The One Place You're Probably Forgetting When You Do A Breast Check
Illustrator: Lia Liao For HuffPost It's important to check your underarms when your doing self-breast exams. It’s rare and unusual, but it definitely happens.” Below, Yeh and other experts break down what happens with the underarm lymph nodes in these situations and the best way to check that area. “When breast cancer spreads, it tends to spread through the nearby lymph nodes,” explained Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society. When that checkpoint area gets enlarged, meaning you feel a lymph node in your underarm area, it can signify that there’s something going on.” Lymph nodes generally become enlarged when there’s an infection. “As you palpate or feel the area, if you press too deep, you may miss some of the superficial lymph nodes you’re compressing down,” she explained.
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