
If a cyst is causing you discomfort, your doctor may drain the fluid, or he or she may recommend your cyst be surgically removed. You may have some pain or tenderness around the cyst, and it may get bigger or firmer right before your period. They are tiny to start and too small to feel, but they can grow as large as 1-2 inches across, stretching the surrounding breast tissue and causing it to be painful. Cysts start from fluid building up inside the breast glands. They tend to be round and you can move them. Breast Cystsīreast cysts are small sacs filled with fluid that may feel soft like a grape or water balloon, or may feel firm. The lumps from fibrocystic breasts don’t increase your risk of cancer, but it can make cancer more difficult to detect in mammograms. Birth control pills may reduce your symptoms and hormone therapy may increase them. See your doctor for a diagnosis, and he or she may recommend treatment with warm or cold compresses, as well as over-the-counter pain medication such as ibuprofen. You may notice swelling, tenderness, pain, thickening of the breast tissue, or lumps in one or both breasts, especially right before your period starts and most frequently in the upper outer area of the breasts.

When you have fibrosis, your breast tissue can feel lumpy or rope-like, like scar tissue. (It’s unusual after menopause.) More than half of all women have this condition at some point in their lives. This condition is very common, especially when you are in your 30s and 40s.

Fibrocystic Breast Changes (also called Fibrocystic Breasts)
