Touch, Look, Check: A Friendly Nudge for Breast Awareness Month

Let’s have the chat we all mean to have and keep putting off. It takes about five minutes, you don’t need to get dressed up for it, and it might be the most useful thing you do for yourself this week.

October is Breast Awareness Month, and at Little Women we spend our days talking about breasts of every shape and size – mostly the smaller ones, naturally. So we’d be a pretty poor friend if we didn’t pop up and ask: have you checked lately?

Whatever your cup size, this one’s for you

Here’s the thing nobody says out loud often enough: breast awareness isn’t just for the women with the most to check. AAA, AA, A or DD, you’ve got breast tissue, and it deserves your attention. Being small doesn’t make you exempt, and it doesn’t make a change any less worth noticing.

Know what’s normal for you

There’s no such thing as a textbook breast. Yours are as individual as your fingerprints, and they can feel different at different times of the month. That’s exactly why the best thing you can do is get to know what’s normal for you, so that you’ll spot it when something isn’t.

Touch. Look. Check.

The Breast Cancer Touch, Look, Check campaign keeps it simple, and so will we. Touch your breasts – in the shower, when you’re putting on your moisturiser, whenever suits you. Look for anything that seems different to you. There’s no special technique, and no need to feel you’re doing it wrong. It’s about noticing change, whatever that looks like for you. Check anything unusual with your GP.

If something feels different

Don’t wait, and please don’t go down a late-night Google spiral either. Make an appointment with your GP and get it looked at. Most changes turn out not to be serious, but it’s always better to find out sooner rather than later. And if you’re nervous about going, take a friend.

Make it a habit

The trick with any good habit is making it easy. Pop a reminder in your phone for the same day each month. Stick a note on the bathroom mirror. Or do what we’d suggest: text a friend, and agree to check in with each other. A little accountability goes a long way, and it’s a lovely thing to do for each other.

One last thing

You look after your wardrobe, your friends, your family and probably far too many people at work. Take five minutes for you. Touch, look, check – and then go and put the kettle on.