Breast screening and conditions
A lump, pain, discharge, or simply a routine check: the approach is the same — examine, investigate if needed, explain.
What worries you deserves a look
The great majority of breast abnormalities are harmless: cysts, fibroadenomas, and density related to the cycle. The consultation is there to sort one from the other quickly, without dramatising or minimising, and to name what is found.
The consultation begins with questions — how long, which side, whether or not it follows the cycle, personal and family history — and then a clinical examination of both breasts and of the lymph node areas. Depending on age, on the context and on what can be felt, the examination is completed by a breast ultrasound, a mammogram, or both: before forty the tissue is dense and ultrasound is often more informative, beyond that mammography takes the leading role.
Some signs warrant a consultation without waiting for the next check: a lump that persists after your period, a change in the skin or the nipple, discharge appearing on its own from one side, particularly if bloodstained, or a lymph node under the arm that does not go away.
When a lesion needs operating on, it is operated on; when it calls for specialist cancer care, the referral is arranged without delay and with the complete file. Either way, you know what was seen, what is being considered, and why.
Questions about breasts
At what age should screening start?
Clinical examination by a doctor is part of the gynaecological consultation at any age. Regular screening imaging generally begins around the age of forty, and earlier where there is a family history: the starting age is then decided according to that history.
Is a breast lump always serious?
No. Most palpable lumps are harmless — cysts and fibroadenomas above all, particularly before forty. That is no reason to leave them unexamined: it is the examination that settles the question, not waiting.
Ultrasound or mammogram?
That depends on age and on the density of the tissue. Before forty, breast tissue is dense and ultrasound is often easier to read; beyond that, mammography becomes the reference examination. The two are frequently complementary.
Should nipple discharge worry me?
Discharge from both sides, milky, and only when pressure is applied, is usually harmless. Discharge that appears on its own, from one side, and above all if bloodstained, must be investigated without delay.
Other consultations
Breast care is part of overall gynaecological follow-up.
Due a breast check?
Bring your previous imaging: comparison over time is what matters most.