An important way to keep up with your breast health is to be aware of how your breasts normally look and feel, and know what changes to look for. Finding breast cancer as early as possible gives you a better chance of successful treatment. But knowing what to look for is not a substitute for screening mammograms and other tests, which can help find breast cancer in its early stages, even before any symptoms appear. Below are some common breast symptoms and what they might mean. If you have any of them, get checked right away.
A lump in your breast
A lump or mass in the breast is the most common symptom of breast cancer. Such lumps are often hard and painless, though some may be painful. Not all lumps are cancer, though. There are a number of benign breast conditions (like cysts) that can also cause lumps. Still, it’s important to have your doctor check out any new lump or mass right away. If it does turn out to be cancer, the sooner it’s diagnosed the better.
Swelling in or around your breast, collarbone, or armpit
Breast swelling can be caused by inflammatory breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of the disease. Swelling or lumps around your collarbone or armpits can be caused by breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes in those areas. The swelling may occur even before you can feel a lump in your breast, so if you have this symptom, be sure to see a doctor.
Skin thickening or redness
If the skin of your breast starts to feel like an orange peel or gets red, have it checked right away. Often, these are caused by mastitis, a breast infection common among women who are breast feeding. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. If your symptoms don’t improve after a week, though, get checked again, because these symptoms can also be caused by inflammatory breast cancer. This form of breast cancer can look a lot like a breast infection, and because it grows quickly it’s important to diagnose it as soon as possible.
Breast warmth and itching
Like skin thickening and redness, breast warmth and itching may be symptoms of mastitis – or inflammatory breast cancer. If antibiotics don’t help, see your doctor again.
Nipple changes
Breast cancer can sometimes cause changes to how your nipple looks. If your nipple turns inward, or the skin on it thickens or gets red or scaly, get checked by a doctor right away. All of these can be symptoms of breast cancer.
Nipple discharge
A discharge (other than milk) from the nipple may be alarming, but in most cases it is caused by injury, infection, or a benign tumor (not cancer). Breast cancer is a possibility, though, especially if the fluid is bloody, so your doctor needs to check it out.
Pain
Although most breast cancers do not cause pain in the breast, some do. More often, women have breast pain or discomfort that is related to their menstrual cycle. This type of pain is most common in the week or so before their periods, and often goes away once menstruation begins. Some other benign breast conditions, such as mastitis, may cause a more sudden pain. In these cases the pain is not related to the menstrual cycle. If you have breast pain that is severe or persists and is not related to the menstrual cycle, you should be checked by your doctor. You could have cancer or a benign condition that needs to be treated.
Home Remedies for Breast Cancer
Home remedies for breast cancer include garlic, broccoli, grapes, wheatgrass, green tea, lignans, soybean, vitamin D, calcium, and a well-balanced diet. Breast cancer refers to the malignant growth of tissues of the breast. These can be categorized as ductal, lobular, or inflammatory based on the place of origin. It can be caused due to consumption of alcoholic beverages, radiation therapy of the breast, a first child being born at an old age, old age, intake of progesterone or estrogen, and a number of other unspecified health factors and behavioral habits.
Breast cancer can be detected by several early symptoms, some of which include regular discharge from the nipple and nipples becoming inverted. Home remedies for breast cancer are available, not necessarily to cure breast cancer, but to boost the immune system or kill the cancerous tissues to a certain extent. Still, proper lifestyle and eating habits are recommended for longevity and survival rate improvement of breast cancer patients.
Please note that the home remedies for breast cancer are available not for treating the disease completely, but for decreasing its negative aspects to an extent. Breast cancer, as the name implies, is the malignant growth of tissues within the breast. The uncontrolled proliferation of cells can ultimately lead to the death of individual if it becomes metastasized or if it is not removed by surgery. The breast is composed of several lobes and ducts. The lobes function in the production of milk, which is carried via the ducts to the nipples. Breast cancer is separated into 3 types. These are ductal, lobular or inflammatory. Ductal originates in the ducts, while lobular begins in the lobes. Inflammatory breast cancer refers to those in which breasts are swelled, warm and red. Out of the three, ductal breast cancer is the most common.