Episode 22: Should I be worried about breast pain?

Dr. Sophia:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Dr. Sophia Obgyn podcast. I'm an obgyn practicing for over 15 years in my native New York City. And I love to help women learn about their bodies, empower them, and embrace themselves. On this podcast, we talk openly and with heart about all things affecting women from pregnancy, menopause periods, sexual health, fertility, and so much more. Disclaimer, this is general medical information based on my professional opinion and experience. For specific medical advice, please refer to your physician.

Hello everyone and welcome to the Doctor Sophia Obgyn podcast. Today we're gonna talk about something kind of near and dear to our hearts because since the beginning of our journey of posting and creating this podcast, one of the posts that has garnered the most attention was the post we did on breast pain. In that vein, we decided why not actually have a podcast episode that discusses it. So join us in this conversation as we talk about breast pain and what it is, what causes it, how we deal with it, what it is, and what it isn't. As always, I am joined by my good friend and co-host, Touseef Mirza.

Touseef Mirza:
Hi everybody. So like Dr. Sophia was saying, we decided to do breast pain and to be really honest, we were kind of surprised that we had this level of response. Like usually we have a similar response in other subjects, but for some reason, this one really popped out at us and it has remained that way for a long time. And maybe it's because this is not something people talk about I guess.

Dr. Sophia:
I guess, maybe people don't talk about it but for me, I think that anytime we say the word breast, it automatically garners a lot of emotion and a lot of anxiety. So I'm so happy that we're doing this podcast today because it's important to understand where that all comes from. And actually, what is it? What is breast pain?

Touseef Mirza:
So let's start from the beginning in terms of what we say. When we say breast pain, is it like a constant pain? Is it like a throbbing pain? Is it almost like when you're in stiff pain, like usually, what do women usually say when they have breast pain?

Dr. Sophia:
It can be any kind of pain, honestly. It can start as something that's sharp. It can be dull, it can be an ache, it can be throbbing, it can be a burning sensation. It can be in one breast. It can be in both breasts.

Touseef Mirza:
It can be, it can be in small breasts, it can be in big breasts.

Dr. Sophia:
It can certainly be in small breasts. It can be in large breasts. It can be on only one area of the breast. I think it's important to understand that even breast tissue itself can go all the way up into your armpit. So it may be a pain that you feel kind of going towards your armpit. So breast pain is such a variety. It's such a mixed bag of things. I think as a society, we harp so much on this notion of the breasts and the absolute worst case scenario, which is breast cancer. Because I feel like it's almost what we associate as being woman, as being female is the first thing that you can see or what helps to identify us as women is typically our breasts. As such, it's the place where we hold so much emotion.

Touseef Mirza:
Because it links to femininity.

Dr. Sophia:
I think because it links to femininity. I think it's because it links, like I said, to the worst case scenario all the time. It's the place where we think about, oh my God, if there's a problem with my breast, it must be breast cancer. We get so much messaging around and surrounding breast cancer that it's always almost the first place our brains want to go. That it's gotta be that something is super wrong. I see this on a daily basis when it comes to my patients. They come in and, and when they say that they have breast pain, they have so much anxiety associated with that. I don't feel like they come in with the same level of emotion or interest and focus when they talk about their heavy periods, which sometimes to me I'm like, girl, we need to deal with that.

Touseef Mirza:
So the perception is that if there is breast pain that is more serious, right?

Dr. Sophia:
It's the concept that anything having to do with the breast, that it has to be something super serious. That it has to be that. Our brains, it feels like it goes to the worst case scenario. I think also that is not necessarily coming from a place of the woman, it's really about what we've been educated in society. Because everybody said you have to get a mammogram and we talk about breast cancer, but the concept of what is considered breast pain that is not necessarily associated with cancer, is not something that is very commonplace in conversation.

Dr. Sophia:
Yeah. The interesting part is that breast pain and cancer are really not the commonality. In truth, breast cancer doesn't typically hurt.

Touseef Mirza:
Alright. Wait, say that one more time.

Dr. Sophia:
Let me say that for the people in the back. Yes. Breast cancer does not typically hurt. If it does, it's something that is so far gone. There have been so many other signs perhaps that have been completely missed or that would've been associated.

Touseef Mirza:
Meaning that the cancer has advanced

Dr. Sophia:
Yes.

Touseef Mirza:
Way further-

Dr. Sophia:
Way further along if it's advanced and there would've been other signs or symptoms to indicate that pain is definitely not top of the list. It is at the very, very, very bottom. After all these other things have happened, you know, and even then, I still would not say that pain equals breast cancer.

Touseef Mirza:
So then let's talk about when women are having pain and it's not associated with breast cancer. Where does the pain come from? What is the cause of that typically?

Dr. Sophia:
So the most common reason why we have breast pain is due to hormonal changes. It's due to the cyclical and sometimes non-cyclical changes that we're going through in terms of our hormones. The most common time for a woman to experience breast pain is typically just before she gets her period. Again, it's due to those hormonal changes that are happening in order to cause the period, but that causes changes throughout the body. And so the thing is that when we feel it, we don't necessarily always associate it with the fact that there may be a hormonal thing happening within our bodies that is then therefore causing this adult ache. The throbbing, the sharp pain, and the other things that are associated with the hormonal changes that are happening at the level of the breast.

Touseef Mirza:
So you're basically saying that it's not normal to have the pain, but because of the period’s normal process of having periods for women. The hormonal changes are normal and therefore can potentially have an effect.

Dr. Sophia:
Yes. Not all women experience breast pain, but approximately 70, 75% of women will experience some level of breast pain throughout their life.

Touseef Mirza:
And when we say breast pain, I'll just speak for myself. Sometimes it's not, I've never felt breast pain, but it's more sort of like sensitivity. Like tenderness. Is that the same thing? Is that considered pain or is that-?

Dr. Sophia:
It's all in that mixed bag. The feeling of like, I can't really touch my breast because they're sore or because they're tender or because, you know, at some moment anything that brushes up against them kind of then creates a sensation that's uncomfortable.

Touseef Mirza:
Like for me, it's like they're, they're just like vibrating a little bit. I don't know how to explain it.

Dr. Sophia:
That's how they- listen. I have people who come to me and they say, Dr. Lubin, I have a zing. I felt a zing in my breast there. What am I gonna do? What is this?

Touseef Mirza:
Why am I feeling this?

Dr. Sophia:
Thank you, woman. I feel a heat in my breast. I feel a sharp pain in my breast. I feel something happening at my nipple. What's going on? Then I'm like, okay, well first can you tell me when was your last period and when did you start to feel this zing? Pain burning, sharpness, tenderness, soreness, all those things. We start to have this kind of a conversation because for me it's a matter of whether or not I can link it to what's happening in your body naturally.

Touseef Mirza:
So usually what is usually the timeframe of potential breast pain and your cycle of the period?

Dr. Sophia:
It can happen around ovulation and it can happen just before the period, around ovulation. So let's say you get your period, and then ovulation typically happens somewhere between 10 to 14 days after your period. We're just talking about the cycle. Let's say the middle of your cycle is typically when you ovulate. Then another episode, another time when you may experience some form of breast pain is maybe a few days during that quote unquote PMS time, a few days before your period comes again, is another, you know, time that women tend to have some form of discomfort or uneasiness in terms of their breasts.

Touseef Mirza:
Usually when they have breast pain, let's say a particular woman has breast pain, does she usually always have breast pain or is it sometimes you do, sometimes you don't?

Dr. Sophia:
It's different. It doesn't have to be the same every time. It doesn't have to happen every time. Our bodies are also very sensitive to other things that we're doing. Are we working out? What are we eating? What medications are we on? So those things also affect how we may experience breast pain or how we may experience even our periods for that particular month. It's to also be aware that it doesn't have to be the same. So that's one.
Then two, there are other causes of breast pain. So when I'm talking about, when I think about it in terms of hormonal, I'm typically talking about the cyclical kind of pain that you may experience. Like I said, I've given you a couple of different timeframes when one may experience it, and oftentimes it affects both breasts, but it can affect only one breast at a time.

Especially if you have more breast tissue in one breast versus the other. Hormone changes can make your breasts swell, you see that often women come in and they feel like their breasts become heavy or engorged just before their period, and then all of a sudden after their period, their breasts kind of shrink a little bit, you know? Those are just the things that are happening naturally in our bodies. Some women that have that, they can experience that, but they don't experience it with any level of pain. Others experience severe pain and others just feel a little something and it's gone.

Touseef Mirza:
And some women have never felt it.

Dr. Sophia:
Have nothing at all. So I think because it varies so much, it’s part of the reason why it's so easy for us to kind of go to so many different dark rabbit holes. What could be causing it, what's wrong with us? How come it can be so alarming? But if we just kind of pay attention, maybe track it, maybe jot it down, like in terms of when we get our period and all of the possible symptoms we could be experiencing breast pain being one of them, then it makes it so much easier to say, oh, okay, it happens three days before my period. I start to feel this sense of sensitivity two days before my period. I start to feel like my nipples are a little bit tender one day before my period. My breasts feel heavy and I have this pain that's kind of like in the part near my armpit. I think it's a matter of self-awareness or really writing things down or jotting them down or putting them in a place where we can see exactly where we are physically on the inside to help us determine what could be going on on the outside.

Touseef Mirza:
Also by doing so, by arming ourselves with this information, it’s not to become so anxious, not to stress out, because that can be a big load to hold as well.

Dr. Sophia:
Absolutely. I think by doing that, it definitely gives you the opportunity to feel like, oh, okay, this is what's happening. I understand what's happening. I know why this is happening. The fact of knowing why it's happening definitely brings down that level of anxiety. I'm not trying to just dismiss it at all by any means. I think it's just a matter of understanding what is happening in your body, so that way then you cannot feel so anxious about it. It doesn't take away the fact that if this is something that's very persistent and you haven't had an opportunity to talk to a provider about it, you still should. And let's face it, there are other reasons why you can be having breast pain. So I'm talking about hormonal changes. Hormonal changes make me think more about cyclical breast pain.

But hormonal changes can also cause non-cyclical breast pain, meaning that it's not on any kind of regular basis or interval that we can track. And like I said, some women have pain just because, and that pain can actually be due to other things. Maybe not wearing a well-fitted bra can cause breast pain. Maybe certain medications that you take can cause breast pain. A big culprit is actually antidepressants. Certain foods are associated more with breast pain, such as caffeine, such as fatty foods. Things like exercise can be associated with breast pain. Because we may be feeling sore in our chest muscles that then is radiating to our breasts, or we are experiencing it as breast pain when it's really muscular pain. And things like trauma, we don't know. Sometimes I know for me how many times I may have bumped my knee, completely forgotten, and then a day later I'm like, why is my knee hurting? Like, what is this about?

So sometimes we can bump into something or what have you, and then a few days later we experience some type of discomfort, completely forgetting that we actually injured ourselves because we were in the rush. We were doing something else only to find that now we're feeling some type of discomfort. So trauma definitely can cause pain. Another thing that can happen, especially things like breastfeeding where women can experience an infection of the breast called mastitis. So infection is a reason why we can have pain. something called an abscess, which is related to infection, can cause pain. Other things that can cause pain are changes in the breast, something called fibrocystic changes where we have more glandular tissue that's knotted up or can clump up in little cysts or the cysts that we can form and develop in the breast due to hormonal changes.

Also, we can have things called a fibroadenoma, which is a fibrous tissue. Again, that's kind of clumped up together and it's a benign condition, but it feels almost like we think about maybe a fibroid, something that happens in the uterus, but it's kind of similar to what's happening in the breast tissue. It's a mass. So it's a mass and it's firm and it can be painful, but it's not malignant, but it's not a malignancy. When I think of women who say, well, my breasts hurt right here in a very specific area, then it starts to make me think, well, what can be happening in that one spot in the breast? Especially if it's only on one breast, it's in one spot. So there are so many reasons why we can be having breast pain and they should be investigated, but at least we can, like 90 plus percent probably of the time.

It's a benign meaning non-cancerous condition. Does it need to be taken care of? Sometimes, yes. If someone has a fibroadenoma, which is a mass in the breast, that mass may need to be removed. It needs to be addressed by a breast specialist, a surgeon, et cetera. You know, our brains, we go, oh my God, I must have a diagnosis of the worst case scenario. So I like being able to support women through this process and to kind of take it back a step, take it down a notch so that they don't feel that level of anxiety, you know, as soon as something happens when it comes to their breasts. It's interesting because-

Touseef Mirza:
There's people who say we need to lower breast cancer incidents and everybody needs to have a mammogram. We hear that all the time. The healthcare system says that, but we don't hear the flip side of what we're talking about. Just to balance things out, and I think this is why it's good to have this conversation.

Dr. Sophia:
Well, one of the things that I point out to my patients when I see them, and it's funny because it's kind of like we're not sure in the medical community, should we be doing breast exams or encouraging women to do self-breast exams. It's kind of like some schools of thought say yes, some schools of thought say no. I know that as a provider, I do breast exams on my annual exams for patients. Furthermore, I help them understand what I'm feeling and ask them questions. Do you examine your breasts? And it's not an exam actually, it's just becoming comfortable with your breast, knowing your breast, knowing where all of your lumps and bumps are.

Touseef Mirza:
Because not all lumps and bumps are bad. They can be just part of your breast tissue.

Dr. Sophia:
Breasts have all kinds of different textures and things. Some breasts are more fatty, some breasts are more glandular. So just understanding what your breasts feel like? Then to point out, typically in the areas of the breast, some women have more breast tissue and clusters or clumps in certain areas of the breast. Most of the time it's on what we call the outer upper part of the breast. For example, like I said the areas that are a little closer to the armpit, for a lot of women, this is an area of the breast that may feel a little bit fuller or thicker, like they can feel more thicker tissue. I point that out and I say, do you ever experience discomfort, breast tenderness, or anything in that area, especially around the time of your period?

I literally ask. So that way we normalize exactly what's happening with them, if it's happening or we normalize the possibility that it can happen. It's a matter of getting them acquainted with their breast, exactly how it feels, and exactly what type of breast tissue they have. It's a matter of understanding how it changes. It's a matter of understanding that, okay, after my period, this is how my breasts feel during my period, this is how my breasts feel before my period. This is how my breasts feel during ovulation. This is how my breasts feel. So that way, when things are changing, you don't have to be so alarmed. And if something does change that is different from what they are used to, they come and bring that to the attention of their provider.

Touseef Mirza:
So I think this is an important point to make. The difference is to know yourself in terms of the cycles, but then at the same time, if something feels even slightly abnormal in terms of what you're used to, then you go and get that checked out.

Dr. Sophia:
Yes, absolutely. But if you don't even know what normal is supposed to feel like for you, then you may not even notice when there is a change. And let's face it, most doctors are not checking, and if we are on average, we see you once a year. So what's happening the whole rest of the year?

Touseef Mirza:
Right and I guess if a woman is really unsure, is this cyclical, is this not, they can go see obviously the doctor, their obgyn and actually ask, is there something wrong? Or is this just part of my menstrual cycle?

Dr. Sophia:
Absolutely.

Touseef Mirza:
So that's a straight-up question they could ask?

Dr. Sophia:
It's a straight up question. And if there is a concern and it feels like, I'm not sure, even me as a provider, I don't know. So it may be enough for me to say let's check it out and see what it is. It's not because I'm like, oh my God, she might have cancer, but at least if she has cysts of her breast, does this mean I need to then maybe send her for an evaluation or at least a consultation by a breast specialist? Does she have something like a fibroadenoma? Does she have dense breast tissue?

That could be just what's causing her to have this discomfort, or just women with sometimes larger breasts. Again, eliminating the concept of is she wearing the right kind of brassiere? So definitely it's not something to be dismissed by any means, but I definitely think it's arming the woman with some sense of I know what my breasts are like, I can identify what's normal for me and what's not normal for me. Then to be able to be confident enough to bring that to the attention of their provider.

Touseef Mirza:
So we talked about mostly women who have periods. What about women who are in menopause?

Dr. Sophia:
So that's a great question. Leading up to the menopause transition, women tend to actually have a lot of cyclical breast pain, or even non-cyclical breast pain, I should say, because their hormones are kind of up and down and all the way around, you know, so actually this is a timeframe when women often can come in and say, I'm having pain, I'm having tenderness, I'm having things that they may not have experienced before during that perimenopause and menopause transition.

But one thing I will say is that after menopause, especially well into it, they tend to have less breast pain because they're having less of a transition or up and down with the cycles of their hormones. So it's less common for a woman in her menopausal phase to be experiencing lightning feelings in their breasts. But I will say this, that after menopause, they may experience other things like maybe more sensitivity to cold, or they may even experience things like, you know, just infections and things like that may actually happen or be a lot more susceptible if they do have trauma for whatever reason in terms of their breast.

Touseef Mirza:
So when there's a woman who wants to get the breast pain checked out for whatever reason, who should she go see? Should she go see her family physician? The obgyn? Either one?

Dr. Sophia:
I think she can see either one. I think she can see her family provider, her family physician. She can certainly see her obgyn in either case, she needs to be reassured and we need to really examine her. Then we need to decide what we need to do, what's the next step? That next step may be, let's talk about where you are in your cycles. Let's talk about how you're eating and things like that. It could be that simple. Maybe we need to investigate a little bit further.

You may need a breast ultrasound, because like I said, one of the things that's a very common cause of breast pain, especially when it's cyclical, is having things like breast cysts because those cysts can grow and shrink during the cycle. Then that growth process sometimes is what actually is causing the pain. I think a part of just the evaluation of a woman who presents with breast pain is doing a full evaluation, she may need a mammogram. I definitely think that a breast ultrasound is a good starting place, especially when we're dealing with younger women. Oftentimes we're dealing with younger women because we're dealing with women who are going through their periods.

Touseef Mirza:
If I'm having some pain and I'm pretty sure it's linked to my menstrual cycle, what can I do?

Dr. Sophia:
Very simple things. I would say definitely during that time frame wearing a tight-fitting bra or a sports bra can help.

Touseef Mirza:
Why?

Dr. Sophia:
Because it helps to kind of support the tissue.

Touseef Mirza:
So there's no strain on the-?

Dr. Sophia:
So there's no strain either on the ligaments or just allowing, remember I said that it can swell. So just kind of keeping that more contained one thing, two, you can apply ice packs. You can take things like anti-inflammatories just over the counter.

Touseef Mirza:
You can also take acetaminophen,

Dr. Sophia:
Acetaminophen, which is Tylenol. Yeah, definitely. As in terms of painkillers. Think about if there's anything that you're eating that can be aggravating it. So for some women, that's caffeine. So just taking away things like colas and coffee and teas that are caffeinated. It could be super salty foods or super fatty foods that are triggers. So there's so many different ways in which you just need to figure out if there's a link between when I'm feeling this thing, what's making it better, what's making it worse?

Touseef Mirza:
You really have to become aware, like, I know we talk about this a lot on the podcast, but this is another one we're just like, okay, so what am I feeling?

Dr. Sophia:
Really what am I feeling and being, what am I feeling in tune with what's happening within your body? Being in tune because these things are happening on a cellular level. This hormone stuff is happening totally on the inside. A part of it is kind of what we're putting into it too. A part of it is our lifestyle, you know, and I don't wanna take anything away from that. I do think that women who have healthy diets, what we consider as quote-unquote, the anti-inflammatory diet, may not experience these pains the same way. I think women who exercise may or may not experience it the same way. If you exercise, you exercise a lot, you may have sore muscles that you then think is breast pain, but it's actually muscular pain. So it's kind of being in tune with your body in order to try to figure out what exactly am I feeling and what is the environment that my body inside is in right now at that time.

Touseef Mirza:
I also think it's interesting that we associate pain with something that is wrong, but in this situation, nothing is actually wrong per se.

Dr. Sophia:
Yeah, for sure. It doesn't mean that something is wrong.

Touseef Mirza:
It doesn't mean that something is wrong. So I think that's part of why we get anxious right away. So maybe when it comes, I'm not saying about every single thing that happens to our body, but when it comes to breast pain, if there's pain is to actually pause and say, okay, so is this part of my normal or is it something else? Versus going straight to, oh, this pain, something is wrong.

Dr. Sophia:
Especially when it comes to our periods and our cycles. I know for myself, I get headaches, but sister, I forget every single month that I get a headache like I literally forget. I get a headache and I am fully disassociated with the fact that my period might be coming because I'm like, oh, I must not have slept well. I must be working too much. I must be like, I give 10 other reasons, it's every month. And then I'm like, oh, snap, my period comes and I'm like, oh, that was the headache like every time.

Touseef Mirza:
I don't have periods anymore. But I remember I would be, I didn't, I never got used to PMS, I would just be like, cranky. I'm not a cranky person. I'm pretty chill, optimistic, and sort of have a levity, and then I would just be pissy and I'd be like, what is wrong with me? You know? Then finally when the period would come and be like, oh my God.

Dr. Sophia:
It’s brand new every single time.

Touseef Mirza:
Why? It's like when we change the time every spring to autumn and we're shocked. Now all of a sudden, oh my God, it's so dark, but we've done this since we were born.

Dr. Sophia:
Right? Like, but you're here in this part of the world, this is what we do.

Touseef Mirza:
This Is what we do. It's just, we just can't get used to it. It's so, it's very similar.

Dr. Sophia:
Oftentimes I have women who come into my office and they may say, oh my gosh, I don't know what's happening. I'm having all this pain. And then it's like, I have to remind them and ask them questions. Did this happen last period or, or two months ago? Do you remember if you had this before? Then they're like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Did I? It's the funniest thing. I think it's by design, like God somehow made this because it's like, otherwise we would lose our minds if we knew we were gonna have this thing every single time. You know what I'm saying? I think that the selective amnesia that happens, it's so real.

Touseef Mirza:
So we don't fear it because we forget about it, and then it comes.

Dr. Sophia:
But what happens, actually, I think the fear comes because we've forgotten about it. Because we forgot that, oh, yeah, I had that two periods ago and maybe this period I was on vacation, I was meditating, I was doing other things to help myself, and I didn't remember, I didn't feel the pain. But this month my kids have to go back to school. I have a new project at work, because stress also definitely plays a role in how our bodies experience transitions that we normally go through, right? So two months ago when you were on vacation, nothing happened. But now you have all these new things, external things, environmental things that are happening, and you're feeling breast pain. It's the same breast pain, the same hormones, it's the same thing.

Touseef Mirza:
But also, I remember the PMS, sometimes I'd be ante and sometimes I'd just be depressed and I'd be like, my life sucks. I'm not like that at all, but I was just like, what am I doing? I'm so lost. And then all of of a sudden I get my period. I'm like what was I talking about? My life is fabulous.

Dr. Sophia:
Listen, we bring some, you know, like jovialness to this. But it's really just so that we as women don't have to live in fear. And that there is a small part of this that I think is by design, so that way we can just push forward.

Touseef Mirza:
That we forget and then we get it.

Dr. Sophia:
That we forget, and then somehow it comes back and we're like, oh, yeah, that was that again, here it is again.

Touseef Mirza:
Here it is again. But I think then what's important if it's by design, but when it comes it is somehow to say, oh, I don't have to freak out.

Dr. Sophia:
I don't have to freak out

Touseef Mirza:
When is my period again? Okay.

Dr. Sophia:
Probably this is where taking the next step and really jotting it down, being aware, you know, like keeping tabs on when your period, anticipating it, knowing when it's coming, so that when you are experiencing some of these bodily changes, that you have a reference point. You have something to go back to and can say, okay, I'm on day three, this is where it is, this is what's going on, this is where I am, I'm okay. Even just to recognize when you're really not okay.

If you're, let's say, I don't know, day 11, and all of a sudden you're having this thing, well, maybe it is time for you to bring it up to your physician, you know, or your provider. I don't wanna take anything away from the table in terms of having that conversation with your provider. If you are feeling something that you have either never felt before or that is really bothering you, and even if it's not really bothering you, that you just need to have some confirmation of what's going on. But I just want us to not live in fear.

Touseef Mirza:
In the state of the worst-case scenario right off the bat.

Dr. Sophia:
In the state of the worst-case scenario right off the bat, and especially when we're talking about breast pain, that one does not equal the other breast pain does not equal breast cancer. And that's a very rare equation.

Touseef Mirza:
Association.

Dr. Sophia:
Or association.

Touseef Mirza:
I do think also like what we're saying, we're saying two things. We're saying, yes, it's normal, and yes, you go and get it checked if need be. So if this feels a little bit confusing. What we wanna do is provide the full story about this. Because right now the only story that we hear is about breast cancer and not breast pain. So even understanding the full breadth of what's happening will hopefully help you understand a little bit better of what's actually happening and remove the fear.

Dr. Sophia:
Yeah. The point of this is to definitely arm women with information and to take away the sense of fear and anxiety. It doesn't take away the fact that you still should talk to your provider about exactly what you're feeling and when you're feeling it or how you're feeling it. It's to take away that level of anxiousness and to take away that sentiment that it has to be the worst-case scenario. Just because we go to the doctor with a concern doesn't mean that it has to be the absolute worst. It's not to say that those things don't happen.

Don't get me wrong. I'm fully aware breast cancer is a very serious disease, and moreover, the earlier we find it, the higher the likelihood that it is a curable disease. So trust and belief, I'm not taking anything away from that. But in this conversation, let's take away the fear, the default. Fear that. Default fear.
Thank you so much for joining us here on the Dr. Sophia Obgyn podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and thank you for listening. Until next time, see you later.

This is General Medical Information based on my professional opinion and experience. For specific medical advice, please refer to your physician. Until next time, embrace your body. Embrace yourself.