Breasts change a lot over a woman's life. At some stage in their lives, many women have a change in their breast that is different to their usual hormonal changes. To be confident that your breast change is not cancer or another disease, your doctor will consider:. Breasts are made up of milk systems, fat, lymph nodes, veins and nerves. They do not have muscles, but there is some fibrous tissue. Some lumpiness, tissue that feels like a rope or a thick cord, or dense masses of tissue are usually natural and normal.
Normal Breast Development and Changes | Johns Hopkins Medicine
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Premenstrual breast swelling and tenderness, or cyclical mastalgia, is a common concern among women. The symptom is part of a group of symptoms called premenstrual syndrome , or PMS. Premenstrual breast swelling and tenderness can also be a sign of fibrocystic breast disease. Fibrocystic breast disease is a term used to describe painful, lumpy breasts prior to the menstrual period.
With gynecomastia, tissue inside the breast glands grows. This can cause female-appearing breasts. Gynecomastia guy-nuh-koh-MAS-tee-uh is swelling of the breast tissue in boys or men, caused by an imbalance of the hormones estrogen and testosterone.