Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University - Breast Surgery - Chief Physician Zhang Dongxiao
The breast is mainly constructed by glands and supporting tissues. There are 15-20 breast tube systems in each side of the breast. Each breast tube system has a branch breast tube below the main breast tube, which branches like the root of a big tree, forming breast acini at the end. The milk secreted by the acinus reaches the main mammary duct through various milk ducts, and finally overflows from the mammary pore opening at the nipple. Each laticiferous duct system is relatively independent in distribution, similar to each orange petal in an orange, and each system calls itself one. The double peaks are filled with adipose tissue and fibrous connective tissue between different glands. If any part of the above complex structure has problems, physiological changes and lesions will occur, resulting in breast lumps.
The reason for the occurrence of breast lumps is that the structure of one part of the above many breast structures is abnormal and has changes different from the normal structure. This change is large or small, long or short, regular or irregular, round or long strip, with different shapes and textures. Breast lump is only a clinical symptom, not a clinical diagnosis name. Generally, after breast lump is found, patients are always eager to know what the lump is. Just as touching the surface of an orange can preliminarily judge whether the orange is deteriorated, squeezing the orange can feel the quality, and observing the mildew spots on the orange peel can tell that the orange has decayed, so can observing the color and shape of the breast surface, and palpating the size, texture, and mobility of the tumor to a certain extent also judge the nature of the breast tumor and specific diseases. Experienced breast doctors can determine the nature of the tumor by visual inspection and palpation to more than 90%.
When you feel a lump, how do you judge whether it will become cancer in the future? Women should first learn to self test the health of breast lumps to find potential problems as soon as possible.
1、 Breast distension and pain in the early period of periodic menstruation, multiple nodules or lumps are felt in the breast, the boundary is unknown, which can be pushed forward. After menstruation, the swelling disappears, which may be physiological breast hyperplasia.
2. Breast painless mass, oval or oval in shape, smooth in surface, good in mobility, clearly demarcated from surrounding tissue, tough in texture, mostly single or multiple, breast fibroadenoma is likely.
3. It is mostly seen in the hypertrophic breast, with smooth surface, soft texture, clear boundary, and no pain to touch. It is a kind of breast lipoma. Lipoma is more common. In addition to the breast, this kind of tumor is also common in other fat rich parts of the limbs, such as the upper arm, thigh, etc.
4. The tumors that occur during the lactation period have clear boundaries, no tender masses, and clear boundaries. Most of them belong to galactocele.
5. Postpartum lactating mothers, especially primipara, are limited to lumps with unclear boundaries, unsmooth surfaces, poor mobility, pain in touch, swelling on the surface of the lumps, high fever, chills, fast pulse, and high possibility of acute mastitis.
6. Early painless single small mass, hard, unsmooth, indistinct with the surrounding tissue, is not easy to be promoted, and breast cancer is likely. Especially for women over 40 years old, great attention should be paid.
7. If the nipple has a single orifice discharge, bright red blood discharge or light clear serous discharge, a mass is felt under or around the areola, and there is a discharge when the nipple of the mass is gently pressed, a galactoscope must be performed to check the papilloma in the breast tube.
Here, we should especially remind that those breast lumps that do not hurt should be more careful!
Because painless breast lumps happen to be one of the characteristics of breast cancer. Generally speaking, inflammatory breast lumps are often accompanied by severe breast pain. The local area of the lumps is also accompanied by obvious inflammatory reactions such as redness, swelling, heat and pain. The lumps can fester and fester; Proliferative breast lumps are often accompanied by premenstrual breast swelling and pain, while breast lumps of breast cancer usually have no obvious pain and discomfort in the early stage. Only when local skin ulceration and infiltration occur in the late stage, will pain appear. The lumps often show progressive enlargement, with the characteristics of single, hard, poor mobility and other malignant lumps. Therefore, painless lumps need more vigilance!
Of course, the breast fibroadenoma mass also has no pain and is often found unintentionally. However, fibroadenoma usually occurs in young women. Most of the masses are regular, round, tough, with clear boundaries and large mobility. These are important differences from malignant masses.
Although the doctor has told you the secret of self discrimination of breast tumors, in view of the continuous development of imaging examination, many breast nodules and tumors that cannot be touched by doctors in clinical practice have been constantly found by imaging means such as color ultrasound, breast MRI, etc., so it is recommended to regularly go to the hospital for physical examination to achieve early detection of hidden lesions.
Author: Zhang Dongxiao, Chief Physician of Breast Department of Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Doctor of Medicine. He is good at the discovery and localization of intraductal tumors by breast duct endoscope, surgical treatment, minimally invasive treatment of benign breast tumors, surgical treatment of breast cancer, correction of breast abnormalities such as inverted nipple, and treatment of mastitis with integrated traditional and western medicine.
