Object of all fantasies, the breast is also a source of interrogations. Too large or too small, painful or insensitive… it only takes a little to make us worry about our breasts. Here are the answers to the questions that we do not always dare to formulate out loud.
I have one breast bigger than the other, is it normal ?
Like everything else that works in pairs (feet, legs, ears, eyes…), our breasts are slightly asymmetrical. But, in general, this difference is limited to a few millimeters. However, when the breasts appear, they often do not grow together. Many young girls spend anxious hours in front of the mirror comparing their assets which will naturally return to balance in late adolescence.
But sometimes, the balance persists in tilting to one side, the left most often according to a study in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery. Hormones have nothing to do with it, it is a morphological peculiarity which, according to the specialists, is linked to a small developmental defect at the embryonic stage. Nothing serious from a medical point of view, but it can be psychologically very hard to bear. In this case, cosmetic surgery is the solution.
A lump in the breast, is it necessarily a cancer ?
The discovery of a lump in a breast is always worrying. However, there is no need to panic : most of them are benign especially if they are mobile under the finger and more or less rounded. For example, it can be a lipoma (fatty mass) or an adenofibroma (fibrous mass) which are relatively frequent before the age of 35, an abscess due to breast engorgement during breastfeeding or a cyst (fluid-filled pocket).
Cancerous tumors, on the other hand, tend to adhere to the tissue and have irregular contours. They are generally not painful, but may be accompanied by nipple discharge and even reddening or shrinking of the skin. So, it is necessary to consult a doctor who will prescribe you a mammography or an ultrasound.
After surgery, does the sensitivity remain the same ?
After a breast reduction or a breast augmentation with implants, the breasts may seem temporarily numb or, on the contrary, too sensitive. But over the weeks and 6 months after, everything returns to normal in the vast majority of cases. Nevertheless, according to a study published in the European Journal of Pain in 2011, loss of sensation and even pain persists in 3 to 15% of women after insertion of an implant.
Does breastfeeding damage the breasts ?
On the contrary! Breastfeeding and a gradual weaning will allow the breasts to slowly return to their pre-pregnancy size. This was confirmed by a 2012 study conducted on 161 pairs of twins, aged 45 years on average : the breasts of those who had breastfed had a better appearance in the long term than those who had not breastfed their children.
I have stretch marks on my breasts. Is there anything I can still do ?
Stretch marks are due to a break in the deep fibers of the skin. They are most often caused by a rapid stretching of the skin and are similar to scars… It is therefore very difficult, if not impossible to make them disappear completely once they are there. It is however possible to reduce them with medical means.
