Put in IMHO, just so we’re all absolutely clear about the ‘no medical advice thing’.
Standard Disclaimer: You’re not a doctor. You’re not my doctor. This is not medical advice. I am going to have this checked out in person by a doctor.
So I found a lump in my breast on Sunday. It’s about the size of a quarter, and rather sore. There is a history of cancer in my mother’s family, but skin, not breast. I realise that not every lump is cancerous, and I have heard that sore masses tend to be benign (which seems a little counter-intuitive).
I’m very young for breast cancer (26), but I do smoke, which I understand raises the risk factors. I am not currently on hormonal birth control, but have been in the past.
My husband thinks it might be an infected or inflamed lymph node. It’s in the right area, near the armpit, and I have fairly large breasts and wear underwire bras exclusively, so this could be a possibility.
Anyone have any thoughts on what it could be, aside from cancer? What’s the liklihood of it being malign? And what’s the usual diagnostic procedure? Biopsy? Mammograms?
When I was 17 I developed several sore lumps in my breasts. Terrified that I had breast cancer I went to the doctor and they did sonograms and all sorts of stuff to my boobs only to find out that I have an allergy to caffeine. It makes me develop sore lumps in my boobular area and I now live a pretty much caffeine free life. No coffee or soda or anything for me-you can have my chocolate when you pry it from my cold, dead hands though! It could be something as simple as that but you definitely want to get it checked out ASAP. Good luck!
You’re right, generally breast cancer isn’t painful, so pain is good. I’d make an appointment with your doc, who will do a manual exam and possibly refer you for a mammogram. If the mammogram raises concerns, the next step is usually ultrasound (in my case the same day as the mammogram). Most suspicious lumps are ruled out by then. Finally, if there are still concerns, they may ask you to have another diagnostic mammo in 6 months or schedule you for a biopsy.
It could also be cellulitis–especially if it is red, painful and somewhat hard. As I understand it, it’s a deep bacterial skin infection where the individual cells are inflamed and infected. Sometimes pressure from an underwire or a tight bra (combined with bacteria, of course) seems to lead to an outbreak of this for me.
I had a breast lump as a teenager which was a fluid filled cyst. Also about quarter sized, though definitely spheroid in shape. It was sometimes tender and sometimes not. It was there for a couple of years before one morning it was just gone. Doc said it had ruptured on its own and the fluid filling it would be reabsorbed by my body, broken down, and the useful parts recycled. The weird thing was, I had gotten so used to it by that time that I kinda missed it - my boob didn’t feel like my boob anymore.
Here’s hoping yours is something similarly benign!
Daerlyn, I found a lump in my boob once, went to the doc and had it checked out. It’s just a cyst, and I’ve had it now for . . . 37 years? Anyway, it’s fine, never caused me any trouble except for occasional twinges. It’s fun for the radiologists to “discover” it during the mammograms - they always ask me if I know I have the lump.
