Eight signs. Most people can only name one, maybe two if they think for long. And that gap right there, that’s a big part of why breast cancer keeps getting caught late.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Nigerian women today. Yes, Nigerian women. More than 32,000 Nigerian women test positive for breast cancer every year. And this is not because people don’t care, it’s because nobody ever sat them down and showed them the full list. So today, I am going to show you 8 signs, properly, one at a time, with something you can picture for each one.
Eight signs. One list. Your life.
Before we even start, I want to say this clearly: finding one or two of these signs on your own body is not a complete test. It is a reason to go and let a trained doctor examine you. Checking yourself is very powerful, but it is the beginning of the process, not the end of it.
Sign 1: A Lump or Thick Area
This is the sign most people already know, but let me add something most people miss. A cancerous lump is usually not painful in the beginning. It feels firm, strong, sometimes like a stone sitting under the skin, and it usually does not move around freely when you press it, the way a normal small lump of breast tissue sometimes does around a woman’s period.
Before your period, your body makes extra hormones that tell your breast glands to swell up with fluid. Because the breast is tight, this swelling squeezes the tissue to form a bumpy, lumpy feeling. Once your period starts and the hormones drop, the fluid goes away and the lumps disappear. But with breast cancer, it is a hard lump that doesn’t go away, it is just there. It can appear anywhere in the breast or even in the armpit area, because breast tissue also reaches that area. So you need to check both places, not just the breast itself.
How to check: Raise your hand up. Use the flat part of your fingers, press firmly and gently in small circles across every part of the breast, moving from the outer part right down to the nipple, then up into your armpit. Check for any hard knot that is not moving, or any strong thick area that stays in the exact same spot every day, long after your monthly period has come and gone.
Sign 2: Change in Size and Shape
This means one breast is becoming bigger, smaller, or a different shape than the other, in a way that is new for you. Naturally, every woman’s breasts are a little different from each other already, that is completely normal. What we’re talking about now is a change from what is normal for you, something that looks or feels different from how your own body has been looking. This is something you need to check from time to time.
How to check: Stand in front of a mirror with your hands on your hips, then lift your hands high up. Check to see if one breast has suddenly grown bigger, shrunk, or changed shape compared to how it normally looks.
Sign 3: Skin Dimpling, Known as Peau d’Orange
Picture the skin of an orange: those tiny holes and dimples all over it. In some cases of breast cancer, the skin over the breast can start to look like this, pulled inward in small dimples. This happens when cancer blocks the tiny pipes under the skin that drain fluid, making the skin squeeze and cause dimples. If your breast ever starts looking like this, don’t wait, rush and see a doctor.
Sign 4: A Nipple That Points Inside
A nipple that has always pointed outward and suddenly starts turning inward, especially if it happens on one side only and is new for you, can be a sign that something underneath is pulling it. Some women are born with nipples that point inward naturally, that is normal for them. But if it was never like that before and suddenly starts happening, that is a sign to see a doctor.
Sign 5: Nipple Discharge, Especially If It Has Blood in It
Fluid coming from the nipple without squeezing it, especially if it is bloody, clear, or comes from only one breast, needs serious medical attention. Discharge can have other causes too: some may be hormones, some may be small non-cancerous growths inside the milk tubes, some may be infections, some are harmless. But a doctor is the only person who can tell you which one it is. If you notice this, please go and see a doctor.
Sign 6: Skin Changes, Redness, Warmth, or Rash
If the skin on your breast becomes red, unusually warm, or develops a rash or rough patch, especially around the nipple, in a way that does not clear up with normal skin treatment, it can be a sign of breast cancer or a related skin condition affecting the nipple. Redness alone is sometimes just irritation or infection, but redness that stays for long, spreads, or comes with other signs on this list should always be checked. Please go and see a doctor.
Sign 7: Swelling, Even Without a Clear Lump
This is one of the signs people miss the most, because they are searching only for a hard lump, and swelling can happen without one. Part of the breast, or the entire breast, can become bigger or feel full and heavy on one side, even when you cannot feel a lump underneath. Swelling alone is enough reason to go to the hospital so the doctor can check you properly.
Sign 8: Constant Pain in One Spot
Constant pain that does not go away is a red flag. A dull ache or sharp pain that stays in one spot in the breast or armpit and refuses to go is a sign that you should go and see a doctor. Don’t say it’s just stress, go and see a doctor so they can check you properly.
Can Men Get It Too?
Yes, Emeka, I’m calling your name too: men can also develop breast cancer. As said above, these eight signs are not a full body checkup, and you are not a doctor. Check yourself from time to time. Check for the signs. If you notice even one of these on your own body, don’t panic, and don’t wait and watch it for six months either. The right thing to do is to go and let a doctor examine you properly, not to do guesswork or believe what your neighbor told you happened to her cousin.
Please share this with every woman in your life: your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your husband, your wife, your friend. Most people cannot name more than two or three of these eight signs, and that is part of why we are losing people. Reading this to the end and sharing it could be the reason somebody catches it in time.