What is a lump under the breast?

Breast health is very important for women. In life, many women are prone to breast diseases due to long-term work pressure. Lumps on the lower side of the breast are also a common one. The appearance of lumps on the lower side of the breast may be a manifestation of breast fibroids or lobular hyperplasia, which can easily lead to breast pain.

What is a lump under the breast?

Breast tissue is a hard object, which is a relatively large disc inside the breast and can normally be grasped or pinched with the hands. So, sometimes the lump you feel in your breast is just an area of ​​normal breast bulge. If you can feel the lump by pushing rather than grasping, you need to pay attention.

When doing breast self-examination, stretch out your palm, put your four fingers together, and use the tip of the most sensitive index finger, middle finger, and ring finger to touch the upper outer, lower outer, lower inner, and upper inner areas of the breast in order, and finally the nipple and areola area in the middle of the breast. During the examination, do not pinch the breast tissue with your fingers, otherwise you will mistake the pinched breast tissue for a lump.

The most serious breast disease is breast cancer. Compared with general lumps, it has irregular shape, unclear boundaries, hard texture, fast growth rate and is not easy to be pushed. Also, there are changes on the skin, such as pitting, color changes, etc.

If none of these conditions are found and there is a lump in the breast, you can consider the following 5 situations.

Normal breast lumps

1. Dense breasts

Breasts can be divided into three types: dense, fatty, and mixed. The mammary gland occupies most of the breast, which is the dense breast type; the fat occupies most of the breast, which is the fatty type; the gland and fat are between the first two types, which is the intermediate mixed type. They are all normal types, but this usually requires a breast X-ray to identify and cannot be detected by self-detection.

Dense breasts are a common type in young women. Dense breasts simply mean that there are more glandular components. Moreover, as we age, breast tissue is gradually replaced by fatty tissue. Especially in the late menopause, most women's breasts will become fat.

2. Breast fibroadenoma

A smooth, movable lump in the breast of a young woman may be a fibroadenoma. Breast fibroadenoma is the most common benign breast tumor, mostly occurring in young women between 18 and 25 years old, and is mostly solitary. Most lumps caused by breast fibroadenomas are round or oval in shape, grow slowly, have clear boundaries, are easily moved, and have no adhesion between the lumps and the skin.

3. Breast lipoma

If you feel a movable lump on the surface of the breast with clear boundaries and almost no pain, it may be a breast lipoma. It is more common in obese middle-aged women, grows slowly, and rarely becomes malignant.

4. Lobular hyperplasia of the breast

Before menstruation, breast tenderness and the feeling of a lump with unclear boundaries may be due to lobular hyperplasia of the breast. The lumps caused by lobular hyperplasia of the breast are mostly granular nodules, some as small as sesame seeds and some as large as lumps, but they have no obvious boundaries and no adhesions to the skin and deep tissues. There are also no special manifestations such as lumps or hypoechoic nodules on breast B-ultrasound. Generally speaking, lobular breast hyperplasia does not require any special treatment. Try to maintain a good attitude and adjust your diet. It is understood that insisting on breastfeeding after giving birth can alleviate lobular hyperplasia of the breast.