Can an Injury Cause Breast Cancer?

As a woman, I have become very aware as to what diseases and conditions that I would specifically be effected by. Over the years, many more serious health problems have come into the spotlight, offering a shocking wake up call to women.

In the year 2003 alone, 181,646 women and 1,826 men were diagnosed with breast cancer. In that same year, breast cancer took the lives of 41,619 women and 379 men.

In fact, several years ago, my grandmother passed away after fighting a long battle. I have to be honest, and admit that this concerns me more. Although no one else in my family has been diagnosed with breast cancer, I do question whether or not my chances are higher. I remember locating a lump on my right breast during my first pregnancy. It ended up being a clogged milk duct, but, she had the same issue during her pregnancy. Could this mean something?

With diagnostic and death rates rising, it's understandable for women to become alarmed, and to spring into action hoping to protect themselves from this same fate.

For several years, I have wrestled with common questions regarding what I can do to protect myself from breast cancer. Having grown up a somewhat tom boy, I was always rough housing, and with a family history of professional fighters, I too become one. Thinking back, it concerned me that I was often struck near the chest. Even to this day, I find myself always bumping in to something, or being pinched by a climbing child. It made me worry that something like this would cause me to develop breast cancer in my later years.

So, I looked into this further, and received an answer. Now, I will share this information with other women who are too worried about injuries causing breast cancer.

Doctors do not believe that an injury can cause breast cancer. It is believed that if breast cancer develops in this area, it is a coincidence. However, an injury can cause fibrous scar tissue to form, which can be mistaken for cancer. After an injury, inflammation can appear, which in turn can reveal a breast lump that was previously there. If a severe injury occurs, there may be a build up of blood underneath the skin, which will reabsorb and heal over time, as any injury would.

As with any other condition, in the future, studies will be done and more information will lead to answers. We can all hope that rather than sitting and worrying about things that quite possibly don't affect our chances of developing breast cancer, we will eventually know for sure what is safe and what isn't.