One may want to know how to check for throat cancer at home. This may be especially useful for a person if they may be experiencing symptoms of throat cancer and may not have access to a hospital or a suitable medical facility to check the same. By knowing how to check for throat cancer at home, one may be able to quickly test for the same and have a general idea if they are suffering from this form of cancer or not. A person may do an oral, head & neck self-exam if they would like to check themselves for throat cancer. This may help them detect the cancer early and get the necessary medical assistance for the same before cancer progresses too far, leading to debilitating effects that may even be fatal for patients. 

How to detect throat cancer using four easy steps

How to check for throat cancer at home

Early detection and diagnosis of any cancer is important. This may also be important for successfully treating oral, head, and neck cancers. If a person’s cancer is detected at stages I and II, they may have a good chance of survival. The survival rate for this group of people may be over 80%, so the outlook for them will be good. However, more than half of all cancer cases are found in stages where the cancer has progressed past stage I and stage II. At the stages that are considered to be more advanced, the survival rates for people are lower, the treatments may be more invasive in nature, and the side effects of treatment are much more prominent, which may impact the quality of life of the person and their ability to be able to do things independently or without the help of others.

The steps to do the oral, head & neck self-exam to check for throat cancer are:

  • Check your neck for any kinds of lumps. Any kind of lump could indicate some issues and be a symptom of throat cancer. You may consult a doctor or a medical professional to understand what to do next.
  • Look at your lips and cheeks. You could have throat cancer if you notice some abnormal, irregular, discolored areas or lumps. You may approach a doctor or suitable medical professional and get advice from them about the same.
  • You may bite gently and look at your gums. If there are any kind of abnormal, irregular, discolored areas or lumps, you may be experiencing symptoms of throat cancer. You may need to approach a doctor or medical professional at a medical facility to confirm this.
  • You must then open your mouth. Using a flashlight and mirror, you must observe your tongue’s top, bottom, sides, back of the throat, roof of the mouth, and under the tongue. You could have throat cancer if you see abnormal, irregular, discolored areas or lumps. It would be a good to discuss the same with a doctor and confirm if you have throat cancer.

When you are doing this self-examination, you must watch out for the following:

  • Any kind of red or white patch in your mouth, which could be on your lips, cheeks, tongue, or the roof of your mouth
  • Any kind of lump or bump that is present in your mouth, throat, or neck region

If you have any kind of white or red patches, lumps, or bumps in any of these areas and they last for longer than a period of 2 weeks or seem to be getting bigger and more prominent in their size, you must consult your doctor, dentist, or any other suitable medical authority that can advise you about the same. 

Knowing how to detect throat cancer may be greatly useful for a person. A head and neck self-exam may also be useful to understand your body and what may be normal for you. How to check throat cancer will help you check for throat cancer easily and quickly at home, without visiting any kind of medical facility or hospital where the process could be long, tedious, and often expensive. 

If you know how to check throat cancer when you are at home, you may repeat this exam monthly. By doing this, you may observe changes in your body that may need to be examined by a doctor or dentist and could be signs of throat cancer that may require medical assistance from a trained medical professional.

You must properly understand how to check throat cancer at home, follow these four steps and try to observe any kinds of areas that may be abnormal, irregular, or discolored. You must compare one side to another to check for symmetry. If you observe any kind of abnormal, irregular, discolored areas or lumps that may look different on one side compared to an opposing side, you must contact your doctor, dentist, or any other medical professional that may be considered suitable to check for the same. If you observe anything unusual or are experiencing symptoms that are severely bothering you and persist for more than two weeks, you must contact a doctor or dentist for an evaluation. Understanding how to check throat cancer at home may be greatly helpful for a person experiencing certain mild symptoms only and may require medical attention if they are too severe.

Conclusion 

By following the above processes, you may be able to check for certain symptoms of throat cancer. This may be particularly useful if you lack any severe symptoms that are prominent or severe enough to be looked at by a doctor or any other suitable medical professional. It may be useful for detecting a disease that may sometimes be very severe in its symptoms, especially in later stages, and often debilitating for those that suffer from it. If the person does have throat cancer, they may be able to recognize its symptoms and be treated for it before too much time passes and the cancer progresses. This may be very important for the patient and could even save their life.