Pi Xixi has always felt that some pieces of inspirational literature are not meant to nourish us but to provoke others.

Especially this phrase: **"A high-level life is always about subtraction."

How come in our lives, apart from hair, it's mostly addition?

The ever-increasing weight,

The ever-growing wrinkles,

The ever-mounting bills,

And perhaps during some physical examination, one or several breast cysts appear unexpectedly.

"As they say, less anger, especially holding it in. Look, now there's an extra lump!"**

"Hurry up and get it checked; this cyst has the word 'swelling' in it. Let's see if it's benign or malignant.""Try to think positively... Aunt Wang next door had surgery to remove one side, and she's been stable ever since chemotherapy. Do you want me to ask who her doctor was?"**

What are you talking about! The doctor from West China Hospital can't bear to listen any longer!

Breast cysts are a very common clinical manifestation, often discovered by women during routine ultrasound examinations. Although the breast may always be found to have such lumps, causing people to panic, a simple breast cyst is just a "blister," which has no impact on the body.

Below, Dr. Chen Jie from the Department of Breast Surgery at West China Hospital, Sichuan University, will explain why you shouldn't panic when you find out you have a breast cyst!

Breast cysts are formed by some secretory changes in the epithelium of the breast ducts, with the ducts filled with liquid to form round or oval lumps.

If that sounds a bit abstract, here's an easier way to understand it → Just as the human body sweats because sweat glands secrete water, some ducts in the breast have undergone changes similar to sweat glands and have the function of secreting water. However, this water is trapped inside the breast and cannot be expelled, forming a blister, which is a cyst.

Some studies also suggest that many organs in the human body are prone to cysts, such as liver cysts and kidney cysts. For this phenomenon, a high EQ way of saying it: it's a kind of degenerative change. A low EQ way of saying it: you're getting old... Anyway, no matter how you say it, cysts themselves are not tumors and have no impact on the body without combined tumors or infections.

According to current research, the peak age for breast cysts is 35-50 years old, and the number can be one or several, possibly in both breasts or only on one side. Breast cysts are not contagious, not hereditary, but there is a certain possibility of recurrence.

Q: "Everyone says enduring for a while leads to breast cysts. Doctor, does being angry really cause breast cysts?"

Although we have roughly understood that breast cysts are secretory changes in the epithelium of the breast ducts, as for why these changes occur, to be honest, we really don't know. It is currently speculated that it may be related to hormonal changes.

Cysts may occur in the breast due to the influence of certain hormones and hormonal fluctuations. Women who are in the period before and after menopause may experience significant changes in hormone levels, making them more likely to develop breast cysts. Menstruation also causes hormonal changes, so some people can even feel breast cysts during their menstrual period.

Of course, emotions such as anger, happiness, and sadness can also cause hormonal fluctuations. As for how much anger can cause breast cysts and how much impact being angry or holding in anger has on the development of breast cysts, there are probably no clear answers to these questions at present. However, since negative emotions may have a negative impact on the body and can cause other problems even if they do not lead to cysts, it's better to be happy as much as possible!

In most cases, breast cysts are smooth, movable round or oval lumps that you may or may not be able to feel yourself.

Q: "Doctor, when I touch a hard lump in my breast, they say there's a big problem, right?"

A: In the article "Which one asks you to massage your breast indiscriminately? Can't find a place to spend money, right!" we talked about the five possibilities of feeling a lump in the breast, and the first one directly said that the so-called "hard lump" "lump" you feel might just be normal breast tissue.

Even if we doctors have said all we can in the outpatient clinic, there are still many women who don't believe that the lump they feel is normal tissue. Here's a bit more to say about it -

Unlike women in Europe and America whose breasts are mainly fat, 70% of Chinese people's breasts are glandular, which is denser than fat and skin, and feels relatively harder. If you suddenly feel a hard lump in your breast, don't panic first. Touch the symmetrical position on the other side of your breast. If there is also the same hard lump, then in most cases, it may be normal tissue. But if the situation on both sides is different, you need to come to the hospital to see.

IV

Breast cysts are generally not very painful, but some people may experience pain during menstruation, and sometimes they may be painful when pressed, but this pain is generally tolerable.

Q: "Doctor, I have chest pain every time I have my period. Is it also a breast cyst?"

A: Breast cysts may be painful during menstruation, which may be caused by hormonal changes at this time. However, chest pain during menstruation is more common in mammary gland hyperplasia, which is also caused by hormones -

With the changes of the menstrual cycle, the breast also has the changes of hyperplasia, degeneration, and recovery like the endometrium. Before menstruation, the level of estrogen in the body increases, the lobules and ducts in the breast hyperplasia and expand, so some people feel the breast is swollen and painful, and it feels hard when touched.

As for whether your chest pain during menstruation is caused by breast cysts or mammary gland hyperplasia, or even other breast diseases, it needs to be analyzed specifically according to the situation. If you are concerned about this topic, leave a message for us, and we will ask the doctor to talk about chest pain during menstruation next time.

V

For breast cysts, the doctor may prescribe a breast ultrasound, mammography, and fine-needle aspiration biopsy and other examinations, and analyze whether there is a problem with the breast cyst through these examination results. At the same time, in order to detect changes in breast cysts, people with breast cysts need to undergo routine screening every 6 to 12 months.

1. Breast Ultrasound

With the advancement of examination methods, the resolution of breast ultrasound has become higher and higher, and even lesions of 2 to 3 millimeters can be seen. As the most commonly used examination method, ultrasound can distinguish whether the mass is liquid, solid, or mixed, and it can also clearly determine whether it is a cyst with water inside.

But nothing is absolute. For the following two situations, just doing an ultrasound is far from enough.

① If the liquid inside the cyst is very viscous, it may not be possible to determine whether it is a cyst or a tumor just by ultrasound. In this case, the doctor will usually prescribe other examinations to assist in the diagnosis.

② If it is suspected that the cyst is a change of mammary gland hyperplasia, because there is a possibility of malignancy, other examinations are also needed.

2. Mammography

To exclude whether the cyst is accompanied by other diseases, the doctor will prescribe a mammography examination to see if there is any calcification, symmetry, and whether the structure is distorted.

3. Fine-needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNA)

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy can directly puncture into the lump, draw out the water, and also use a microscope to see if there are any cancer cells in the water.

VI

Under normal circumstances, after confirming breast cysts, no special treatment is required, unless there are these two situations, and fine-needle aspiration biopsy is needed for aspiration treatment:

1. Severe pain occurs:

When the area of the breast cyst is too painful, it is mostly infected, and pus needs to be drawn out to relieve discomfort.

2. The cyst grows rapidly in a short period of time:

Whether it is found to be enlarged by ultrasound or you feel that the cyst has suddenly grown, you need to be examined and treated to avoid cancerous changes and aspirate the cyst.

If the aspiration shows that the cyst has completely collapsed in both clinical examination and ultrasound results, no further treatment is needed; but the patient should undergo a clinical breast examination or ultrasound examination 2 to 4 months later to see if there are any new changes, and then return to routine screening once every 6 to 12 months; if recurrence occurs after aspiration