palpation
Last reviewed 01/2018
The patient should be positioned on an examination couch with the backrest at an angle of 45 degrees and rolled slightly to the contralateral side.
Get the patient to point to the site of the pain or the lump. Examine the normal breast first.
Ask the patient to elevate and place behind her head, the arm on the side to be examined. Palpate in turn:
- breast
- nipple and areola
- axilla and nodes