Remember: These aren't hard and fast rules, says Port, but they may help you distinguish when something is off.

But if you happen to feel something hard, irregularly shaped, or fixed (it's not moving with your breast tissue but staying in one place), tell your doctor. You're typically just going to be getting used to your boobs so you know when something is off. The best way to stay on top of what's normal is to get familiar with your boobs once a month, ideally a week after your period (so you're not dealing with more fibrocystic breast changes). So starting at your collarbone (which would be 12 o'clock) and sweeping down to your nipple, then 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc. There are a few ways to do this, but Pruthi suggests making a sweeping motion towards your nipple in a clock-face pattern. This is called breast self-awareness, and it's all about knowing what your boobs typically look and feel like throughout the day and throughout your menstrual cycle. BUT most breast cancer experts strongly suggest feeling yourself up to know what your normal is. And if you're transitioning from a man to a woman and taking hormones, your doctor may advise you to follow the same breast cancer screening guidelines as cisgender women (we'll talk more about screening guidelines in a bit).ДЄccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), there's no evidence that monthly breast self-exams are effective in screening for breast cancer. If you're transitioning from a woman to a man, you can still get breast cancer as long as you still have breasts, says Pruthi.

But if they're exposed to estrogen in the form of medications or drugs they're taking, they may be more at risk for developing breast cancer.ДЄlthough there aren't statistics available for the prevalence of breast cancer in transgender individuals, it's important to remember that anyone is at risk. Male breasts are very similar to female breasts, though they typically have more fatty tissue than connective tissue because they're producing less estrogen, says Pruthi. About 1 in 8 women will get some form of breast cancer at some point in life, and the rate for men is about 1 in 1,000, according to the American Cancer Society. Hint: It isВ notВ as bad as you think it is.Women, men, cisgender, transgender - anyone with breast tissue can get breast cancer. Nervous? Most women are! So we rounded up some ladies who recently lost their mammogram virginity and asked them to tell us what it's really like. But what itВ feelsВ like is a completely different experience than that clinical description. The x-rays are then read and you get results anywhere from several minutes to several weeks later. So what exactly happens when you get your first mammogram? The technical details are pretty simple: You take your top off and a lab tech helps you position each breast on the machine so they can take an x-ray. (Depending on your risk factors, your doctor may recommend you start getting them earlier or have a 'baseline' mammogram done in your thirties or early forties.) This is why the American Cancer Society recommends every woman start getting annual mammograms at age 45. Along with self-exams and regular doctor check-ups, mammograms are a key part of catching breast cancer in the early, more treatable stages. It's no one's idea of a good time-having your boobs manhandled and squished between metal plates while someone takes pictures sounds more horror film than medical necessity-but it's necessary. Like getting your first pap smear or having your first PMS breakdown in a public place, getting a mammogram is just one of those things women do because it's part of the business of being a woman.

Boob squish