By Sarah Grossbart, Redbook
You know their size, level of perkiness, and how good they look in that one shirt with the plunging neckline. But how familiar are you really with your breasts? For optimal breast health, says Dr. Joshua G. Cohen, a gynecological oncologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, you need to have what physicians calls breast self-awareness. "What that means," explains Cohen, "is we want patients to be aware of what's normal for them and understand that if something is different, it's important to see a doctor."
And that extends far beyond looking out for bumps. While a firm, usually fixed area is the most common presentation of breast cancer, the deadly disease can rear its head in other ways. Four pros share what to look out for.
You know their size, level of perkiness, and how good they look in that one shirt with the plunging neckline. But how familiar are you really with your breasts? For optimal breast health, says Dr. Joshua G. Cohen, a gynecological oncologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, you need to have what physicians calls breast self-awareness. "What that means," explains Cohen, "is we want patients to be aware of what's normal for them and understand that if something is different, it's important to see a doctor."
And that extends far beyond looking out for bumps. While a firm, usually fixed area is the most common presentation of breast cancer, the deadly disease can rear its head in other ways. Four pros share what to look out for.
Changes in Boob Size
This would be something that extends beyond period-related swelling and generally just affects one side of the chest. While "it's not unusual" to have one breast be larger than the other, says Susan Brown, M.S., R.N., senior director of patient and education support at the Susan G. Komen foundation, "we're talking about a change in the size of the breast." So if your left side is suddenly a cup size larger than the right, it's time to get evaluated.
Dimpling of the Skin
What you're looking for is something Dr. Joseph Weber, a surgical breast oncologist with Aurora Health Care, calls peau de l'orange — a French phrase that means "skin of the orange." If cancer is behind the dimpling in your skin, he explains, "it actually has a puckering that looks kind of like an orange peel."
A Welt on Your Breast
Most patients brush off a red or white-colored mark as a trauma from a heavy purse or bad bra, says Matthew L. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. "It's a thickening of the skin that almost looks like a welt where you got hit," he says. But it's actually a sign of a different form of the disease called inflammatory breast cancer, which could account for "as many as 10 percent of breast cancers," says Anderson. "If you notice a change like that, you should definitely have your physician evaluate it."
An Inverted Nipple
They're common in some women and if that's what you were born with, says Brown, "that's not a concern." But if it occurs suddenly — usually in just one breast — "it could be associated with breast cancer."
A Skin Rash
This warning sign — an itchy, scaly sore right at the nipple — may appear to be an unfortunately placed insect bite, which is why it's easy to miss. "We all get rashes," says Weber. "But if it's persistent and doesn't go away with hydrocortisone or steroid cream, you need an additional workup."
Bumps in Your Armpit
Though we put most of our focus on the front of our chest, there's a portion of the breast called the tail that extends up into your armpit. When bumps form there, people tend to assume it's an ingrown hair, says Cohen, "but it could actually be an enlarged lymph node that needs to be biopsied."
The flow itself is not concerning, says Brown, as "sometimes women and even men have discharge from both breasts." But if it occurs spontaneously and only from one boob, that could be an issue, particularly if it's clear or has a bloody appearance.
The flow itself is not concerning, says Brown, as "sometimes women and even men have discharge from both breasts." But if it occurs spontaneously and only from one boob, that could be an issue, particularly if it's clear or has a bloody appearance.
Nipple Discharge
The flow itself is not concerning, says Brown, as "sometimes women and even men have discharge from both breasts." But if it occurs spontaneously and only from one boob, that could be an issue, particularly if it's clear or has a bloody appearance.
"We don't think about breast cancer as being painful," notes Brown. Yet it could present as a focused area of pain — "you might almost be able to put your finger on it," she says — that occurs in just one breast. If you feel a new twinge on just one side, give your doctor a heads up.
"We don't think about breast cancer as being painful," notes Brown. Yet it could present as a focused area of pain — "you might almost be able to put your finger on it," she says — that occurs in just one breast. If you feel a new twinge on just one side, give your doctor a heads up.
A Sore Spot
"We don't think about breast cancer as being painful," notes Brown. Yet it could present as a focused area of pain — "you might almost be able to put your finger on it," she says — that occurs in just one breast. If you feel a new twinge on just one side, give your doctor a heads up.
Stretched-Out Breast Skin
Pay close attention to how the skin on your chest appears, recommends Weber. If there's cancer present in the breast tissue, it might pull the skin to one side or the other or expand in specific areas.
There's a lengthy list of explanations for these afflictions, but if you're dealing with a persistent or frequently recurring ache or pain, it's time to ask your doctor what's going on. Cancer isn't the most likely culprit, but, says Weber, "anything that's a nagging issue, we want to look into it further."
There's a lengthy list of explanations for these afflictions, but if you're dealing with a persistent or frequently recurring ache or pain, it's time to ask your doctor what's going on. Cancer isn't the most likely culprit, but, says Weber, "anything that's a nagging issue, we want to look into it further."
Frequent Headaches, Back Aches, or Bone Pain
There's a lengthy list of explanations for these afflictions, but if you're dealing with a persistent or frequently recurring ache or pain, it's time to ask your doctor what's going on. Cancer isn't the most likely culprit, but, says Weber, "anything that's a nagging issue, we want to look into it further."
"We don't think about breast cancer as being painful," notes Brown. Yet it could present as a focused area of pain — "you might almost be able to put your finger on it," she says — that occurs in just one breast. If you feel a new twinge on just one side, give your doctor a heads up.
"We don't think about breast cancer as being painful," notes Brown. Yet it could present as a focused area of pain — "you might almost be able to put your finger on it," she says — that occurs in just one breast. If you feel a new twinge on just one side, give your doctor a heads up.
Changes in Weight
Unexplained weight gain. Decreased appetite. Changes in waist size. Again, these could be caused by many things, "but they could be a sign of some systemic process," says Cohen, "whether that's breast cancer or another form of cancer."
Shortness of Breath
Although breast cancer starts as a local disease, it's able to spread to other parts of the body — an advanced stage called metastatic breast cancer. The most likely places it will travel, says Brown, are your bones, liver, lungs or brain. So if you experience bone pain or shortness of breath, she says, "it could be a sign of breast cancer that is present in one of those other organs that went undetected in the breast."
