Painful Breasts | Breast Cancer Lumps

A great deal has been written on this site and elsewhere about the connection (or otherwise) between pain and breast cancer.

Are painful breasts a sign of breast cancer? Are breast cancer lumps usually painful or not? If a breast lump is painless does it mean it's more likely to be cancer related?

Just a quick search online or a look at forums, discussion groups or question and answer sites shows that many women are very confused about these issues.

At the simplest level I think it's not a good question really. The most important message is simpler than that. If you are worried about a breast lump then you should go see a doctor as soon as possible - it really doesn't matter if it's painful or not!

In real terms however, it's probably true to say that breast cancer lumps are usually painless. Not always - but often they are. Lumps that cause pain are more likely to be due to cysts or to infection. But please don't rely on that - and never be tempted to make your own diagnosis.

Also - painful breasts without lumps are not usually related to cancer. This is often a symptom of hormone disturbance and can happen around the time of the menstrual period, during pregnancy or as a result of the contraceptive pill. But again - please don't rely on this to decide what to do if you are experiencing painful breasts. Cancer is not likely but it's not impossible. One form of inflammatory breast cancer can cause both pain and swelling.

Over the years we've written on this site about how Marjory first found a (painless) breast lump and all that followed. We've also gone into a lot of detail about what it means to have a painless breast lump.

Other posts discuss breast cancer signs and try to answer the question is breast cancer painful?

There's also the question of course of what pain means and how each of us use the word. What's painful to you might just be tender or achey to someone else. Is a sore breast the same as a tender breast - and is that different from pain?

Please - let me say it again. If you are worried in anyway about any symptom from your breasts then please go to a doctor and have a check. You've got nothing to lose if you go .... and lots to lose if you don't. It's a "no brainer" really, don't you think?