Whilst I am a big advocate of self examination, when it comes to the crunch, it is useless for me personally.

I have fibrocystitis and therefore very lumpy/clumpy and stringy boobs. Which makes breast checks almost pointless - if I freaked out and went to the doctor everytime I felt a lump or a new lump, I would be there everyday.

I do have 2 lumps they are aware of which are quite large, but given my family history now, I was advised by my mums oncologist that I now have to have ultrasounds on my ovaries and breasts every 6 months, and a breastcheck is almost pointless.

I certainly think women should be encouraged to self-check often and from a young age, to get to knw their own breasts and find out how it changes over the course of your cycle, and hopefully you will find the lumps when they appear...but in terms of early detection, I'm inclined to listen to an oncologist when he tells me the best way (given my young age) to find problems is through ultra sound