Dense ropey breasts

[Bananaloaf8982]

This might sound silly but both my breasts feel like they're made of ropey thick breast tissue and they've always been like this, but with a friend recently being diagnosed with BC, I'm questioning if this is normal. I've made an appointment with my GP for next week.

In the meantime, can I ask if anyone's breasts feel like this? The bottom of my breasts feel more squidgy, but the upper and outer areas of the breast tissue feels hard/ropey, like I can kind of grip it with my finger's. It's not like I can feel individual lumps, more like a large piece of ropey breast tissue (that take up 3/4 of my breast) that I can feel if squeeze my breast. Both are exactly the same.

Thank you.

Bumping

Anyone?

I have very dense breast tissue. It is lumpy in places so I’m paranoid I wouldn’t know if I have an actual lump. Last year I had a lump under my armpit and was petrified it was a lymph node- it wasn’t and everything fine.
I had a mammogram and the Dr said my whole breast is glandular tissue with no real fat. They did an ultrasound too as the mammogram was just white from dense tissue.
I have been called for screening again next month. I feel I need extra screening as it’s all lumpy anyway! I might ask if this is possible but I don’t have family history or anything

I have never understood how on earth anyone would find a lump in their breast because mine are all lump. I think it's just natural variation and don't bother thinking about it.

To be honest, I don’t think this is normal. But if they’ve always been that way and it isn’t a change as such, then I wouldn’t worry? Best to get checked though

Yeah I have ‘dense’ breasts too, and when I had a lump I needed a contrast MRI. It seems it does raise the risk of cancer as well as making it harder for tumours to be spotted. But it’s just one risk factor: https://www.cdc.gov/breast-cancer/about/dense-breasts.html

I’ve just developed similar in my right breast. I’ve been to the gp who wasn’t overly concerned, described it as nodular tissue with no definite lumps. It’s a bit tender so she said I may be developing an abscess but didn’t mention cancer at all. She advised I go back in a couple of weeks to see if it has changed again. My other breast is soft and squishy, as was the right one until a couple of weeks ago.

I was referred to the breast clinic once due to having a thickened area in one of my breasts. Very experienced breast surgeon had a feel and told me I had young, ropey breast tissue 😊 age, size etc makes a difference aswell.

Thank you all, this is helpful to hear.

@wanderingwillows well that's just scared me :(

@Ineffable23 I know what you mean, can I ask how yours feel?

Mine have always felt like that. Ive had mammograms over the years and they've found nothing.

Yes mine are like this. I do check my breasts but really don't have a clue. I felt a lump on my left one last year - had a mammogram and turned out it wasn't a lump but there was a massive one in the other breast that I couldn't feel at all. It was benign but it has made me quite nervous.

Mine aren’t ropey, but they are dense and fibrous. Like others, I’ve always been scared I wouldn’t find a lump because they’re so dense.

But a couple of years ago I did find a distinct lump, had a mammogram, thankfully it was just a cyst.

@Goinggonegone that's such a relief to hear, I felt quite alone not knowing if this was just me. So many people talk about breast feeling soft and squish which isn't really mine. Do you also feel harder areas of tissue on upper and outer breasts?

Sorry I don’t mean to scare you! At the end of the day, I’m not a medical professional so what do I know? Just my opinion from my experience but as I said, if it isn’t something new then I doubt there’s anything to worry about

It's almost like bits of cauliflower, maybe a little less hard than that, but not as much as grapes and they're very movable. I think you just have to try and put it out of your mind and take yourself to the GP if you have concerns.

Yes, ropey is exactly how I'd describe mine. There are also some hard "shelves" and some flatter bits. I've had several scans and have been diagnosed with fibroadenomas and cysts. It's good to check them regularly so you know what your normal, but ropey is my normal!

Yes I have very dense and lumpy breasts and always have. For the longest time I always wondered how people could possibly identify cancerous lumps when one’s breasts are naturally lumpy. I eventually learned that it’s not the norm, but not problematic (in my case). I got scanned at a breast clinic and they confirmed that my A cup tits are just full of benign cysts basically. Nothing to worry about and nothing to be done about it. Except that I do need to get checked more proactively for bad lumps because they’re harder to detect by me

@BognorRegenia can you please explain what you mean by hard "shelves" and some flatter bits?

@Bananaloaf8982 I can try! Basically it feels like these hard 'ridges', which are mostly on the top. Maybe like 10cm long, and moveable. I also have a few rubbery lumps which have been checked and are fibroadenomas. Basically, all sorts of thickenings and funny areas! It makes it hard to breast check but I have a good idea of what my normal is.