Tag: Breast

Health

Making Checking for Breast Lumps Easier

Jayne1 Comment

A few years ago, I thought I had found a lump in my breast. Well, it was more in my armpit actually and it scared the heck out of me. I’d been to the doctors before about what I thought were lumps and the doctors had always examined me and sent me on my way with a “it’s nothing to worry about, some women just have lumpier boobs than others”, but this felt different. It was hard and pea-sized and felt tender to the touch. I obsessed over it for days before finally taking the plunge, and the doctor obviously thought it was enough of something to be concerned about and sent me to the breast clinic at the hospital. After a thorough exam and an ultrasound of the area, the specialists came to the conclusion that it was just a cyst and nothing to worry about, but it has prompted me to be even more on-the-ball when it comes to self-checks.

Just recently, Husband and I were reading an article in a paper which showed all of the signs to look out for and although I thought my knowledge was on-point, there were still a couple of things that I hadn’t known to look for. Breastlight is an incredible new product to hit the market which actually allows women to look through their breast tissue to see any potential anomalies, and it’s something in which I’m seriously considering an investment. Watch the video below for more information:

Making a breast-check part of your routine could make a massive difference to the detection of any lumps which may be cancerous, and the results speak for themselves:

Breastlight Was well received and Understood
  • 78% of women said Breastlight was easy to use
  • Breastlight was clearly seen by women (over 99%) as  an addition to their current breast awareness & screening routines rather than a substitute
Breastlight encouraged more frequent breast awareness
  • After using Breastlight, regular checkers (once a month and more) increased from 44% to 76%
  • After using Breastlight, less frequent and non – checkers decreased fom 34% to 8%
Breastlight improved women’s confidence in self checking
  • 80% were more confident after using Breastlight
 Breastlight was particularly valued by certain groups
  • Women 30 – 49 who are not having regular mammograms
  • Women with lumpy breasts
  • Women with large breasts
Of the 1087 women, 14 (1.3%) consulted a GP because they were concerned

Of these, three have had mammograms and one was subsequently diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. She has had an operation and is recovering well.

The outcome of the mammograms for the two other women is awaited.

Breast checks made easier with Breastlight

Would you consider using a Breastlight? Do you think this would help you to be more thorough in checking your own breasts? Do leave me a comment below as I’d love to hear from you.

Health

Sponsored Video: The Tweeting Bra

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I love a good bit of technology, especially one that makes my life a bit easier, which is why when Nestle Fitness got in touch and asked me to write about their tweeting bra, I was well and truly intrigued! A built-in low voltage Bluetooth unit is installed within the hook of the Tweeting Bra. Each time Greek celebrity Maria Bakodimou unhooks the bra, a signal is sent to the phone with the designated @TweetingBra account and a tweet is posted to remind their followers about the monthly self-exam.

As a woman, I try to remember to self-check my breasts as often as possible, but it’s definitely something that I should do more often, and I know I’m not alone in that, so I’m sure there are millions of women who could do with a reminder – which equates to thousands of women who could be saved by catching breast cancer in its earliest stages.

A couple of years after Sausage was born, I had a lump in my boob myself. I thought I’d go to the G.P. and they’d tell me it was nothing, but they were concerned about what they felt and referred me to the breast unit at my local hospital. Mercifully, the appointment came through quickly so I didn’t have to wait for too long and after being seen by a consultant they decided that the lump was nothing to worry about. Lumps can be caused by hormonal changes, which is what they concluded had caused mine, but getting it checked AS SOON as you spot it is absolutely vital.

Cancer is never the easiest topic to talk about – if I’m honest, I don’t even like saying or typing the word, but the more we face up to the dangers, the more chance we have of beating it.

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Some facts you may not have known about breast cancer:

+ Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Around 55,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year – of these about 400 are men (source: breastcancercare.org.uk)
+ Around 50,000 women and 400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year
+ One woman in eight will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Women diagnosed with breast cancer are now twice as likely to survive the disease for at least ten years than those diagnosed forty years ago.
+ More people are surviving breast cancer than ever before
+ Over 80% of women with breast cancer are still alive five years after diagnosis
+ 40 years ago, the five year survival rate for breast cancer was around 50 per cent
+ People are surviving longer thanks to advances in research, new treatments, earlier diagnosis, breast screening and breast cancer awareness.

If you’d like to learn more about the Tweeting Bra, go to the Tweeting Bra Website, or follow on Twitter to get reminders straight to your timeline, and get involved using the #tweetingbra hashtag.

Post sponsored by Nestlé Fitness