Breast Lumps

There are several reasons why breast lumps occur, all these reasons are not cancer, and there is some benign growth inside breasts.



Breast lumps can be single or multiple in nature. Fibroadenomas are benign growth caused because of excessive growth of glandular and connective tissue.



These may grow and become obvious during pregnancy and shrink during pregnancy, women in the age group of 20-30 are more susceptible to these adenomas. In order to be certain that these are not fibroadenomas, simple breast examination and mammography are not enough to establish that these are fibroadenomas it is necessary to take tissue samples of these breast lumps.

Mastitis is a breast infection caused due to bacterial infection; this breast infection may be caused due to bacteria entering the breast during breast feeding.



There might be a development of abscess in case of advanced condition, in earlier symptoms there might be breast lump development or thickening of skin in that area. Mastitis is not only for only women who are breast feeding, post menopausal women also develop this disease due to inflammation of milk ducts that may cause discharge from the nipples.



Treatment of mastitis can be done by administering a dose of antibiotics, however, it is important to know that this condition might not be cured completely, this might require surgery for removal of the mass.

Another reason for lumps in breasts is fibrocystic breast disease.



This disease may occur in women of any age, fibrocystic disease may or may not cancer depending on abnormal cell growth, if this growth is present it means that there is a probability of cancer in the future. Sometimes this growth may occur before menstrual cycles and disappear after these get over with.

Breast cysts are another type of mastitis; these are caused due to dilation of duct, where the sacs get filled with fluids. Breasts cysts may come and go depending on the hormonal imbalances, these especially occur after age of 40 during the perimenopause period, cysts may feel tender and hard when touched, these may also appear before a fortnight of the period of disappear after the periods are over. Doctor cannot do a simple clinical exam for the breast cysts, he will require doing a fine needle aspiration, where he does check of the fluid inside these cysts, if the fluid is yellow or plain in color it is a normal cyst, if the fluid is bloody he may require to do further checks.