If a woman feels a lump here, it may not necessarily be cancer.

If a woman feels a lump in her breast, she will definitely be anxious and scared because she will worry that she has breast cancer. But this is not the case. When you have a lump in your breast, it is not always due to cancer. There are many other diseases that can cause a lump in the breast.

Ms. Zhang, a 25-year-old white-collar worker, felt a lump in her breast while taking a shower. She was worried that she might have breast cancer and couldn't sleep well for several days. She decided to see a doctor during her vacation. After waiting in line for a long time, she finally got to see the doctor, but he said there was no lump in her breast. "There is a lump in my breast! I can feel it myself! And you still say it's not a big deal?!" Miss Zhang's face turned red with anxiety as she argued with the doctor.

Experts said that there are too many clinical cases like Xiao Zhang’s concerns. It is understood that the symptoms of breast lumps are complex and varied, including unilateral lumps, bilateral lumps, large lumps, small lumps, light texture, hard texture, and varying lengths of disease courses. Recently, people have paid a lot of attention to breast cancer, and often worry too much and use inappropriate methods. "Her breast examination method was completely wrong. She used her entire hand to grab the breast and squeeze it. She would definitely feel a lump, but that was just a normal gland!" explained Dr. Liu Renbin.

More than half of women in China will have breast lumps or nodules, but most lumps and nodules are not cancer. There are four common diseases that need to be identified:

Breast hyperplasia: divided into lobular hyperplasia nodules and cysts. The lumps of nodules are irregular in shape, often multiple, and appear in the form of flakes, nodules, or cords, and are not adhered to the skin and deep fascia; while cysts have clear boundaries and a soft texture. There will be mild to moderate tenderness in the local area of ​​breast hyperplasia, and the lumps may change with the menstrual cycle. The pain is often obvious during menstruation and the lumps become larger. The pain will be relieved after menstruation, and the lumps and nodules will also shrink accordingly.

Mastitis: It often occurs in breastfeeding women. But among non-lactation mastitis, plasma cell mastitis is now more common. This type of mastitis is a chronic non-bacterial inflammation of the breast. It is often accompanied by breast pain, redness and swelling, and hard lumps can often be felt in the breast. Breast abscesses may form as the disease progresses.

Breast fibroids: This is the most common benign breast tumor, which often occurs in young women and is rare after the age of 40. The lumps are mostly regular circles, usually no larger than 4 cm in diameter, with a firm texture, clear boundaries, wide mobility, and no adhesion to the skin. Breast fibroadenomas are painless and grow slowly. It is normal for fibroadenomas to grow within 5 mm within a year.

Breast cancer: There is usually no significant pain or discomfort in the early stages of the disease. Breast cancer tumors grow quickly, have a rough surface, are hard in texture, have unclear boundaries, and are difficult to move. This type of lump is often already quite large once discovered, and in the late stages the local skin becomes ulcerated and infiltrated, causing pain. It can lead to nipple inversion and metastasis to the axillary, supraclavicular lymph nodes and organs, which is life-threatening.

Although Miss Zhang was a little too nervous and excited, her care and attention to her own body is worth learning for all female friends, because not all lumps are benign. Dr. Liu Renbin recommends that women who face lumps should undergo regular breast examinations every year.

It is also best to perform a self-touch examination 2 to 3 days after menstruation to see if there are any changes in the appearance of the breasts, pain, lumps, discharge, etc. It should be noted that the finger pads should be used instead of the fingertips for palpation, and the breasts should not be pinched with the hands.

How to do a breast self-examination? When doing a self-examination, the upper body is completely naked. Stand upright in front of the mirror with your hands on your hips. Observe the shape and contour of the breasts to see if there are any abnormalities. Then raise your arms to observe the shape, skin, nipples, and contour of the breasts to see if there are any abnormalities. Generally, the order of touching the breasts with your fingertips is the top, inside, bottom, and outside to see if there are any lumps. Then lie flat on your back with your shoulders slightly raised, raise your right arm, and touch the breast, caudal lobe of the breast, and right armpit with your left hand to see if there are any lumps. Then change to your right hand to touch the left side. Also pay attention to whether there are any lumps in the nipple and areola area.

Once a lump is found in the breast, no matter its size or nature, you should see a gynecologist in time for diagnosis. Even if it is not a malignant lesion, you should follow the doctor's advice and intervene in time. Of course, ordinary self-examination is far from enough. Women under 40 years old should have a specialist physical examination and breast B-ultrasound examination every year. Women over 40 years old, in addition to annual specialist physical examination and breast B-ultrasound, should also have a mammogram to detect early breast cancer. Finally, I hope everyone is healthy and stays away from cancer!