!~!What is Breast Lumps? Get Information about Types of Breast Lumps

!~!What is Breast Lumps? Get Information about Types of Breast Lumps

What is a Breast Lump?

                 A lump in the breast is, in medical terms, a breast lump: a lump or tumor in the breast, palpable and can be painful. It is a very common reason for consulting the general practitioner or specialist. Most of these lesions in the breast are discovered by women themselves, often accidentally in routine self - examination , or when you have glandular discomfort and scanned. Other times, however, are a common finding in medical examinations or routine periodic review.

How does it manifest?

                   The first clinical manifestation is usually the appearance of one or more tumors in one or both breasts. Sometimes that or those tumors can be painful or accompanied by bloating or signs of inflammation, deformity of the breast, nipple retraction or secretion thereof.

How is it diagnosed?

             To a patient with a breast nodule, the fundamental basis for the initial approach is in achieving adequate clinical history. It is important to ask the patient risk factors, personal and family history of disease, especially breast, cancer medicines, gynecological and obstetrical history prior, the reason goes to the consultation and the context in which the visit takes place.

The next step in the study of this disease is the physical test that will try to collect as much information about the breast lump: number, location, size, shape, consistency, boundaries, mobility, date of onset or detection and your changes with the menstrual cycle other accompanying signs, etc. the existing above the clavicles and neck lymph nodes in the armpits and will also be examined.

Finally, we will resort to certain additional tests to help diagnose the tumor and especially to clarify the benign or malignant nature of the same:

• Ultrasound , which will tell us if the nodule is solid or cystic features
• Mammography
• Puncture-FNA for cytology
• Biopsy .

When should the patient see a specialist?

The first place comes a woman with a breast problem is usually to your family doctor, hence they should know these pathological anomalies and the mode of action with respect to them.

1. In many cases the primary care physician can handle the problem, at least initially, especially
2. In other cases, set forth below, the patient should be referred to hospital for specialized study:
3. In young women more sensitive to pain (or with mild or moderate degrees of pain) with no palpable lesions nodules.
4. In women under 50 years presenting nipple discharge without other associated problems and where the possibility that it is a side effect of a drug, for example suspected.
5. How breast nodules treated?

Treatment depends on the diagnosis made after an exhaustive study of the breast lump. Treatment can range from drugs (eg antibiotics if a breast abscess or certain hormonal drugs is diagnosed in case of cystic breast disease) to various surgical procedures (lumpectomy or simple excision of the tumor while preserving the breast, in case of benign tumors until mastectomy or removal of the entire breast, where cancer).

In the male breast lump

Although less common, men can also have breast lumps that require study and treatment, in many cases similar to that discussed for breast nodule in women. The presence of any symptom or finding changes in the breast adult male, should suggest the possibility of a malignant tumor .

Most patients with the syndrome have a breast lump below the areola, hard and painless, 1 to 2 cm., Which adheres to the skin and causes retraction phenomena or nipple deviation.

If confirmed the existence of breast cancer in men after the appropriate studies, treatment is also surgical, with the removal of the breast.

final Thoughts

Breast examination by the patient herself, to discover changes in consistency of the mammary gland, nodules and even more subtle changes such as skin retractions. The great advantage of breast self-examination is that women learn to know your breasts.

Many patients go to their family doctor first when present a problem in their breasts. This should target the problem, solve it if you are trained or send the woman to a specialist when the situation demands. Before an irregular, hard, ill-defined and fixed to surrounding structures breast lump should always rule out breast cancer.

Nipple retraction, associated with eczema thereof and / or tumor behind the areola, should be suspected breast cancer. Ana Palacios Marqués , Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Hospital Marina Baixa (Villajoyosa, Alicante)