If You Think You Might Have Breast Cancer, Read This

For all of you reporting a burning sensation, pain, soreness, etc., there are only two rare breast cancers that announce themselves with pain. So if you’re a younger woman reporting pain in your breast(s), take heart; youth and pain are actually two positives, when it comes to breast cancer.

•Nipple discharge: according to the Mayo clinic, “cancer is rarely the underlying cause” of nipple discharge.

Your breasts may secrete fluid ranging from thin and watery to thick and sticky; and in color from milky, to yellow, greenish, brown, or bloody. This can be caused by a hormonal imbalance, an injury, an infection, an abnormal (but benign) growth in your breast… The thing to remember is this: If you’re having discharge from both breasts, it almost certainly isn’t cancer. And unless it’s bloody, again, it almost certainly isn’t cancer. And even if it’s bloody, it’s most probably not cancer. Not to say you shouldn’t get it checked out; just don’t assume it’s a cancer symptom, because it seldom is.

•If the issue is in both breasts—tenderness around your nipples, burning, pain, lumpiness—it’s probably not cancer.

Cancer very, very rarely presents itself in both breasts at once; it usually shows up in just one breast. Now, on further examination you might be found to have signs of cancer in both breasts; but usually you can only feel something worrisome—e.g., a lump—in one breast.

•A lump in your breast usually doesn't signal cancer.

While a lump is the symptom most likely to actually signal breast cancer, 85% of breast biopsies—minor surgery to check out a lump—are negative. A lump can be a benign tumor, a cyst, scar tissue, fibrocystic disease, or something else. So if you feel a lump, take heart—it’s probably NOT cancer. That said, discovering a lump in your breast is something you should always, ALWAYS report to your doctor—unless it comes and goes in tandem with your period. 

There; do you feel better? Breast cancer is a random disease that can strike anyone, anytime. But you know what? Chances are, it will never strike YOU. So relax, and find a more realistic focus for those worry genes—like the ever-rising price of gas!