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Breast Care and Solid Lumps in Breast

Introduction to Breast Care:

Women in any age are at risk of breast cancer, as no body knows the exact cause of breast cancer. Although various possibilities can trigger the breast cancer, but most positive way to reduce the breast cancer risk is to maintain a good breast health. If you are conscious about your breast health and follow all steps required for maintaining good breast health, you will be able to recognize the earliest warning signals.

American Cancer Society recommends that the women between 20 to 39 years of age should carry out self breast examination for every month and clinical examination should be carried out once in three years; women above 40 years of age should carry out clinical breast examination once in a year along with a mammogram in addition to self breast check up once in a month.

Solid Lumps in Breast:

One type of benign breast lump, known as fibroadenomas occurs in around ten percent of women. A lump in breast does not mean a breast cancer. Once you observe any lump, you should seek immediate medical advice and all tests necessary to diagnose breast cancer should be carried out. Your doctor should remove these lumps and you should continue to practice good breast care.

Fibrosdenoma is a benign tumor gives a solid feeling inside a woman’s breast. Women earlier used to remove fibroadenoma with open surgeries. With the advancement in new breast biopsy system, a very small incision is made and doctor uses ultrasound to cut, remove tissue and the procedure last less than one hour.

Risk factors of Breast Cancer:

Knowing the risk factors of breast cancer will help you in managing those risk factors. Although some women having risk factors may not have any breast cancer and woman having no risk factors can have breast cancer.

These risk factors can be divided in controllable risk factors and uncontrollable risk factors. The following steps can reduce risk of breast cancer.

• Reducing daily alcohol intake.
• Reducing the usage of birth control pills for longer duration.
• Estrogen and other hormone replacement therapy for longer duration.
• Controlling over weight and maintaining healthy weight.

Some of the following are also treated as risk factors, but we do not have control in these risk factors.

• Older age increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Family history of risk cancer increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Had breast cancer earlier.
• Started periods before the age of 12 years or started menopause after the age of 55 years.
• Have identified with mutated genes BRCA1 or BRCA2.

Misconceptions about Breast Cancer:

Exact cause of breast cancer is not fully known, so there is lots of misconception among people about breast cancer and the following conceptions are not true.

• Breast-feeding is one of the risk factor of breast cancer.
• Drinking coffee or tea increases the risk of breast cancer and breast implants also increases the risk of breast cancer.
• Using birth control pills causes breast cancer.
• Women diagnosed with breast cancer will die.

Physical examination of breast cancer:

The ACS (American Cancer Society) recommendations should be followed.

Women in the age group of 20 to 39:

• Women at the age of 20 years should start self physical examination of breast once in a month.
• Women in the age group 20 to 39 should carry out clinical check up once in every three years.

Women above 40 years of age:

• Women should continue the practice self-examination of breast once in a month.
• Women should carry out clinical check up once in every year along with mammogram.