Do cancerous lumps become bigger due to prodding and touching?

[katniss]

Hi everyone,

I’ve had a breast lump for a month now. It grew bigger when I was touching it and prodding it. I am currently 10 weeks postpartum and breastfeeding. My doc said if it’s still there after another menstrual cycle she will order some imaging. But she said lumps are common when breastfeeding.

This lump isn’t going away though. When I discovered it, it was really tender and it was bigger just before my period. Then when I stopped touching it became smaller. It’s movable, but firm. I’m so worried about it being breast cancer. Ugh. I’m 35 btw and just had my third baby. If it were cancer would it grow bigger with prodding and touching or does only normal benign tissue do that?

[daisynukes]

Normal parts of your body absolutely do become larger when you poke them.

Think about this; ever had a great big spot on your face that is juuuust under the surface and is all solid and red? And so you squeeze it a load and it eventually pops, but then afterwards it's still bloody solid (sometimes even bigger and harder) even though you've cleared it out? It's inflammation and is a standard physical response to us mashing at our tissues. I've gone chasing and prodding swollen lymph glands and come back the next day to find them even bigger! But when I give it a day or two, they've gone down again. Cancer does not grown then shrink of its own accord.

Please try and trust your doctor, breast lumps can also be cysts as well as other benign conditions (my mum has had many, many boob cysts drained in her life)

[Fishmanpa]

Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. It doesn't come and go nor does it stop once it starts.

FMP

[Swanee]

I developed a visible lump in my left breast when I was breastfeeding my third son. It would change in size so I tried to reassure myself that it was just a milk duct, but I still couldn't stop worrying about it. Typically we were away from home on holiday, and this was the first day of a fortnight of worrying. I'm a long term anxiety sufferer so that's nothing new for me, but
as anyone who suffers from this will know, once you get reassured about one thing, something else always pops up to take its place.
I visited the GP when I got home. He said it was just a milk duct and nothing to worry about. I tried to reason with myself, but still worried. Several months later, when I stopped breastfeeding, it disappeared. Great! Only then I noticed another lump, same breast but directly underneath my nipple. Smooth, round, moveable, size of a pea or marble. OMG - panic yet again. Back to GP. He examined me, said it was nothing to worry about. After I had revisited the surgery every week with the same issue he referred me for a mammogram, insisting that he was only doing so because I was obviously so anxious, his reassurance wouldn't convince me that nothing serious was wrong. After a few horrendously anxious weeks waiting I got my mammogram. A few weeks later I received a letter asking me to go back for another one. Well talk about spiralling! I had a total panic attack. Fast forward a couple of weeks. I'm back in the outpatients department of the hospital for a more detailed mammogram. Afterwards I was asked to wait in the waiting room. A few minutes later I was called into the consultant's room. You can imagine my fears.
The consultant was lovely. He said categorically there was absolutely no sign of anything sinister, it was just a hormonal lump which would eventually disappear over time. He was right. Then, I was in my very early thirties. Now, I'm 64. It took a few years, but eventually it just got smaller and smaller until it disappeared. Breast lumps are very common during childbearing years, the vast majority of them are totally benign. I'm sure you're will be too. Big hugs. Xxx