Important breast cancer signs to look out for apart from lump
The very one thing I love about October, as a medic, is that it gives us a chance, not just to raise but to spread breast cancer awareness.
Let me today; start with my heartfelt special thanks to the all people around especially those who have been wholeheartedly dedicating their time to preach about breast cancer awareness.
Their efforts have been with great help if I may say, since I came to realise that majority of people now, especially women have gained enough awareness unlike the previous years where access to adequate information about breast cancer was a challenge.
Breast cancer awareness, especially when it comes to how to look for the initial symptoms, the first thing that comes to every woman is, that lump in the breast or around the armpit. But is the lump on the breast enough to tell the breast cancer status? Actually no!
What if sometime a lump doesn’t appear in the breast but you find some other rarely-known symptoms on the breast? Is it enough to assume that it might just be due to some other little breast issues? Actually no!
That’s why it is important to look beyond the lump when it comes to early detection. In most cases, breast cancer symptoms disguise themselves in other breast abnormalities that may confuse you at times.
I recently talked about breast self exam to find early symptoms and these symptoms may not just be a lump. I therefore urge people, especially women who are the main candidates for breast cancer, to also keep a very close eye on these symptoms apart from the lump that majority of people now know about.
Signs to watch out for
The first sign to look out for is dimpling of the breast skin. Some women tend to put on tight underwear and especially tight bras, so it is normal for them to experiencie these light dimples on their breasts.
But if a dimple in the breast doesn’t go away, it can also be a sign of breast cancer. It is caused when a tumour (lump) deep in the breast pulls the skin inward causing it to indent. Sometimes this lump can be felt, sometimes it can’t. Therefore when doing breast self exam, a dimple can be more easily seen when lifting your arms up above your head to see if the whole breast skin moves with you or not.
Another rare symptom to always keep a close eye to, is the change in shape and size from the other.. This is ideally assumed to be normal especially for breast feeding women due to milk production, and other hormonal changes.
But if one breast changes size, flattens, swells, or droops unexpectedly—and persists beyond your period—this could be a sign of breast cancer.
Be watchful on sunken nipples too. Retracted nipples can be a normal shape of the breast (from when they were first developed). However, if you notice your nipple changing and flattening or turning inwards, it could be a sign of a new breast cancer tumour underneath, pulling the nipple toward it as it grows and that is when you need to consult your doctor straight away.
