Breast B ultrasound must have been done by everyone.
Breast hyperplasia and breast nodules are also common on examination.
But you found that no, every time you go to review, the size of the nodule, the degree of proliferation seems to be different.
In fact, this is because breast B ultrasound examination will be affected by various factors, just like gynecological B ultrasound examination, breast B ultrasound also has the best examination time.
If you want to get accurate test results, you must do the test at the most appropriate time!
Menstruation is a very magical existence, which periodically makes our endocrine hormones fluctuate, and this fluctuation will make some changes in our mood and physiology.
For example, before menstruation, we will feel bad mood, easy to be irritable, cranky, physiologically there will be small stomach pain, headache and breast pain phenomenon.
Especially breasts, many girls feel swollen and painful in the week or so before menstruation, and the breast volume will become larger and clumpy [1].
If breast ultrasound is done at this time, it is likely to indicate the result of breast hyperplasia.
But in reality, these changes gradually return to normal after menstruation. So the mammary glands are constantly changing with the menstrual cycle.
Our breast tissue is more sensitive to estrogen and progesterone, and before menstruation and menstruation, it is when estrogen and progesterone fluctuations are relatively large.
At this time, the body's estrogen secretion gradually increases [2], which will cause the breast glands to thicken, and if you touch them with your hands, you will feel nodules, which are actually thickened glands.
If we choose this time to perform routine breast screening ultrasound examination [3], the lesion or abnormality can easily be masked by high-density breast tissue, so this is not a good time to check.
Breast b-ultrasound can only be performed at the right time to clearly show the mammary anatomy from the skin surface to the chest wall [4].
Ultrasound images of normal breasts showing mammary anatomy[4]
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However, when there is already a clinical mass or the doctor has suspected an abnormality, it is not necessary to wait until after menstruation to check to avoid delaying the diagnosis.
The optimal time of examination is related to a woman's menopause:
Non-menopausal women
Breast examination is most appropriate 3 to 7 days after the end of menstruation [5].
At this time, the level of estrogen in the body decreases;
Degeneration of the mammary glands, narrowing of the ducts, resolution of peri-catheter edema;
During menstruation, the swollen breast volume gradually shrinks, the swelling subsides, and the tenderness disappears;
Breasts also become soft and glandular nodules shrink or disappear [6].
It can be said that at this time, the mammary glands are in a "quiescent state" and are least affected by estrogen, and it is easiest to find abnormalities or lesions when examined at this time.
Menopausal women
You can do it at any time.
Because estrogen is reduced in the body, the mammary glands are less affected by hormones, so the time of examination can be chosen at will [3].
In short, if you feel breast abnormalities during the menstrual cycle, you do not have to be afraid, you can go to the hospital for ultrasound examination 3-7 days after the end of menstruation, and the most reliable results can often be obtained.
Finally, at the end, I wish all the friends who clicked "watching", breast abnormalities are far away from us.
Reviewer
Cheng Lin | Chief Physician and Associate Professor, Breast Center, Peking University People's Hospital
bibliography
[1] Ramakrishnan R, Khan SA, Badve S. Morphological changes in breast tissue with menstrual cycle. Mod Pathol. 2002 Dec;15(12):1348-56.
[2] Groen JW, Grosfeld S, Wilschut JA, Bramer WM, Ernst MF, Mullender MM. Cyclic and non-cyclic breast-pain: A systematic review on pain reduction, side effects, and quality of life for various treatments. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2017；219:74-93.
[3] Vogel PM, Georgiade NG, Fetter BF, Vogel FS, McCarty KS Jr. The correl-ation of histologic changes in the human breast with the menstrual cycle. Am J Pathol 1981; 104:23–34.
[4] Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Diseases [United States] Ismail Jatoi et al., Huang Tao, Ming Jie, China Science and Technology Press. ISBN：9787504683175
[5] Hovey RC, Trott JF, Vonderhaar BK. Establishing a framework for the functional mammary gland: from endocrinology to morphology. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2002;7(1):17–38.
[6] Ji Jingdi, Liu Xing. Ultrasonic diagnosis of accessory mamma. Zhongguo Chaosheng Yixue Zazhi. 1997; 13: 62-63.
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