How to tell the difference between muscle pain and breast cancer?

Sometimes, breast cancer can be felt in the back or shoulders rather than the chest or breasts. The pain is easily confused with sore muscles. However, the pain doesn't go away with stretching or changing position. Bone pain is a deep ache or throbbing.

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How do you know if breast pain is muscular?

Extramammary breast pain feels like it starts in the breast tissue, but its source is actually outside the breast area. Pulling a muscle in the chest, for example, can cause pain in the chest wall or rib cage that spreads (radiates) to the breast.

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What kind of pain is felt with breast cancer?

Metastatic breast cancer is more likely to cause pain than early-stage breast cancer. For example, if the breast cancer spreads to the bones, it may cause back, hip, or shoulder pain. If the breast cancer spreads to the liver, it can cause abdominal pain.

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How do you know if your breast pain is cancer?

What Are the Symptoms of Breast Cancer?
  1. New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).
  2. Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.
  3. Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.
  4. Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.
  5. Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.

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Can a pulled muscle feel like breast pain?

What feels like breast pain may actually be coming from your chest wall. This is the area of muscle, tissue and bone that surrounds and protects your heart and lungs. Common causes of chest wall pain include: A pulled muscle.

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How to differentiate between Breast Cancer & fibrocystic breast? - Dr. Nanda Rajaneesh

22 related questions found

How do you know if it's a lump or muscle in breast?

What does a breast lump feel like? Breast tissue in and of itself can feel somewhat lumpy and sponge-like, so it can be hard to know if what you're feeling is an actual lump or just normal breast tissue. "A breast lump will feel like a distinct mass that's noticeably more solid than the rest of your breast tissue.

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What does a pulled muscle in breast feel like?

These are some of the symptoms you might experience: Tenderness. Sharp pain (usually right after you first strain the muscle) Dull pain (usually in the hours and days after your pull your chest muscle)

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What does Stage 1 breast cancer feel like?

Symptoms of stage 1 breast cancer include skin irritation or dimpling, swelling/redness/scaling/flaking/thickening of the nipple or breast skin, change in the size or the shape of the breast, nipple turning inward, change in the appearance of a nipple, nipple discharge that is not breast milk, breast pain, nipple pain, ...

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Does breast cancer hurt when pushing on it?

Most breast cancers don't cause any pain, even if they first appear as a lump or a bump. But pain can still bring a lump to your attention, when an object hits the side of your breast just so, or you accidentally brush it past something that compresses it.

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Do you feel unwell with breast cancer?

Some general symptoms that breast cancer may have spread include: Feeling constantly tired. Constant nausea (feeling sick) Unexplained weight loss and loss of appetite.

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Where is the pain located with breast cancer?

Breast Cancer Signs and Symptoms
  • Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no lump is felt)
  • Skin dimpling (sometimes looking like an orange peel)
  • Breast or nipple pain.
  • Nipple retraction (turning inward)
  • Nipple or breast skin that is red, dry, flaking, or thickened.
  • Nipple discharge (other than breast milk)

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Does breast cancer pain hurt all the time?

Breast cancer is not usually painful. A painless lump in one of the breasts tends to be the first symptom of breast cancer. However, around 2–7% of people with breast cancer experience pain as the primary symptom. Pain caused by breast cancer is typically gradual.

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Why does my left boob ache?

Pain under or in the left breast could have many possible causes, such as injury, infection, hormones, and lung problems. Sometimes left breast pain can be related to your heart, so it's important to first rule this out before considering other causes.

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Is it muscle or breast tissue?

There are no muscles in the breast, but muscles lie under each breast and cover the ribs. Each breast also contains blood vessels and vessels that carry lymph. The lymph vessels lead to small bean-shaped organs called lymph nodes.

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Why does the muscle around my breast hurt?

There are multiple possible causes of breast pain, or mastalgia. This symptom may be cyclic or noncyclic. If the pain is cyclic, it is related to the fluctuating hormones of the menstrual cycle. Noncyclic breast pain can be due to PMS, fibrocystic breast changes, injuries and sprains, or inflammation around the ribs.

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How I found out I had Inflammatory Breast Cancer?

Signs and symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer

Swelling (edema) of the skin of the breast. Redness involving more than one-third of the breast. Pitting or thickening of the skin of the breast so that it may look and feel like an orange peel.

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Does breast cancer pain come and go?

Pain can be a symptom of breast cancer itself or a side effect of breast cancer treatment. Pain happens when nerves or tissues are damaged or inflamed. Pain can be sharp, dull, throbbing, stabbing, achy, tingling, or pinching, and can be described in many other ways. Pain may come and go or it may be steady.

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What does Stage 2 breast cancer feel like?

Patients with stage 2 breast cancer may not experience any symptoms, and the cancer may be discovered during a routine mammogram. Possible breast cancer symptoms in stage 2 include: A lump in the breast or armpit. Nipple discharge.

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Why is left breast cancer more common?

Experts are still not sure why left-sided breast cancer appears to be more common. Over the years, researchers have made various hypotheses to try to explain it, such as: the larger size of the left breast. early detection of tumors in those who are righthanded.

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How long does a pulled muscle in breast take to heal?

If your strain is mild, expect it to resolve within a few days or weeks. Severe strains can take 2 months or longer to heal. If your chest pain sticks around for more than twelve weeks, it's considered chronic and may be resulting from long-term activities and repetitive motions.

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How long does it take for a pulled muscle in your breast to go away?

A variety of home treatment methods, including RICE and pain relievers, can provide symptom relief. If the pain is not manageable at home, a person should speak to a doctor. Mild strains usually heal within a few weeks , but severe strains can take 2 to 3 months or longer to resolve.

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Why does one side of my breast hurt?

Non-cyclical causes include things like diet and lifestyle, such as smoking, having larger breasts, or wearing poorly fitted bras. Ductal ectasia, when the ducts of the breast dilate, may also lead to breast pain on one side.

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