When it comes to breast health and your body in general, clear skin is healthy skin. The skin on your breasts should naturally be more or less flat and smooth. Again, consistency is key. Bumps and birthmarks that are always present are not a problem.
Thickening or swelling of part of the breast. Irritation or dimpling of breast skin. Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast. Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.
Normal breast tissue often feels nodular (lumpy) and varies in consistency from woman to woman. Even within each individual woman, the texture of breast tissue varies at different times in her menstrual cycle, and from time to time during her life.
A lump in the breast may be visible to the eye or felt with your hands during a self-breast exam. But lumps or areas of swelling around the breast, under the armpit or near the collar bone may also be signs of cancer. A breast cancer lump often feels like a pea- or marble-shaped mass just under the skin.
Breast tissue in and of itself can feel somewhat lumpy and sponge-like, so it can be hard to know if what you're feeling is an actual lump or just normal breast tissue. "A breast lump will feel like a distinct mass that's noticeably more solid than the rest of your breast tissue.
Montgomery glands
The darker area of skin around the nipple is called the areola. On the areola there are some little raised bumps. These are quite normal and are called Montgomery glands. They produce fluid to moisturise the nipple.
Young women usually have dense breasts because their milk systems might be needed for feeding babies. Sometimes this thickness is felt as a lump or a mass of tissue. As women age, their milk systems shrink and are replaced by fat. By menopause, most women's breasts are completely soft.
If you have an underlying breast condition, you might notice changes in how your breasts normally feel, such as: A round, smooth and firm breast lump. A large, solid-feeling lump that moves easily under your skin. A hard, irregular-shaped breast lump.
Breast tissue has natural lumps and bumps that you may feel, and you might just be more likely than others to develop lumps in your breasts. If you feel the same lumpiness in both breasts, or there isn't one lump that's firmer than the others, it's most likely your normal breast tissue.
Fibroadenomas are solid, smooth, firm, noncancerous (benign) lumps that are most commonly found in women in their 20s and 30s. They are the most common benign lumps in women and can occur at any age. They are increasingly being seen in postmenopausal women who are taking hormone therapy.
When viewed on a mammogram, women with dense breasts have more dense tissue than fatty tissue. On a mammogram, nondense breast tissue appears dark and transparent. Dense breast tissue appears as a solid white area on a mammogram, which makes it difficult to see through.
If the lumpiness can be felt throughout the breast and feels like your other breast, then it's probably normal breast tissue. Lumps that feel harder or different from the rest of the breast (or the other breast) or that feel like a change are a concern and should be checked.
Shape and size of a breast lump
A tumor may feel more like a rock than a grape. A cancerous lump is usually hard, not soft or squishy. And it often has angular, irregular, asymmetrical edges, as opposed to being smooth, Dr. Comander says.
Check with your doctor or nurse if you notice unusual changes in your breast(s). Lump or firm feeling (also called a mass), including a lump in or near your breast, a lump under your arm, thick or firm tissue in or near your breast or under your arm, or a change in the size or shape of your breast.
Bumps that are cancerous are typically large, hard, painless to the touch and appear spontaneously. The mass will grow in size steadily over the weeks and months. Cancerous lumps that can be felt from the outside of your body can appear in the breast, testicle, or neck, but also in the arms and legs.
Some common breast changes are: Fibrocystic breast changes - lumpiness, thickening and swelling, often just before a woman's period. Cysts - fluid-filled lumps. Fibroadenomas - solid, round, rubbery lumps that move easily when pushed, occurring most in younger women.
Commonly developing from the mammary glands or ducts, such malignant lumps generally (about 50 percent) appear in the upper, outer quadrant of the breast, extending into the armpit, where tissue is thicker than elsewhere.
A standard mammogram will usually be mostly gray, with some white areas showing healthy dense tissue. More white on the image does not always indicate a health problem. Everyone's breasts are different, so no two mammogram images will be the same. Healthy mammograms can still vary in appearance.
Breasts can get smaller over time. As estrogen levels decrease, your breast tissue changes. The tissue in your breasts gets dehydrated and isn't as elastic as it used to be. This can lead to a loss of volume, and your breasts may shrink as much as a cup size.
Fluctuating hormone levels during the menstrual cycle can cause breast discomfort and areas of lumpy breast tissue that feel tender, sore and swollen. Fibrocystic breast changes tend to be more bothersome before your menstrual period and ease up after your period begins.
Hormone shifts
This sensitivity is known as cyclic mastalgia or fibrocystic changes. Around 50 percent of all women over the age of 30 experience this. Right before your period starts, your breasts may feel especially tender if you press on them, or they may ache.
Dimpling looks like a sunken, pitted area with an uneven texture. Breast cancers, such as inflammatory breast cancer, lobular breast cancer, and invasive ductal carcinoma, can all cause dimpling of the breast skin. Noncancerous conditions like fat necrosis and fibromatosis are also common causes of dimpling.
A milk bleb, or milk blister, occurs when your nipple pore gets blocked by a piece of skin or a small amount of hardened breast milk. It creates a blocked duct at your nipple, causing milk to back up behind it. It's common in people who are breastfeeding (chestfeeding).
What are Montgomery's tubercles? Montgomery's tubercles are sebaceous (oil) glands that appear as small bumps around the dark area of the nipple. Studies have found between 30 and 50 percent of pregnant women notice Montgomery's tubercles. Their primary function is lubricating and keeping germs away from the breasts.