VERIFIED CONTENTConsultation: dr Tadeusz Oleszczuk, gynecologist-obstetrician
Women want their breasts to be beautiful for many years, but do we care for them all with due care? Do we track how they change over the years and do we regularly test them? We asked Dr. Tadeusz Oleszczuk about what is normal in the appearance of our breasts and what should worry us.
Patrycja Pupiec: Lack of breast symmetry is quite normal and nothing to worry about, right?
Tadeusz Oleszczuk:Yes and no. If this difference is drastic and very visible, and there are such cases, it can be eliminated by the procedure. However, when the breast is slightly larger than the other, it is indeed quite normal.
Most women have the left breast bigger. Can you explain it somehow medically?
If you look at it honestly, no two breasts are perfectly identical. Even the feet are different and one is a little bigger than the other, and so is the breasts. Usually, however, the left breast is the bigger one more often. The breasts are formed in adolescence and hormonal regulation, above all, of thyroid and ovarian hormones is important. You also need an optimal level of minerals (selenium, zinc) and vitamins.
While preparing for my interview, I came across the term gigantomastia. It is a very dangerous condition that little is heard about. Are there often such cases?
It has to do with the level of minerals and vitamins in general, but it is also influenced by hormones and genes. Few people associate the thyroid gland with their breasts, which is a mistake because breasts are involved in the metabolism of iodine. Hormones such as prolactin, thyroxine, estrogens and progesterone are important.
In girls who mature and develop disorders of the thyroid gland, ovaries or pituitary gland. Excessive hair growth, irregular cycles appear, the breasts begin to shape or the problem of irregularities in their structure is revealed. Especially when there are diseases of the thyroid gland in the family.
I have already met patients who had a problem with it and probably had thyroid disorders in adolescence, but no one paid attention to these non-specificbreast symptoms. The breasts should not hurt, let alone discharge from the nipples.
That is why it is so important to check and respond to such symptoms, especially when your mother, grandmother or sister is ill or ill. We forget that a woman is not born with breasts, but breasts are formed in adolescence and are affected by all kinds of hormonal disorders that can cause breast size disturbances.
Does sleep position affect a woman's breast?
It does not have such an impact, because the woman does not sleep on her stomach for 24 hours, and in this position they are the most loaded, only about 7-9 hours. You have to approach it with a distance. In a way, this is a kind of explanation for other problems, for example, the difference in the size of the breasts or their appearance, and this is not due to sleep, but to the already mentioned hormonal disorders and thyroid disorders. However, a correctly selected bra is important.
Breasts can also give you pleasure during sex, for example by having a nipple orgasm.
Yes. Stimulating the nipples increases the secretion of oxytocin, and this is important in feeling and remembering pleasant emotions. Sex affects the breasts by increasing the amount of blood flowing in, making them swollen and more sensitive to touch and caress. Of course, the breasts also reveal excitement, so even in addition, it is a message for a man that a woman is aroused, having an orgasm.
Third nipple - is this normal or should you worry?
Yes, while it rarely occurs, it can be surgically corrected. It is a developmental disorder.
What about the hair on the nipples?
Hair on the nipples or around them most often proves a high testosterone level or the sensitivity of receptors to this hormone. In such a situation, you need to do hormone tests and look at why this is so.
Is there anything else that should worry a woman about the appearance of her breasts? Maybe secretions appearing?
It should definitely alarm a woman when the nipple is drawn inward. This is important because of planning pregnancy and breastfeeding, because if the girl decides to do so, the breasts should be prepared so that the newborn has a chance to grab the nipple, because if it is pulled off, it will not be able to cope. Of course, the aforementioned leaks are also not a must-live-in.
If a woman is not breastfeeding, she shouldn't have any leakage from her breasts. There are two types of leakage - one when it occurs on its own and the other when it occurs aftersqueezed. In each case, the cause must be clarified. Breast leakage cannot be left without a medical consultation.
You can't say that "this type is like that" or that "sometimes it is like that". Absolutely not. As is the fact that the breasts should not hurt before menstruation. This is an underestimated topic. Of course, identifying any lump in the breast requires, first of all, appropriate diagnostics, such as ultrasound.
Exactly, and so often women complain of sore breasts before their period …
When your breasts hurt before your period, there is a hormonal and metabolic disorder. It may be related to estrogen and progesterone imbalances, testosterone and prolactin spikes. The breasts are very sore before menstruation, and the desire for sweet products is increased. Stress is also an impetus for the secretion of prolactin.
I have already seen patients who had an 80-fold increase in prolactin and unfortunately there were cysts in their breasts. Other symptoms are also characteristic, for example cold feet and hands, low blood pressure. It's all related to the thyroid gland and prolactin spikes.
Although sleep, stress, and diet do not seem to affect the breasts, the reality is quite different. Insufficient sleep causes disorders in the secretion of prolactin, and hence a straight path to other ailments, including the aforementioned cysts of the breast or ovaries.
Doctors often say that you have to see the cyst develop, that it's nothing serious.
If the cause of the hormonal imbalance disappears, often the cysts themselves can shrink as well. However, you have to ask yourself why they appeared and why you reacted in a causal way. If cysts appear, it means that the woman is sensitive to hormonal disorders.
Sometimes to a lesser extent, and sometimes to a greater extent. Hormonal imbalances are corrected after successful treatment, which may lead to the disappearance of the cysts. If a woman takes hormonal contraception, she must do a breast ultrasound once a year.
Palpating a lump a few millimeters in size is easy to overlook, and then an ultrasound scan can show the actual state of the breast structure. But there is a very important rule - we perform self-examination after menstruation, and we can do ultrasound on any day of the cycle.
Unfortunately, little is said about breast examinations in young women, and they should do it from the moment they start having sex or take contraception. On the other hand - there is no doctor who only deals with the breasts. A specialist mammologist.
There is a specialist in the reproductive organ, sinceheart or liver, blood pressure. However, when there is a change in the breast, the gynecologist will refer you to an oncologist or surgeon. If he determines that it is not cancer, he offers the patient an appointment with the family doctor, and the internist says "please see the gynecologist."
Therefore, it is very important to perform an evaluation - onpackage of 6 minerals, and gene testing should be performed, looking for mutations. If genetic mutations appear, then such a patient should be more widely diagnosed and requires specialized treatment.
When a woman is not satisfied with the size of her breasts, all that remains is surgical enlargement or are there other natural methods that can help?
The best method is surgery with the use of natural adipose tissue, but this is on the side of the surgeons who see and evaluate the case. Correction can always be performed if the patient does not like the appearance of the breasts, but you should also not overdo it, because many women decide only because their friends have also corrected themselves.
There is no point in correcting what is nice and doctors honestly advise against it when a woman comes for consultation, and it turns out that the problem is partly in her self-esteem.
The phenomenon of a cold breast, which affects lactating women - there is no such disease entity. Does such a thing even exist?
People try to explain certain disorders to themselves by saying "I had a breast cold". There are many causes of pain ailments. From inflammation caused by bacteria or yeast infection, especially in women with impaired glucose tolerance or weakened immunity.
A woman gives birth to a baby and it turns out that she cannot breastfeed. High sugar levels cause inflammation and swelling in the milk ducts and hence difficulties with feeding - stagnation and pain appear.
There is a lot of talk about preventive examinations, but still many women suffer from breast cancer.
The statistics we talked about before are devastating. I myself was terrified when I saw the statistics. Imagine that 30 years ago there were about 8,000 cases of breast cancer each year, and now there are about 25,000.
Of course, the pandemic did its job, in which reporting decreased by 90%, as well as the lack of education and preventive examinations. Today these women are taking a toll because their cases are mostly advanced. There are situations where a woman in January detects a lump about a centimeter by self-examination, but did not go to the doctor because she was afraid it was cancer.
It only went in June, and thenit turned out that the tumor is already 3 centimeters long and there are already metastases to the lymph nodes. Regardless of the size of the discovered change - it is necessary to go to a specialist who will check what exactly it is. The symptoms we have noticed cannot be ignored.
Why can't I wait?
Waiting for 2-3 months is a mistake, as there is not enough time to start treatment. If something was not there, but it suddenly appeared - it must be checked by the doctor who will order an ultrasound, possibly a biopsy or further tests. The ultrasound itself is, after all, a standard, harmless test, which is even performed in pregnant or lactating women, if necessary.
It is best if a radiologist conducts them, because he performs such examinations much more often than other doctors and has the most experience. Breast self-examination should be carried out two or three days after menstruation. It is imperative to monitor if everything is well.
Prevention is the key. Every fourth person in Poland will get cancer and these are the statistical data. There is a pandemic, everything has changed, so the chances for a quick diagnosis and recovery also look different than before. Of course, you also have to wonder why we get cancer.
The key factor is how our diet looks today. Statistically, a Pole eats about 40 kg of sugar a year. Sugar is empty calories that fuel the rapidly growing cancer cells.
Smoking, stress, sleep disturbances and the lack of prevention lead to the fact that the number of new diseases is constantly increasing. That is why it is worth taking blood tests today to determine where our risk of developing cancer is. Testing genetic mutations and determining the level of minerals that affect he alth and immunity.
gynecologist-obstetrician Tadeusz OleszczukGynecologist-obstetrician with over 30 years of experience. Author of the books "What the gynecologist will not tell you" and "Calm your hormones".
www.tadeuszoleszczuk.pl
fb.com / drtadeusz
Read other articles from the StrefaKobiety series:
- First visit to the gynecologist: what can you expect?
- Ignorance or maybe ignorance? Why do women die of cancer?
- 20 percent couples deal with infertility. Mostly not the fault of the woman
- Last menstruation and menopause. How to prepare for it?
- A woman must be he althy before starting contraception
- How to take care of intimate hygiene to avoid infections?
- Allergies - where do they come from? Allergy to semen and condoms
- Gynecologist banning abortion:Let us not condemn women to suffering at the risk of losing he alth and life
- Pain in the intimate areas. Is it normal to feel pain?
- Sexually transmitted diseases. How to take care of your safety?
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), or when the body and mind suffer
- Gynecological visit during a pandemic. What has changed?
- Are you pregnant and afraid to vaccinate against COVID-19? Expert explains why it is worth doing this
- Why is it so long to be diagnosed with endometriosis?
- Endometrial cancer, i.e. a cancer in which lifestyle is important
- Why are uterine fibroids mostly only monitored?
- Gynecologist: People are afraid to name the basic elements of the reproductive system, let alone know what the physiology of the cycle looks like