Basically what the thread title says - I’m so anxious and worried around checking my breasts. I do it LITERALLY daily, sometimes multiple times a day. My left breast is very lumpy, feels totally different to the right one - had it checked, the consultant at the breast clinic said it was completely normal tissue and the ultrasound showed nothing.
And yet I CANNOT stop stressing recently. Lockdown has absolutely made my health anxiety come out of nowhere, I’m not even worried about Covid!!!! Just terrified of cancer. The consultant said that I would need to worry if I found a lump that felt different to the rest of the tissue - I have two small lumps which I can feel, but they feel the same as multiple different areas of the breast.
It’s just annoying that my left breast is full of ropey, grainy, lumpy, ridge-y tissue 
and I know it’s normal as it’s been scanned but it doesn’t half make me panic. I feel like I just want to get another scan but I have absolutely no reason to worry and waste NHS time.
Does anyone else feel like this? Or have felt like it in the past?
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General health
Obsessed with checking breasts
Namech4ng3 · 23/07/2020 15:54
Op I worry like you, mine has been since my aunt died of breast cancer when she was my age. I have one boob that feels completely different to the other in that it's lumpy, ridgy, tender in areas and more veiny than the other one. I got myself very worked up about this a few years' ago and went to see my gp who examined me and said all normal. I also (because if my anxiety) got a second opinion a few months after from a different gp who examined me and said exactly the same, he spent more time explaining to me why it was normal.
A few things he said spring to mind and have helped my anxiety about the issue over the last couple of years
Contrary to popular belief not all breasts are asymmetrical, one may feel and look a lot different to the other. I always read that if you felt one was different to the other then this was a red flag but apparently not always the case.
He also said that a breast cancer lump would feel almost like a Rock on a sandy beach and would feel prominent under your fingers. You'd be in no doubt it was a "lump" rather than the normal lumps and bumps you feel.
Also never "dig" with your fingers as you will feel lumps and bumps and glandular tissue deep down, even could be your ribs you are feeling . Better to check your boobs with a flat hand and roll across your breasts. I was quite surprised at how gentle the doctors both checked mine. They didn't do it half as hard as I normally did 
.
As others have said, check once a month after your period and try not to do any more than that. You know how your lumpy boob feels so what you need to try and do is figure out if there is anything different to normal from your "normal" if that makes sense.
I am less anxious now than I used to be but I still dread the once monthly breast exam I give myself. I try and do it as quickly as possible and then put it to bed for a month 😂.
Oh good 
Not just you op, I suffer from a bit of health anxiety too which can be crippling at times. I try and use distraction. Sounds to me like it's your anxiety that is taking over and there is nothing wrong with your boobs, they are perfectly healthy but you need that constant reassurance.
Sounds like you are doing the right things in terms if trying to tackle your anxiety , as there lies the problem 😊🤞
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