This month is #breastcancerawarenessmonth as part of the month we will be posting a selection of our promotional posters calling on women across the UK and the world to check their breasts.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worldwide annual campaign involving thousands of organisations, to highlight the importance of breast awareness, education and research.

More individuals are being diagnosed with breast cancer than ever before and the disease is still devastating lives on a heart-breaking scale. We can’t live with that, and we’re pretty sure you can’t either.

So every Breast Cancer Awareness Month we need your help, more than ever, to take action against breast cancer and create a future where everyone who develops the disease can live – and live well.

If you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you’ll know it’s vital that women check their breasts regularly. But sadly, lots of women out there don’t check.

The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of successful treatment. So it's important to check your breasts regularly and see your GP if you notice a change.

Common breast cancer signs and symptoms include:

• a lump or swelling in the breast, upper chest or armpit – you might feel the lump but not see it
• a change to the skin, such as puckering or dimpling
• a change in the colour of the breast – the breast may look red or inflamed
• a change to the nipple, for example it has become pulled in (inverted)rash or crusting around the nipple
• any unusual liquid (discharge) from either nipplechanges in size or shape of the breast

On its own, pain in your breasts is not usually a sign of breast cancer. But look out for pain that’s there all or most of the time.

Noticing an unusual change doesn’t necessarily mean you have breast cancer, and most breast changes are not because of cancer. But it’s important to get checked by your GP.

How to check your breasts

Checking your breasts only takes a few minutes. There’s no special technique and you don’t need training to check your breasts.

Check the whole breast area, including your upper chest and armpits.

Do this regularly to check for changes.

It’s as simple as TLC: Touch Look Check

Touch your breasts: can you feel anything unusual?

Look for changes: does anything look different?

Check any changes with your GP

A lump or swelling in the breast, upper chest or armpit

A change to the skin, such as puckering or dimpling

A change in the colour of the breast – the breast may look red or inflamed

A nipple change, for example it has become pulled in (inverted)

Rash or crusting around the nipple

Unusual liquid (discharge) from either nipple

Changes in size or shape of the breast

Pain in your breast or armpit that’s there all or almost all the time

Have you felt or seen anything unusual? If so, make sure you get checked out by your doctor as soon as possible.

If your doctor thinks you need any further testing, they will refer you to a breast clinic to see a specialist.

LivingCare Campaign:

Throughout October LivingCare will be promoting the Breast Cancer Awareness Month with our image deck:

sources: symptoms of breast cancer pictures and words were sourced from breastcancernow.org LivingCare have made a donation to Breast Cancer Research for use of images and words.

Campaign Images: Owned by LivingCare. Can be used with expressed permission.