This viral photo of lemons could save your life

LONDON - We might be familiar with the signs of breast cancer, but when it comes to identifying visual symptoms in our own breasts, it's not quite so easy.

Designer Corrine Ellsworth Beaumont has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the visual signs and symptoms of breast cancer using the unlikeliest of devices - lemons.

According to the NHS, lumps are the most common sign of breast cancer, but other symptoms can be seen rather than felt.

Ellsworth Beaumont has created a series of images using lemons showing things like indentations, skin sores, dimpling, bumps and redness or heat.

According to Breast Cancer Now, visual signs can include skin dimpling or puckering, the thickening of the breast tissue, redness and heat, an inverted nipple, an unusual discharge and a rash or crusting.

The images from the campaign have reached 7.3 million people in three Facebook posts, according to an update posted on Facebook.

Ellsworth Beaumont's personal connection to breast cancer prompted her initial research into the symptoms of breast cancer. "Both my grandmothers died from breast cancer. And when the second one died, I thought I should know more about cancer than I do," explained Ellsworth Beaumont. But her research left her with more questions than she'd had before she even started.

She wanted to know what to look and feel for in a self-examination and when to get a mammogram. But she couldn't find a leaflet or website that presented those answers in a simple and easy-to-understand format. As a designer, she wanted to visualise breast cancer awareness in an interesting and informative way.

When Ellsworth Beaumont began delving into her research, she discovered the barriers that exist when communicating with the public about breast cancer. Ellsworth Beaumont discovered that a fear of talking about breasts, the censorship of breast images, and adult illiteracy are obstacles in the dissemination of information about the visual signs of breast cancer.

Read the full story here

Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture, and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the world.