How do you know if you have breast cancer?
Sunday, September 5th, 2010 at
1:59 am
kattie asked:
I think i might have breast cancer but i’m not sure.I need ways to tell if i have it.Please answer!
well i don’t have fluid coming out of my breast but i have white stuff that comes out of them if thats normal
i asked because my doctor told me to check for breast cancer on a monthly basis
I think i might have breast cancer but i’m not sure.I need ways to tell if i have it.Please answer!
well i don’t have fluid coming out of my breast but i have white stuff that comes out of them if thats normal
i asked because my doctor told me to check for breast cancer on a monthly basis
Tagged with: Breast Cancer • How Do You Know If You Have Breast • Please Answer
Filed under: Breast Cancer
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See a doctor to be safe
I would recommend seeing a doctor if you are seriously worried or if you have any of these symtoms
A lump or a thickening in the breast or in the armpit:
A change in size or shape of the mature breast:
Fluid (not milk) leaking from the nipple:
Change in size or shape of the nipple:
Changes of color, shape or texture of the nipple or the areola:
Unusual pain in the breast or in the armpit:
Usually a lump in the breast.
Go see your doctor and depending on your age they will do an ultrasound or another imagery method… And go now – the earlier they detect the better the better the treatment works…
I had no symptoms. It was simply found on my yearly mammogram. Not even the doctor could feel it. It was well hidden, and if it weren’t for my mammogram I would have never known I had it. It grew in silence…
From your other questions my guess is that you are a teenager; I’m going to answer on that basis.
If a teenager had breast cancer her case would be so unusual that it would make the papers. It would also be written up in medical journals the world over – very, very, very few of the worlds’ doctors have seen anyone under 20 with breast cancer, and not many have seen anyone under 30.
Breast cancer is almost unheard of in under 25s, and fewer than 0.1% of those diagnosed are under 30. It’s rare in under 40s in fact, and 80% of those diagnosed with it are over 50.
I was classed as a ‘younger woman’ when I was diagnosed with breast cancer – because I was 50, still pretty young for breast cancer.
A teenage girl’s chances of being struck by lightning are at least twice as great as her chances of developing breast cancer – more than twice as great if you’re under 15.
You mentioned breast pain in another question; pain is rarely a sign of breast cancer – most people diagnosed with it have felt no pain at all. Breast pain IS common in developing teenage breasts.
A little spontaneous discharge is nothing to worry about.
Talk to your mother about this. If you are still at school talk to your school nurse; she will be used to girls having worries like this and will be able to reassure you that you don’t have breast cancer
Oh, and nobody can self-diagnose breast cancer; even a doctor can’t tell on the basis of a physical examination – tests have to be done
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If your doctor did tell you to do monthly checks, then I am very surprised, since I’m going ahead with my assumption that you’re a teenager.
It is NOT recommended that girls your age do breast self checks; it will tell them nothing and worry them unnecessarily.
The American Cancer Society and other cancer organisations recommend that women begin breast self examination at no younger than 20 (if then; some medical professionals say 30). Before that it’s pointless; firstly because there are so many hormonal changes that there is no ‘normal’ – and self examination is about a woman knowing what’s normal for her and reporting any changes. And secondly because the chance of breast cancer is almost nil.
If things come out of your breast that is liquid.
There is no way of knowing without going to a Dr.
One of your other questions mentions a single sharp pain in your breast and other questions suggest you are under 20.
Teenage breasts do all sorts of weird stuff.
They get lumpy, tender, painfull, lopsided, hormonal etc.
None of these are breast cancer, it is developing breast tissue.
If you have a symptom that is worrying, the best thing to do is talk to your mother or school nurse, they will know if you need to see a Dr.