Can I get breast cancer while breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding is something that every female friend has to go through, but you may encounter various symptoms during breastfeeding, especially for new mothers. You may experience nipple pain or breast hyperplasia during breastfeeding, so it is recommended that you should treat breast hyperplasia or breast cancer during breastfeeding in time. Let us now understand why breast cancer occurs during lactation.

At the onset of the disease, there are often symptoms of systemic poisoning such as high fever and chills. The affected breast increases in size, becomes locally hard, the skin becomes red, and there is tenderness and throbbing pain. If the area becomes soft within a short period of time, it means an abscess has formed and requires incision and drainage. The axillary lymph nodes on the affected side are often enlarged and the white blood cell count is increased. The clinical manifestations of an abscess are related to the depth of its location. When the location is shallow, there will be local redness, swelling and protrusion in the early stage, while the local manifestations of a deep abscess are often not obvious in the early stage, and are mainly characterized by local pain and systemic symptoms. The abscess can be single or multiple; it can form sequentially or simultaneously; sometimes it ruptures on its own or is discharged through the nipple, or it can invade the loose tissue in the retromammary space to form a retromammary abscess.

If the mammary ducts are under pressure and not open, bacteria will enter the breasts, causing milk retention and subsequent inflammation. Therefore, any unfinished breast milk must be expressed in time to keep the gland ducts unobstructed. Generally, it is best not to give breast milk from the affected side to the baby. When it comes to mastitis, prevention is key. Every time the baby finishes feeding, be sure to squeeze out the remaining milk to keep the mammary ducts unobstructed, which will also facilitate lactation next time. Normally, your hands or children should not squeeze the breasts, especially at night when sleeping, to avoid blocking the gland ducts and causing the inflammation to develop deeper.

Prevention of mastitis is more important than treatment. During pregnancy and lactation, both nipples should be kept clean. If the nipples are retracted, they should be gently squeezed out and cleaned. You can clean your nipples with 3% boric acid water before and after breastfeeding. Develop the habit of regular breastfeeding. The milk should be completely sucked out each time. If it cannot be completely sucked out, it can be squeezed out by massaging or using a breast pump. If the nipples are damaged or cracked, you should breastfeed temporarily, use a breast pump to extract the milk, and then breastfeed after the wounds heal.

This article tells us in detail that breast cancer can occur during lactation, especially if we do not pay attention to breast cleanliness and do not empty the breast milk in time, it can easily cause breast cancer during lactation. If we want to prevent breast diseases, we recommend that mothers should pay attention to the content of the article and do a good job of protecting their breasts.