Possible breast cancer symptoms include, for example, knots and indurations in the breast tissue as well as watery or bloody secretions from the nipple. Even if a nipple or a part of the breast skin moves in, a breast cancer can be the cause. However, when you discover such changes, you should not start from the worst: Sometimes relatively harmless causes are behind it. Nevertheless, abnormalities in the chest area should always be clarified by the doctor. Read all important information about possible breast cancer symptoms here!
How to recognize breast cancer?
The best chance to recognize breast cancer as early as possible, offers the Regular palpation of the breastAs a woman you should carefully palpate your chest once a month. This allows you to recognize changes early on. Such abnormalities may be a breast cancer indication, but may also have more benign causes (such as a benign tumor or inflammation). But only a gynecologist can tell you that with certainty.
Tip: The best time for self-examination of the breast is in women before menopause one week after the onset of menstruation. Then the breast tissue is particularly soft, so that changes (such as knots or indurations) are easier to detect.
The monthly self-examination of the breast should be supplemented by a regular screening test at the gynecologist. The health insurance companies pay women over 30 years once a year, the medical palpation of the breast.
Important signs of breast cancer
Pain is an important alarm signal in many diseases – but not in breast cancer, at least not in the early stages. In advanced breast cancer, however, daughter resorptions (metastases) can trigger pain, for example, bone metastases.
In order to detect early stages of breast cancer, women should therefore pay attention to other changes and complaints. The most important breast cancer symptoms are:
- newly formed nodules or indurations in the chest (usually in the upper outer quadrant) or armpit
- changed size or shape of a breast
- Differences in the movement of the two breasts when raising the arms
- Retractions of the breast or nipple
- Changes in the color or sensitivity of the breast, the areola or the nipple
- water-clear, cloudy or bloody secretions from a nipple
- enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit
- new, non-decaying redness or scaling of the breast skin
Do not be alarmed if you discover one or more of these possible breast cancer symptoms! There is not a malignant tumor just behind every lump in the chest. Also for the other abnormalities there are often more harmless explanations:
For example, if the lymph glands in your armpit are enlarged, the reason may be an infection. If a pressure-sensitive knot can be felt in the breast tissue, it is often just a benign tumor, a harmless cyst or compressed connective tissue.
To really be sure, you should have potential breast cancer signs though always get clarified by a doctor, Make an appointment with your gynecologist as soon as possible to be examined. If the doctor finds a relatively harmless explanation for the changes, you can be reassured. But is it really about Breast Cancer Symptoms, the early detection and treatment of the tumor can significantly improve your chances of recovery!