Breast cancer is the number one cancer killer of women in Hong Kong, so breast examination is as important as cervical examination. Women aged 18 or above should self-examine their breasts every month on the days between menstruation. It is recommended that a doctor check for lumps in the chest during annual breast examinations. For those who have never had a gynecological examination, the examination is more or less unfamiliar and even scary. The physical examination helps to understand the physical condition. In particular, many gynecological diseases, such as cervical cancer and breast cancer, have no obvious early symptoms and must be diagnosed through regular physical examinations. Theoretically, women should start receiving physical examinations after they have completed their development, and they should have regular physical examinations after they have sexual intercourse.
The correct method of physical examination is to meet with your family doctor regularly every year, discuss with him your lifestyle, physical condition, mental and physical conditions, and exercise habits in the past year, and conduct various basic examinations. The doctor will then evaluate whether you need to undergo a specialist or more in-depth examination. However, there are some examination items that everyone should undergo when they reach a certain age or physical condition. Generally speaking, family doctors will also make similar recommendations, so you may wish to pay attention.
Many people wonder whether they should undergo breast ultrasound ormammography. In fact, generally speaking, only women over 40 years old or those who have stopped menstruating need to undergo it once a year. If young women really want to undergo these examinations, the accuracy of ultrasound should be higher than that of X-ray imaging, because the density of premenstrual breast tissue is higher, which will indirectly affect the accuracy of X-ray imaging.
However, women over 40 years old should undergo clinical examination at least every 2 years and undergo mammography. Mammography can detect early-stage breast cancer that is not palpable or has not formed a tumor. Breast cancer detected using ultrasound is mostly an already formed tumor. Mammography can make up for the shortcomings of ultrasound and can detect early stage breast cancer, benign tumors and breast hyperplasia early.
The above information is for reference only. If you have any medical questions, you should consult your doctor.