Breast swelling is a common, non-cancerous condition that affects more than 50% of women at some point in their lives. The most common signs of breast swelling include lumpiness, tenderness, and cysts, areas of thickening, fibrosis, and breast pain. Having fibrocystic breasts, in and of itself, is not a risk factor for breast cancer. However, breast swelling can sometimes make it more difficult to detect a hidden breast cancer with standard examination and imaging techniques. Breast swelling is most common among women between the ages of 30 and 50, although women younger than 30 may also have fibrocystic breasts. Because the condition is related to the menstrual cycle, the symptoms will generally cease after menopause unless a woman is taking hormone replacement therapy. In some cases, breast swelling symptoms may continue past menopause.

More about the breast swelling

The degree to which women experience these symptoms varies vitally. Some women with breast swelling only experience mild breast pain and may not be able to feel any breast lumps when performing breast self-exams. Other women with breast swelling may experience more severe breast pain or tenderness and may feel multiple lumps in their breasts. Most breast swelling lumps are found in the upper, outer quadrant of the breasts, although these lumps can occur anywhere in the breasts. Breast swelling lumps tend to be smooth, rounded, and mobile, though some fibrocystic tissue may have a thickened, irregular feel. The lumps or irregularities associated with breast swelling are often tender to touch and may increase or decrease in size during the menstrual cycle.

Conclusion

In the past, many physicians have referred to breast swelling, or lumpy breasts, as fibrocystic breast disease. This term is misleading because breast swelling condition is not a disease at all. Rather, it is an ordinary, non-cancerous breast condition that affects over half of all women at some point in their lives. Today, most physicians refer to this condition as breast swelling condition or breast swelling change. Other terms that may be used to describe the state include cystic disease, chronic cystic mastitis, or mammary dysphasia. In fact; since breast swellings are so common among women during their reproductive years, some physicians do not even like to label the symptoms as a condition. They believe that these women just have lumpier and tenderer breasts than others.