Is the lump in my breast a fibroadenoma?

Many people always hear about breast cancer and associate it with breast fibroadenoma. They think that once they have breast fibroadenoma, it will develop into breast cancer in the long run. Thinking of this, they cannot concentrate on work and enjoy life. In fact, this is a wrong idea. Fibroadenoma is the most common benign tumor in the breast. Women of any age after puberty may get it, and girls aged 18 to 25 are the most common. According to current research and analysis, there is actually no direct correlation between breast fibroadenoma and breast cancer. The possibility of cancer is very low and can basically be ignored. So, what are the symptoms of breast fibroadenoma and how to treat it? Don’t worry, I will explain this disease to you below.

1. What is a fibroadenoma?

Fibroadenoma is the most common benign tumor in the breast. It can occur in women of any age after puberty, but is most common in girls between the ages of 18 and 25. If you have breast fibroids, you usually don't feel anything. You will just feel a painless lump in your breast. Symptoms of breast cancer such as breast pain or nipple discharge will basically not appear.

Many times, people accidentally discover a lump in the breast that is not painful to touch, is isolated, and slides around in the breast, and then they hesitate whether to go to the hospital.

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish whether this "lump" is lobular hyperplasia or fibroadenoma.

There is a very practical method: if the size of the lump changes significantly before and after menstruation, then in most cases, this "lump" is just lobular hyperplasia; but if this "lump" does not change significantly at any time, then it may be a mature fibroadenoma.

The occurrence of fibroadenoma is related to endocrine hormone imbalance and can occur due to local increase in estrogen. Therefore, the so-called "essential oil breast massage" is not necessarily a good thing.

2. Will breast fibroadenomas turn into cancer?

According to current research results, there is no direct correlation between breast fibroids and breast cancer, and the possibility of canceration is very low and can almost be ignored. Most fibroadenomas are unlikely to recur after complete removal, but young patients may develop new lesions in other parts or adjacent to the original surgical area and grow new breast fibroids.

Studies have shown that patients with uncomplicated fibroadenomas do not have an increased risk of breast cancer compared with the general population. The rumors online about fibroadenomas turning into cancer are all nonsense; some are simply false advertisements made by bad hospitals to attract patients.

However, although breast fibroids themselves will not become cancerous, you should be careful of low-grade malignant phyllodes tumors if you have a single large lump. Especially during pregnancy, fibroadenomas grow rapidly and the likelihood of developing into phyllodes tumors increases greatly. Therefore, a clear diagnosis is very important.

3. What should I do if I get this disease?

Once a fibroadenoma is formed, it can only be eradicated through surgery; it cannot be cured by taking medicine. However, benign tumors can be treated with elective surgery, which means that there is no need to rush to have surgery.

When we hear about surgery, we get nervous again: Do we need anesthesia? Will it leave scars? What happens if I don't have surgery?

In fact, the whole operation process is very simple, not much more complicated than tooth extraction, and you can decide when and how to perform the operation. Generally, fibroadenoma surgery is performed in outpatient clinics. The whole process takes about half an hour, and the local anesthetic is injected into the surgical area of ​​the breast. You will be fully awake throughout the operation and you can communicate normally with the doctor.

Girls who love beauty can choose minimally invasive surgery, and no scars can be seen after the surgery. In fact, today's traditional suturing technology has been greatly improved. After the operation, there is almost only a faint linear scar, and the centipede-like scar that affects the appearance will no longer appear.

Because it is an elective surgery, in order to protect the breast and lactation function, it is necessary to avoid surgery during menstruation as much as possible; if you are planning to get pregnant, it is recommended to have the surgery six months in advance to give the breast sufficient time to recover.

Without surgery, the fibroadenoma will remain this size, or grow slowly. In order to rule out the possibility of breast cancer, it is recommended to do a color ultrasound every 3 to 6 months to observe the size, boundaries and blood flow of the tumor; for women over 40 years old, a mammogram should be performed once a year.

4. What should we pay attention to in diet?

Which things should we eat more of and which things should we not eat?

Experts believe that any food should be consumed in moderation to ensure balanced nutrition. A healthy diet is an important way to protect breast health.

1. Soybeans are recommended

Soybeans have a protective effect on the mammary gland. The isoflavones contained in soybeans are a type of phytoestrogen, which is different from human estrogen.

Studies have found that phytoestrogens play a bidirectional regulatory role on estrogen levels in women. Simply put, when there is insufficient estrogen in our body, it can supplement estrogen; and when the estrogen level in the body is too high, it has an inhibitory effect.

2. Royal jelly is not recommended

Health supplements rich in estrogen such as propolis, royal jelly, pollen, etc. are not recommended.

If you suffer from breast fibroadenoma, you don’t need to be too nervous, especially young women around 20 years old. There is no need to worry about fibroadenoma.