Causes and Risks

CAUSES

What Causes Fibrocystic Breast Disease?

According to the Medical Profession, the specific cause of fibrocystic breast disease isn’t fully understood.

Your breast tissue changes in response to the hormones made by the ovaries. If you have fibrocystic breasts, you may have more pronounced changes in response to these hormones. This can result in swelling and tender or painful breast lumps. Symptoms are most common just before or during your period. In addition to lumps in your breasts caused by cysts and swelling of your breast lobules, the milk-producing glands, you may also feel a lumpy thickening in your breast caused by an excess growth of fibrous tissue.

RISKS

Who Gets Fibrocystic Breast Disease?

Any woman can get fibrocystic breast disease, but it most commonly occurs in women in their 30s to 50s.

Birth control pills may reduce your symptoms, and hormone therapy may increase them. Symptoms typically improve or resolve after menopause.

CANCER

Fibrocystic Breast Disease and Cancer

Fibrocystic breast disease doesn’t increase your risk of getting cancer, but the changes in your breasts can make it more difficult for you or your doctor to identify potentially cancerous lumps during breast exams and on mammograms.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that women between 50 and 74 years old get a mammogram every two years. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) also notes that regular breast self-exams can be helpful. It’s important that you become familiar with how your breasts look and feel normally so that you’ll know when there are changes or something doesn’t seem right.

What Are The Symptoms of Fibrocystic Breast Disease

What are the Symptoms of Fibrocystic Breast Disease?

If you have fibrocystic breast disease, you may experience the following symptoms:

• swelling
• tenderness
• pain
• a thickening of tissue
• lumps in one or both breasts

You may have more swelling or lumps in one breast than the other. Your symptoms will probably be worse right before your period due to hormonal changes, but you may have symptoms throughout the month.

The lumps in fibrocystic breasts tend to fluctuate in size throughout the month and are usually movable. But sometimes if there’s a lot of fibrous tissue, the lumps may be more fixed in one place. You may also experience pain under your arms. Some women have a green or dark brown discharge from their nipples. See your doctor immediately if clear, red, or bloody fluid comes out of your nipple, as this may be a sign of breast cancer.

Traditional Medical Diagnosis and Treatment Options

DIAGNOSIS

How is Fibrocystic Breast Disease Diagnosed?

Your doctor can diagnose fibrocystic breast disease by doing a physical breast exam.

Your doctor may also order a mammogram, ultrasound, or MRI to get a better look at the changes in your breasts. John Hopkins recommends a digital mammogram for women with fibrocystic breasts, as this technology allows for more accurate breast imaging. In some cases, ultrasound may help distinguish normal breast tissue from abnormalities. If your doctor is concerned about the appearance of a cyst or other finding in your breast, they may order a biopsy to see if it’s cancerous. This biopsy is usually performed by fine needle aspiration, a surgical procedure to remove the fluid or tissue using a small needle.

The challenge with doing a breast biopsy is the chance of “letting the Genie out of the bottle.”  Anything that is encapsulated and walled off from the rest of the body, by piercing it with a needle, will now create the basis for any potential cancer to now have a way out of the previously walled off and encapsulated cyst. 

Breast Thermogram

To avoid this and other complications by irradiating the breast with a mammogram, potentially creating the basis for cancer, we recommend having a Breast Thermogram. 

• This form of evaluation picks up on any increase in heat of the breast tissue associated with new growth and increased vascularity within the breast tissue.  
• This involves no radiation and is able to detect the potential for increased vascularity and new growth within the breast tissue. 

Since there is no radiation involved, this will greatly decrease the radiation exposure associated with mammograms, especially if you are recommended to have one every year.  The accumulation of radiation over time is important to consider when choosing to nurture yourself and protect yourself from developing breast cancer.

TREATMENTS

How is Fibrocystic Breast Disease Treated?

Most women who have fibrocystic breast disease don’t require invasive treatment. Home treatment is usually sufficient to relieve associated pain and discomfort.

Over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) can usually effectively relieve any pain and discomfort.  Becoming dependent on these type of pain-relievers will create other health complications related to liver health and create the basis for an inflamed liver and arthritis over time.

You can also try wearing a well-fitting, supportive bra to reduce breast pain and tenderness.

Some women find that applying warm or cold compresses relieves their symptoms. Try applying a warm cloth or ice wrapped in a cloth to your breasts to see which works best for you.

Advice from a Medical Expert

• Fibrocystic breast changes are very common and considered normal.
• Symptoms are cyclical and will vary for each individual from very mild to quite severe.
• The breast lumps associated with fibrocystic breast disease usually fluctuate with your cycle and will typically be tender and occur in the same place every month.
• In most cases, symptoms are short-lived and relieved with OTC remedies and menstruation.
• Lumps associated with breast cancer are usually firmer, not tender, and will persist after the start of your menstrual cycle.
• Because hormones drive the symptoms of fibrocystic breasts, these symptoms will usually resolve as you reach menopause.

Dr. Huntoon's Alternative Medical Treatment Options

Dr. Huntoon has worked with many women who have presented with the diagnosis of Fibrocystic Breast Disease.  Continue reading below to understand what can be done to address the CAUSE of this very common, but not normal, health concern.

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS

The advice given from a Medical Expert seems alarming.  Stating that Fibrocystic breast changes are considered “normal” seems problematic.  Normal is not the same as common.  Just because women experience this as a common response to wearing bras with underwires, use many different xenobiotics in their daily habits, while the FDA has no regulation of these substances, makes it a common problem.  This is anything but normal and why we offer the following recommendations as a natural way to avoid Fibrocystic Breast Disease.

We do not recommend wearing bras that use underwires

Plastic or metal underwires will cut off the energy flow within the breast tissue and the body, causing energy stagnation and potential of cellular change over time.  When in doubt, take your bra off and allow the breast tissue to support itself.  This is best over time for the health of the breast tissue. 

Specific application of Shea Butter infused with the Essential Oils of Frankincense and Myrrh to the breasts will help to create normal breast tissue, as this formula has demonstrated a return to normal healthy breast tissue over time.  The application, done daily as a health regime, is recommended.

Dietary Changes

Iodine deficiency and using iodine supplementation under the direction of your Holistic Chiropractor helps eliminate the development of fibrocystic disease in any part of the body.  Specific to helping the thyroid, iodine receptors are located in every tissue within the body (breasts, heart, liver, lung, adrenals, kidneys, ovaries, uterus, muscles and intestines).  When proper iodine levels are achieved, the fibrocystic disease seems to magically disappear. 

Some people have found that limiting their caffeine intake, eating a low-fat diet, or taking essential fatty acid supplements will reduce the symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease. However, there are no randomized controlled studies that show that these or any dietary changes are effective at relieving symptoms.

Working with a Holistic Chiropractor that understands how to do this for their patient becomes vital for resolution of this serious concern.

Others have benefited by using Acupuncture, Homeopathy and Naturopathy.

When to Call Your Doctor

WHEN TO CALL YOUR DOCTOR

When you should call your doctor

Call your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms. They may be signs of breast cancer:

• new or unusual lumps in your breasts
• redness or puckering of the skin on your breasts
• discharge from your nipple, especially if it’s clear, red, or bloody
• an indentation or flattening of your nipple

Medicines Two Choices for You

Your Solution

We offer the following recommendations as a natural way to avoid Fibrocystic Breast Disease.

We do not recommend wearing bras that use underwires (plastic or metal) as this will cut off the energy flow within the breast tissue and the body, causing energy stagnation and potential of cellular change over time.  When in doubt, take your bra off and allow the breast tissue to support itself.  This is best over time for the health of the breast tissue. 

Specific application of Shea Butter infused with the Essential Oils of Frankincense and Myrrh to the breasts will help to create normal breast tissue, as this formula has demonstrated a return to normal healthy breast tissue over time.  The application is done daily as a health regime is recommended.

Dietary Changes

Iodine deficiency and using iodine supplementation under the direction of your Holistic Chiropractor helps eliminate the development of fibrocystic disease in any part of the body.  Specific to helping the thyroid, iodine receptors are located in every tissue within the body (breasts, heart, liver, lung, adrenals, kidneys, ovaries, uterus, muscles and intestines).  When proper iodine levels are achieved, the fibrocystic disease seems to magically disappear. 

Some people have found that limiting their caffeine intake, eating a low-fat diet, or taking essential fatty acid supplements will reduce the symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease. However, there are no randomized controlled studies that show that these or any dietary changes are effective at relieving symptoms.

Long-term Outlook

According to the Medical Profession, the specific cause of fibrocystic breast disease isn’t fully understood. However, doctors suspect that estrogen and other reproductive hormones play a role. As a result, your symptoms will likely disappear once you reach menopause, as the fluctuation and production of these hormones decreases and stabilizes.

Article resources

• Breast Cancer Screening Final Recommendations. (n.d.). 
  http://screeningforbreastcancer.org
• Fibrocystic breast tissue. (n.d.). 
  http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/breast_center/breast_cancers_other_conditions/fibrocystic_breast_tissue.html
• Fibrosis and simple cysts. (2016, April 21). 
  http://www.cancer.org/healthy/findcancerearly/womenshealth/non-cancerousbreastconditions/non-cancerous-breast-conditions-fibrocystic-changes
• Mayo Clinic Staff. (2016, March 12). Fibrocystic breasts: Overview. 
  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibrocystic-breasts/home/ovc-20194898
• Understanding Breast Changes: A Health Guide for Women. (2015, April 23). 
  http://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/understanding-breast-changes