1, how to care for breasts
The first insurance: learn breast self-examination
Women should have their breasts examined every month. There are two ways to take the self-study exam: 1. Check in front of the mirror. Stand, arms hanging at both sides, and observe the breast shape, whether the normal arc contour becomes irregular, whether there are orange peel-like pits, and whether there is liquid overflowing from the nipple during extrusion. If the above situation occurs, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible. 2. lie down and check. Lie flat on the bed, with the nipple as the center, press the skin clockwise with your fingertips and do a circular massage. When checking, the force should be even, and it is advisable to touch the ribs with your fingers. If nodules and lumps are found, you need to go to the hospital for further examination. It should be reminded that the best time for women with normal menstruation is from the 9th day after menstruation to 1 1 day, at which time it is easier to find lesions. Postmenopausal middle-aged and elderly women are not limited by time and can be examined at any time. Don't forget to check the position of armpit and collarbone when checking yourself. Some hyperplastic tissues may also grow around the breast.
Second insurance: cultivate three good habits
Breast health is inseparable from correct living habits. According to the public health network, if women can adhere to good living habits, they can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 40%. These good habits include:
1. Stay happy. Getting rid of bad emotions is the most timely protection for breasts. Wang Pilin, chief physician of the Department of Surgery and Mammography of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, said that long-term stress and depression can lead to benign diseases such as breast pain, lump and hyperplasia of mammary glands. If the patient is introverted and does not relieve stress, it may have vicious consequences. Dutch research has found that there is a clear link between breast cancer and depression.
2. Strengthen exercise and keep weight. Professor Susan Higginbotham of American Cancer Institute pointed out that exercise can not only prevent breast cancer, but also help breast cancer patients recover. Therefore, I suggest you do at least half an hour of exercise every day, such as walking, jogging, swimming and dancing.
3. Don't sleep on your stomach. Sleeping on your stomach often may lead to breast deformity and sagging. The best sleeping position for women is lying on their side, and a small pillow can be placed under their breasts.
Experts from the American Cancer Institute also reminded that late childbearing should be avoided as much as possible. Late marriage and late childbearing will unbalance the hormone level in women and increase the incidence of breast cancer. There is also evidence that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast cancer.
The third insurance: eat more foods that breasts "like"
Like human sense of taste, breasts also have "favorite" and "most afraid" foods. Soybeans, fungi, kelp, nuts, fish, dairy products and other seafood are breast favorites. Five-year follow-up of about 5000 new breast cancer patients aged 20-74 in Shanghai shows that eating more soy products can significantly reduce the risk of recurrence and death of breast cancer. Eating 100g white tofu or drinking 500ml concentrated soybean milk every day can get enough soybean protein. Fungal foods such as auricularia auricula and shiitake mushrooms can enhance immunity and have a strong anti-cancer effect. Kelp contains a lot of iodine, which can regulate endocrine and reduce the risk of female mammary gland hyperplasia. Nut foods contain a lot of antioxidants and vitamin E, which can resist cancer and make breasts elastic. Fish and seafood are rich in essential trace elements, which can protect breasts. Milk and dairy products are rich in protein and calcium, which can prevent mastitis. Foods high in oil and fat are the most terrible for breasts, which can change the endocrine environment of human body and increase the risk of cancer.
Fourth insurance: regular breast maintenance.
Chest massage can enhance the elasticity of ligaments, thus achieving a firm and plump effect. The massage method is to lie on the bed, start from around the breast, gently press the nipple, first clockwise, then counterclockwise, until the breast skin turns reddish, and finally lift the nipple continuously for 5~ 10 times, morning and evening 1 time. You can also do some chest expansion exercises at ordinary times, which is beneficial to chest bodybuilding.
It is also important to replenish water to the breasts. Apply a wet towel equivalent to body temperature to the breast every day for 10~ 15 minutes, which can not only prevent dry skin, but also help breast enhancement. When taking a bath, you can also use a shower to wash and massage your breasts, which can strengthen metabolism and blood circulation.
Fifth insurance: wear appropriate underwear to liberate breasts.
Bras, as women's "close friends", will also secretly play the role of "killer" of breasts. If the bra is too large, it will make the breasts droop and it will not support the breasts. But if it is too small, it will make the chest feel oppressive, which is not conducive to ventilation. In severe cases, it will affect the blood circulation and normal lymphatic reflux of the breast, and the "toxins" in the chest can not be discharged, which will lead to mastitis or breast hyperplasia and even increase the incidence of breast cancer. Therefore, wearing a bra should follow the following principles.
First of all, don't wear a bra for too long, not more than 8 hours a day, and you can't sleep with it. Secondly, the bra should be made of cotton. Thirdly, when choosing underwear, we should pay attention to the size of the bra and the distance between the breasts and the bra, which can accommodate 1~2 fingers and feel comfortable to wear. Remember that bras should not be too tight, especially those with steel brackets, and the bust must be wider. Finally, women of different ages should choose bras that suit them. For women with larger breasts, underwear straps should be wider, otherwise the support of shoulders will be uneven, which will lead to backache or sagging breasts in the long run; You must wear a bra during lactation, otherwise your chest will sag easily; After the age of 50, women should not wear bras with steel brackets or fiber texture.
Sixth insurance: regularly check high-risk groups.
In addition to self-care, breast health can not be separated from professional examination, especially for high-risk groups. After clinical summary, the following groups of people should pay special attention: First, the older women, the higher the risk of breast cancer; Second, women whose menarche age is less than 12 years old and whose menopause age is over 55 years old; Third, women who have only given birth to one child and are over 35 years old at the time of birth, or who have never given birth; Fourth, women with breast cancer or breast surgery on one side; Fifth, people who are obese after menopause or who have received hormone replacement therapy indirectly during menopause; Sixth, people with a family history of breast cancer. In addition, living under high-intensity pressure for a long time and eating high-calorie food are also high-risk factors for breast cancer. It is suggested that women in their twenties and thirties can have a physical examination once every 1 ~ 2 years, and women over 40 should have a physical examination once a year.
2. Conventional symptoms of breast cancer
1. Breast lump
80% of breast cancer patients are diagnosed as breast masses for the first time. Patients often inadvertently find breast lumps, mostly single, hard, irregular edges and unsmooth surfaces. Breast cancer is mostly painless mass, and only a few of them are accompanied by dull pain or tingling to varying degrees.
2. nipple discharge
During non-pregnancy period, blood, serous fluid, milk and pus flow out from the nipple, or milk still flows out after stopping breastfeeding for more than half a year, which is called nipple discharge. There are many reasons for nipple discharge. Common diseases include intraductal papilloma, mammary hyperplasia, mammary duct dilatation and breast cancer. Unilateral single-hole bloody secretions should be further examined, and more attention should be paid if accompanied by breast masses.
3. Skin changes
There are many signs of skin changes caused by breast cancer. The most common thing is that the tumor invades the Cooper ligament connecting the breast skin and the deep fascia of the chest, making it short and inelastic, pulling the skin at the corresponding position, resulting in "dimple sign", that is, a small depression appears in the breast skin, like a small dimple. If cancer cells block lymphatic vessels, there will be "orange peel-like changes", that is, many small spots appear on the breast skin, just like orange peel. In the late stage of breast cancer, cancer cells infiltrate the skin along lymphatic vessels, glandular ducts or fibrous tissues and grow, forming scattered hard nodules in the skin around the main cancer focus, which are called "skin satellite nodules".
4. Abnormal nipple and areola
The tumor is located in or near the nipple, which can cause nipple invagination. When the tumor is far away from the nipple and the large duct in the breast is invaded and shortened, it can also cause the nipple to retract or bulge. Eczematous carcinoma of the nipple, namely paget's disease of the breast, is characterized by itching, erosion, ulcer, scabbing, desquamation and burning pain of the nipple skin, leading to nipple invagination.
5. Axillary lymphadenopathy
More than 1/3 of breast cancer patients admitted to large hospitals have axillary lymph node metastasis. At the initial stage, the axillary lymph nodes on the same side may be enlarged, and the enlarged lymph nodes are hard, scattered and pushable. With the development of the disease, lymph nodes gradually fuse and attach to the skin and surrounding tissues. Metastatic lymph nodes can be felt in advanced clavicle and contralateral armpit.