancer is about 100 to 1 in the United States.
Although that sounds like a small number, that's still roughly about 1,700 to 1,800
men who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Therefore it's very important for
a man to start performing their monthly breast self-exam in order to become familiar with
their breast tissue, and enable them to detect any changes in breast tissue that should be
communicated to their physician. Although a woman is required to perform her monthly
breast self-exam about 5-7 days after the end of her menstrual cycle, a man does not
have the same hormonal swings, therefore they should pick one day a month to perform their
monthly exam. Lying in a horizontal or supine position, the man should raise his right arm
over his head, prop a pillow underneath his shoulder blade, thereby exposing more of the
breast tissue. With the left hand he can examine the right breast thoroughly and completely,
covering the axillary area, which extends from the armpit down to the breast tissue,
extending below the breast to the mid-sternum and the collarbone -this is the area that
a man needs to perform his examination. When performing his examination, he uses the pads
of his first two or three fingertips and presses firmly, but gently, and continues to palpate
the skin, looking for any abnormalities such as a lump that could be hard or soft with
even or uneven edges, or also pay special attention to areas of tenderness. Continue
in a grid fashion until the area of examination has been thoroughly examined and then move
and continue down to the breast tissue. A man has smaller *** than a woman, and
thereby a breast self-examination typically takes less time, but should be equally as
thorough. With smaller ***, breast cancer can spread to the area of the chest wall quickly,
thereby causing the man to experience a later stage cancer. Yes, men do get breast cancer,
and they should perform monthly breast self-examinations just as women do. As a matter of fact, it's
critical that men start performing because breast cancer cases among men are on the rise.