MIDLAND, Texas — While it may not be as common in men as it is in women, studies show that around one in 800 men will get diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S.
"We have diagnosed men here at Midland at the Breast Center and one year we had multiple men that were diagnosed with breast cancer," said Jenifer Dumire, Genetic Navigator at the Breast Center.
Which is why at the Breast Center in Midland, health professionals stress the importance of men giving themselves monthly self exams at home.
"Breast self exams are usually best done in the shower or somewhere you're wet and soapy and your hands rub easily over that breast tissue and just go from the top to the bottom. There's not really a meticulous way to do it, it's just doing it consistently the same way and like I said training your brain on what your normal tissue looks like," said Dumire.
If you do feel something out of the ordinary that causes concern, then you're encouraged to make an appointment with a doctor for a mammogram and ultrasound.
"The same with men, they have breast tissue and we can get it in there. It is a little more tedious, but we can, but of course ultrasound is just very easily done because it's just taking the machine and putting it across that tissue to see what it looks like," Dumire said. "Then you know of course if we found something that was concerning then we would proceed from there with a biopsy."
Checking yourself for just a couple of minutes once a month can help with early detection and could potentially save your life.
"Because early detection and early treatment is why breast cancer is second to skin cancer and 10 year survival rate because of the early interventions and screenings that we have available," said Dumire.