Breast exams are an important part of your healthcare routine and include regular physical examination of your breasts as well as mammograms and other types of screening methods, including ultrasounds.
These check-ups and tests can help detect breast cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage.
While your physician will check your breasts during a wellness visit, we encourage our patients to do monthly breast self-exams to look for anything unusual. That includes breast lumps, changes in size or shape, fluid leaking from the nipples, or irregular thickening of tissue.
Unless you have certain risk factors - like a family history of breast cancer - we recommend having annual mammograms beginning at age 40. Ultrasounds are used to assess any abnormalities that may be found during a clinical exam or a mammogram.