BREAST PROBLEMS

BREAST PROBLEMS

Overview and Facts

For many women, breast lumps or changes are a typical health concern. Together with changes that occur with menstrual periods, pregnancy, and aging, women could have several forms of breast lumps and other breast changes throughout their lives. Breast lumps and breast changes, oftentimes, are normal.

The initial sign of puberty in young women is breast development. Starting as tiny, tender lumps below the nipple, breasts soon develop over subsequent years. For one breast to be larger than the adjacent or for one side to develop before the other is normal. A woman could worry that a lump below the mamilla is abnormal or an indication of a significant medical problem once it’s a part of normal breast development.

Types and Symptoms

SYMPTOMS

  • Pain or a sense of fullness in one or both breasts that’s not associated with premenstrual swelling
  • A lump that’s movable and feels unattached to the chest wall; you may have a cyst or an adenoma
  • Pain accompanied by redness and heat or a discharge from the nipple; this might be an infection. Discharge may be an indication of benign growth or breast cancer.
  • A lump that’s hard, not movable, or feels connected to the chest wall, with or without pain, perhaps with dimpling or puckering of the breast; this might be an indication of breast cancer

Diagnosis & Medications

DIAGNOSIS

Doctors typically use further tests to seek out or diagnose breast cancer. A breast specialist or a surgeon will take a closer look at your problem.

These doctors are specialists in identifying breast issues.

The following diagnostics will aid your doctor in making a sound diagnosis, and these include:

  • Biopsy
  • Breast ultrasound
  • Diagnostic mammogram
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

TREATMENT

For breast problems like pain or tenderness, your doctor could recommend aspirin, paracetamol, or ibuprofen. A diuretic drug, usually referred to as a water pill, will facilitate removal of fluid from swollen breasts. If these treatments don’t help, your doctor could prescribe a hormone like danazol, that has been shown to ease breast pain except for breast cancer issues. For breast problems like  cancer, treatment will include the following:

  • Chemotherapy
  • Hormone therapy
  • Immunotherapy
  • Palliative care
  • Radiation therapy
  • Targeted therapy drugs

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