[Breast Diseases] Self-examine your breasts to timely detect seven types of breast diseases. Owning a pair of healthy and plump breasts is every woman's dream. To achieve beauty, many people willingly spend huge amounts of money on breast augmentation. While pursuing external beauty, women should not forget that health is the most important.
The incidence rate is rising rapidly, and the age of patients is getting younger and younger. In order to prevent problems before they occur, daily care and examination for women are particularly important. If patients discover any of the following conditions unintentionally or during self-examination, they should promptly seek medical attention for early diagnosis and treatment.
Having a healthy and full chest is every woman's wish, but there will always be some diseases that disturb its lifelong happiness. To block these diseases, one must first learn how to self-examine their breasts.
Breast Self-Examination
Breast examination should first observe the development of the mammary glands, whether both breasts are symmetrical, if their sizes are similar, if both nipples are at the same level, if there is any retraction or indentation of the nipple; if there is any erosion around the nipple and areola, what is the skin color of the breasts, if there is any edema or orange peel-like changes, if there is any redness and swelling due to inflammation, and if there is any superficial vein dilation in the breast area.
The best time for examination: For women with regular menstruation, the 9th to 11th day after menstruation is the best time for breast examination. At this time, the influence of estrogen on the breast is minimal, and the breast is in a relatively static state, making it easier to detect abnormalities. For lumps that appear during lactation, if clinically suspected of being a tumor, further examinations should be conducted after weaning.
Nipple Changes: Nipples can be inverted due to congenital underdevelopment of the breast, commonly seen in women without breastfeeding history. Nipple inversion can also be caused by breast cancer, often unilateral. Persistent eczema and skin itching around the nipple that does not heal easily may suggest Paget's disease, a special type of breast cancer.
Breast Lumps: Breast lumps are the main symptoms of breast tumors, but they can also be seen in fibrocystic breast disease and breast tuberculosis.
Localized Thickening of the Breast Gland: When touching the breast, you may find slightly thicker tissue compared to its surroundings, with unclear boundaries, making it difficult to determine its exact size. Clinically, it is generally diagnosed as "hyperplasia." This condition, especially in premenopausal women, may change somewhat with the menstrual cycle, mostly physiologically. However, if the thickened tissue persists over time, is unrelated to the menstrual cycle, or increases in thickness and range, especially in postmenopausal women, it must be taken seriously because about 8% of such lesions could be cancerous.
Breast Pain: Severe breast pain accompanied by tenderness is usually an inflammatory manifestation, seen in acute mastitis and breast abscesses. If localized breast pain is related to the menstrual cycle, it is commonly associated with simple or cystic hyperplasia of the breast.
Nipple Discharge: During non-lactating periods, nipple discharge in women is mostly pathological. The most common cause is intraductal papilloma, followed by cystic hyperplasia of the breast and dilated milk ducts. About 15% of cases are breast cancer, which should be especially noted when blood-stained discharge is accompanied by breast lumps. Some medications can also cause bilateral nipple discharge, such as estrogen and contraceptives.
Changes in Breast Skin: Most breast diseases do not involve any changes in breast skin. Acute mastitis often shows redness and swelling, breast tuberculosis may be accompanied by skin ulcers or fistulas, and breast cancer can present with "orange peel" skin changes. A special type of breast cancer - inflammatory breast cancer - can cause extensive redness and swelling of the breast skin.
Change in Breast Contour: Normal breasts have complete arc-shaped contours. Any defect or abnormality in this arc is very important and often represents an early sign of breast cancer.