breast exams?

Question

what happens during one? what do they do? does it hurt? what do you wear? HELP PLEASE

Answer 1

No, it does not hurt and is over fairly quickly. Your doctor will give you a gown to wear that usually opens at the front. If you are also having a pap done, you will likely take off all your clothes and put the gown on, otherwise, you'll just undress from the waist up and put the gown on to open at the front. Your doctor will open the gown, usually only exposing one breast at a time as the exam is done and then cover that one and open the gown on the other side to do the exam on the other breast.

A breast examination by a health professional (such as your doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner or physician assistant) is an important part of routine physical checkups.
How Often Should I Have a Clinical Breast Exam?

You should have a clinical exam at least every three years starting at age 20 and every year starting at age 40. A clinical breast exam may be recommended more frequently if you have a strong family history of breast cancer.
When Should I Schedule a Clinical Breast Exam?

Breast exams are best performed soon after your menstrual period ends, because your breasts will not be as tender and swollen as during your period. This makes it easier to detect any unusual changes. If you have stopped menstruating, schedule the yearly exam on a day that's easy for you to remember, such as your birth date.
What Happens During a Breast Physical Exam?

Your healthcare provider will ask you detailed questions about your health history, including your menstrual and pregnancy history. Questions might include what age you started menstruating, if you have children and how old you were when your first child was born.

A thorough breast exam will be performed. For the exam, you undress from the waist up. Your healthcare provider will look at your breasts for changes in size or shape. Your provider may ask you to lift your arms over your head, put your hands on your hips or lean forward. He or she will examine your breasts for any skin changes including rashes, dimpling or redness. This is a good time to learn how to do a breast self-exam if you don't already know how.

As you lay on your back with your arms behind your head, your healthcare provider will examine your breasts with the pads of the fingers to detect lumps or other changes. The area under both arms will also be examined.

Your healthcare provider will gently press around your nipple to check for any discharge. If there is discharge, a sample may be collected for examination under a microscope...

Answer 2

It won't hurt. You won't be wearing anything while he examines your breasts. You'll have a gown on, but he'll pull it down to bare your breasts and then he'll examine each of them in turn.

Answer 3

are you talking about a simple breast exam in the docs office or a mammogram? A regular breast exam is not painful. they give you a gown. the doc has you lay backa nd you put your arm over your head. The doc the palpitates the breast to feel for abnormalities. This is usally not painful unless you have a growth thats causing pain but otherwise its not a big deal.
If you are going to get a mammogram you'll be wearing a gown thats open in front. they place your breast on this cold plate thingy and another plate comes down and squishes it flattening it out. This is uncomfortable but not awful and it only last a few seconds while the picture is being taken. You just have to hold still. If you have a cyst or tumor or are breastfeeding it might be painful.

Answer 4

if it is just a breast examination.no mammogram.they might do plain x rays,plus palpatate your breast to see if they can feel any lumps.wear a blouse and bra,something easy to remove.their will be no pain.just go into the clinic and relax.good luck,happy new year

Answer 5

The docoter will have you place the arm on the side of the breast he/she will be examining behind your head. They will palpate (gently push) the breast tissue in a circular motion around the entire breast, working inward towards the nipple. They gently sqeeze the nipple to look for discharge. None of this should hurt at all. You will have a sheet covering any part of your body not being examined. Make sure you ask the doctor to show you how to do this yourself. Self breast exam should be done at least once a month and a good time is while you are in the shower. Your doctor should be able to give you a phamplet telling you exactly how to do it.

Answer 6

If you are talking about a mammogram, sometimes they "pinch" -- I've had breast cancer and have had MANY.

If a doctor is just going to examine you, the doc will just rub hard (doesn't hurt) to feel for lumps --- they know what they're looking for, trust me on this.

If you need any advice, send me a message -- I've been through the ringer!!! BUT I'M OKAY (49) and my mom died from breast cancer BECAUSE she didn't get checked in time.

Answer 7

A mammogram uses low levels of radiation to provide a black-and-white X-ray image of your breast. This image varies according to breast density, with tumors typically appearing denser than normal breast tissue. However, the breast tissue tends to more dense in young women, which makes it difficult to distinguish between normal breast tissue and potentially cancerous tumors on the mammograms in this group. Therefore, physicians do not typically recommend this screening method for women under age 40 — unless they are at increased hereditary risk for breast cancer. For these high-risk women, because the risk of early breast cancer is so much greater, physicians believe that the chance of a confusing or false positive mammogram result is outweighed by the possibility that early cancer will be detected. For this reason they do recommend screening at a younger age, although this remains somewhat controversial.

Mammograms detect potentially dangerous masses that cannot be felt or seen with the naked eye, which makes them an important screening tool for older women. However, mammograms can also identify benign or precancerous areas that look like cancer but are not. Three of the most common such conditions are cysts, fibroadenomas, and microcalcifications.

Answer 8

They just feel your breasts for lumps. You should wear easy to remove clothing.

Answer 9

You lay back on a table. They raise an arm over your head, uncover just one breast on the arm side, and start pressing in circles from the outside in, feeling for lumps. They gently squeeze the nipple, looking for discharge (a bad sign unless you're PG or nursing). Then they cover you up, raise other arm, uncover other breast, and do it again. No big whoop, really.

Answer 10

They will tell you to take off your shirt and bra, and you will put on one of the paper sheets as a shirt. It doesn't hurt. They just feel around for abnormal feelings, such as lumps caused by cancers. Dont worry though, some women have lumps and its not cancer, it's just tissue. It's actually not a big deal, so no worries. = ) Happy new year.