Can Breast Cancer Feel Like a Pulled Muscle? While breast pain can be frightening, you should know that experts say breast cancer rarely feels like a pulled muscle. In fact, “most of the time when breast cancers start, women are symptom-free,” says Dr.
Sometimes, breast cancer can be felt in the back or shoulders rather than the chest or breasts. The pain is easily confused with sore muscles. However, the pain doesn't go away with stretching or changing position.
The pain may come and go to start with but become constant as time goes on. People often say that the pain gets worse after meals or when they lie down. Some people have pain at night and it disturbs their sleep. The pain might be mistaken for a pulled muscle or as joint or bone pain.
Breast or nipple pain
Although breast cancer is often painless, it is important not to ignore any signs or symptoms that could be due to breast cancer. Some people may describe the pain as a burning and tender sensation.
There are multiple possible causes of breast pain, or mastalgia. This symptom may be cyclic or noncyclic. If the pain is cyclic, it is related to the fluctuating hormones of the menstrual cycle. Noncyclic breast pain can be due to PMS, fibrocystic breast changes, injuries and sprains, or inflammation around the ribs.
What feels like breast pain may actually be coming from your chest wall. This is the area of muscle, tissue and bone that surrounds and protects your heart and lungs. Common causes of chest wall pain include: A pulled muscle.
It is possible to strain or overstretch the chest muscles, which can result in soreness and pain. Depending on which muscles a person strains, this pain may occur under a single breast. Chest muscle strains can result, for example, from throwing, heavy lifting, and using heavy tools or equipment.
“About 15% of patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer feel pain from it, but that is a known breast cancer, and when it comes to a point where it becomes painful, it will be obvious where the pain originates. You will feel a tumor that comes up to the surface. It's not subtle if it gets to that point.”
Breast cancer symptoms at stage 1 may include: Nipple discharge. Dimpling of the skin. Swelling or redness of the breast.
The symptoms – skin redness, swelling, and pain – can be similar, although inflammatory breast cancer is also associated with skin thickening and a pitted appearance that resembles an orange peel.
Because these types of injuries can range in severity, you should see your doctor right away if you: Are in a significant amount of pain. Cannot walk. Heard a popping sound when the injury occurred.
Certain types of cancer are more likely to cause muscle aches, including: Tumors that start in a muscle, such as some kinds of soft-tissue sarcoma. Tumors that press against a muscle. Cancers that cause the body to make too many white blood cells, such as certain types of leukemia.
Signs that breast cancer may have spread to the brain
Feeling sick (nausea) and being sick (vomiting) especially when waking in the morning. Weakness or feeling numb down one side of the body. Dizziness, unsteadiness or loss of balance and co-ordination.
Pain caused by breast cancer is typically gradual. Anyone who experiences breast pain, especially if it is severe or persistent and not linked to the menstrual cycle or any other cause, should consult a healthcare professional.
New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit). Thickening or swelling of part of the breast. Irritation or dimpling of breast skin. Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.
Patients with stage 2 breast cancer may not experience any symptoms, and the cancer may be discovered during a routine mammogram. Possible breast cancer symptoms in stage 2 include: A lump in the breast or armpit. Nipple discharge.
a change in size, shape or feel of your breast. skin changes in the breast such as puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness of the skin. fluid leaking from the nipple in a woman who isn't pregnant or breastfeeding. changes in the position of the nipple.
You can have breast cancer without knowing it for several years, depending on how quickly it starts, grows, and spreads. Annually, almost 288,000 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed in the United States. More than half of these cancers are found before they spread beyond the breast.
The study demonstrated that the blood test can determine whether a patient has breast cancer in the early stages. A special blood test, called a liquid biopsy, could determine whether a patient has breast cancer in its early stages and if that cancer is unlikely to return.
Metastatic breast cancer is more likely to cause pain than early-stage breast cancer. For example, if the breast cancer spreads to the bones, it may cause back, hip, or shoulder pain. If the breast cancer spreads to the liver, it can cause abdominal pain.
Mild strains usually heal within a few weeks , but severe strains can take 2 to 3 months or longer to resolve.
Breast tissue in and of itself can feel somewhat lumpy and sponge-like, so it can be hard to know if what you're feeling is an actual lump or just normal breast tissue. "A breast lump will feel like a distinct mass that's noticeably more solid than the rest of your breast tissue.
In most mild to moderate chest muscle strains, as with all muscle strains, RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) is the best first line of treatment. Rest: Stop activity, especially those that cause you to pull your chest muscle. Ice: Apply ice packs or heat to the injured area to help reduce pain.