Breasts
Our breasts make us great but they also make us vulnerable - Lindy West
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HWN Suggests
Your Breasts Are Not a Ticking Time Bomb
I remember the exact moment I was first hit with breast cancer anxiety. It was about 10 years ago, when I was an assistant health editor at Glamour. Like many medical reporters, I had the bad habit of suddenly imagining I had symptoms of whatever illness I happened to be researching. So one day after interviewing several young women who were battling breast cancer—women barely older than I was—I snuck off to a bathroom stall to frantically check myself for lumps. Breast cancer suddenly seemed so…imminent, and no other illness frightened me the way it did. I didn't have any risk factors or a family history, and a subsequent checkup showed I was fine, but the fear stuck with me. A few years…
Resources
What a Lump in Your Breast Could Mean (Besides Cancer)
Three experts explain what causes lumpy boobs, when to see a doctor, and how to keep your girls healthy.
Why It’s Important to Know if You Have Dense Breasts
Scientists aren’t entirely sure why dense breasts increase the risk for cancer, Dr. Friedewald said, but the thick tissues make mammogram detection for calcifications and tumors more difficult. While the majority of states require doctors to notify patients that they have dense breasts, not every state has that legislation, Dr. Esserman said.
6 Reasons Your Boobs Hurt
Got a sore set? This might be why.
Breast Health 101
The good news is, there are several ways to improve your breast health naturally. Through specific nutrients and lifestyle changes, you can keep your health strong and reduce your risk for breast cancer.
How to Survive Boob Sweat Season
Expert-approved tips and products that’ll help you stay fresh.
Self-exams aren’t helpful, and other surprising facts about breast cancer
They’re a staple of the annual checkup. And many gynecologists still urge women to do monthly self-exams. (So do some women’s magazines.) But the evidence shows there’s no benefit to manual breast exams, whether they’re performed by a physician or by the woman herself.
Understanding Breast Pain
Breast pain (mastalgia)—a common complaint among women—can include breast tenderness, sharp burning pain, or tightness in your breast tissue. The pain may be constant or it may occur only occasionally.
Women should be told about their breast density when they have a mammogram
We don’t want to scare women that have higher breast density for their age. Rather, we want to inform them about their risk of breast cancer and the additional care they should take until we find treatments that can reduce density and breast cancer risk. Not all women with high breast density will develop breast cancer, but they should be aware that they are at an increased risk.
You Don't Have to Feel Your Breasts
Breast self-exams haven't been shown to save lives. Instead, here's how to actually tell if you might have breast cancer.
Your Breasts Are Trying To Kill You
A smart new history takes boobs seriously. In Breasts, Williams, a contributing editor for Outside magazine, attempts to offer a comprehensive social, cultural, medical, and scientific history of the human breast, a la single-word-titled best-sellers like Cod or Salt or Stiff—though not, alas, Balls.
Your Breasts Are Not a Ticking Time Bomb
The one-in-eight-women-will-get-breast-cancer statistic sounds terrifying, but new research shows that death rates are down, and there are steps all of us can take to lower our risk. Relax: You're healthier than you think.
5 Breast Conditions That Aren’t Cancer
Breast symptoms including lumps, swelling, and nipple discharge are all possible symptoms of breast cancer, but more often they are symptoms of breast conditions that are benign – not cancer.
6 Breast Things That Are Completely Normal—and When You Should Worry
You probably don’t give your breasts much thought every day. But if you notice they look different from a friend’s, you might have questions, including what these "odd" breast things might say about your health. In fact, boob variation is pretty typical from woman to woman. That said, it’s important to know what is and isn’t worth getting checked out.
6 Most Common Causes Of Sore Boobs
Just like with any part of your body, you have to listen and examine what your breasts are trying to tell you. Are both your boobs really sore, more than would be deemed normal, or is just one sore breast causing you more headache than usual? Or are your breasts just getting lumpier and heavier occasionally? Here’s some hidden and some not so hidden meaning behind your sore boobs.
9 Weird Nipple Things That Are Actually Totally Normal
Little hair here, little bump there? Here’s what’s normal when it comes to your nips—and when you should seek out the doctor.
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