Finding a lump anywhere on your body can be a scary experience. You may be immediately flooded with questions and worries. What is this lump? Is it dangerous? What should you do about it?

Lumps on the breast tissue or surrounding areas can be particularly concerning since breast cancer is relatively common. Not all lumps are cancerous, though. Some are fibroadenomas. Let’s take a look at the symptoms and treatment options for fibroadenomas, as well as some information on what exactly they are.

What is a Fibroadenoma?

A fibroadenoma is a lump on the breast tissue. It is, however, not a dangerous cancerous lump. Instead, it is a non-cancerous lump that is extremely common in younger women. They also affect older women but are most prevalent in the younger ladies amongst us.

The cause of these benign tumours is unknown, though many doctors and experts believe that they are related to reproductive hormones, which may also explain why so many young girls get them. They often occur during breast tissue development or grow during pregnancy. One thing is for sure, you do not need to panic if your doctor diagnoses you with fibroadenoma.

Treatment options

There are only a few treatments for fibroadenomas, and they mostly relate to the size of the tissue. You may be worried that the only option for a benign tumour is surgery, but, as the breast specialists over at https://www.bedfordbreastcenter.com/fibroadenoma-is-surgery-the-only-treatment/ explain, “there are non-surgical treatment options… if you do not wish to have fibroadenomas removed surgically.” So, you don’t necessarily need to go under the knife in order to have a fibroadenoma treated.

One of these options is the easiest by far; simple monitoring. As fibroadenomas aren’t dangerous and usually not painful, many go away on their own. If your lump is small and a doctor agrees, you can simply watch and wait. If the lump shrinks on its own – as they often do – you won’t need any treatment at all.

Another treatment option is a process called cryotherapy. Although this is a surgical procedure, you don’t need to worry. It is done as an outpatient procedure with only a local anesthetic. A small incision is made and liquid nitrogen is used to freeze the benign tissue. Once the tissue is killed, it will slowly be absorbed by the body. You’ll receive minimal scarring and the appearance of your breast will be preserved. Many opt for this treatment.

Symptoms of Fibroadenoma

So, how do you know if your breast lump is a fibroadenoma? Firstly, you should always seek medical attention to have a professional opinion. However, these are many of the common symptoms of fibroadenoma:

Shape

Fibroadenomas are usually round. In fact, they are usually round and smooth with very distinct edges. A fibroadenoma would usually not have any rough edges or odd-shaped qualities.

Movability

These lumps are often easy to move around under the skin, as opposed to being fixed to any other tissue. If you can move your lump around and feel its edges, it could well be a fibroadenoma.

Size

Fibroadenomas are usually small – less than 5cm in diameter. However, this isn’t always the case. Some become much larger, making them slightly harder to diagnose. This is usually the case with older women, though a massive fibroadenoma can occur in anyone.

Painless

Fibroadenomas often go undetected until a routine mammogram or ultrasound. They may also be discovered when bathing or changing. The reason they aren’t often found right away is that they are almost always painless. A painless lump could definitely indicate a fibroadenoma.

No Discharge

Unlike some more severe tumours, a fibroadenoma does not cause any discharge from the nipple or breast tissue. There should be very little change in colour or feel of the rest of your breast, and definitely no discharge. Once again, this is usually the case, but in rare cases, there may be some of the above symptoms.

Feel

Finally, the feel of fibroadenomas is quite rubbery. So, they should be rubbery, round, movable, painless, and relatively soft. If you have most or all of these symptoms, it is quite likely that your lump could indeed be a fibroadenoma.

So, fibroadenomas are almost always harmless, and they often disappear with minimal intervention. In some cases, you may require cryotherapy to kill the tissue. In other cases, a surgical procedure may be required. However, in many cases, you can simply monitor the lump until it goes away by itself. Either way, you can rest assured that fibroadenomas are not aggressive and will not cause you any further harm.

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