A woman who discovers a hard breast lump while performing breast self-examination may go through a wide array of thoughts and emotions. Her first concern is if the hard breast lump that she just found is an indication of breast cancer. Finding a hard breast lump is indeed distressing but all your anxieties may be lessened if you seek consult from your doctor. Believe it or not, approximately 80 percent of all breast lumps that are biopsied end up being cancerous. But with that said, it’s still advisable to have the lump immediately checked by the doctor in order to know for sure if it’s cancer,or just a benign breast lump condition.
What usually differentiates a cancerous breast lump from a benign breast lump is movement. A breast lump may either be easy to move around or otherwise. Although the majority of malignant breast lumps is usually firm and stationary, find consolation in knowing that these lumps may turn out to be benign. If all hard and immovable lumps were breast cancer, then women would not need to undergo diagnostic exams such as mammograms, biopsies, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs, and so on. Just because you have a hard breast lump doesn’t mean that you are bound to die of breast cancer anytime soon.
The vast majority of hard breast lumps fall under benign fibroadenomas. These lumps can occur in all age groups but are particularly more common in young women (below 30 years old) and teenage girls. These are likewise common in those women who took birth control pills at a very young age. Although fibroadenoma may predispose a woman at higher risk of developing breast cancer, don’t overly freak out about it because the chances of getting cancer are very slim. But as previously mentioned, seeking the advice of a doctor remains vital.
To sum it all up, remember that any breast lump must be reported immediately to a doctor. Whether it’s a soft or hard breast lump that you found, consulting a health expert is advised. One cannot simply sit around and assume that the hard breast lump that was found is benign just because statistics show that the majority of it is merely fibroadenoma. Yes, four out of five of hard breast lumps are benign. Bear in mind, however, that it still has a 20 percent possibility of being cancer.