I see my body as a special mechanism that works permanently to keep me healthy. Over the years, I learned to listen to all its signals to know right away when something is going wrong. While inadequate nourishment, environmental estrogens, and low self-esteem are the main problems that hijack its activity, women’s bodies have their own special ways of transmitting the signals. There is a high incidence of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and breast cysts because our ovaries and breasts are closely related to our energy flow, and are the main target of hormonal imbalance and toxin accumulation.
If you already read my About page, you know that I’ve been struggling with hormone imbalance for a long time and I’m still learning things about my body that never cease to amaze me. My body developed multiple cysts in my breasts, and only recently did I manage to put things together to figure out what was wrong and how I can solve the situation.
Every time I visited the doctor for my bi-annual breast ultrasound, he always recommended a fine-needle aspiration or surgery because two of my cysts were large and pretty uncomfortable. I’ve chosen to find medicine in my own body, being mindful about alternative therapies. Diagnosing your breast condition right after you discover the problem (pain or lump) by ultrasound, thermography or MRI is the first thing you should do before making a “battle plan”. But when it comes to surgery, I only consider it as a way to remove the effects, and not one that solves the cause. If you really want to understand how your mind and body work together to keep you healthy, then searching for the root of the problem seems to be a more appropriate way.
Nourishing your mind with positive thoughts and gently approaching your body with love and healthy food are the keys to understanding how things come together when it comes to energies, mind, and body. Here are the natural ways to nurture breast health that I made a routine from, and it would be great if you would share with us in the comments your own ways of dealing with breast cysts.
1. Avoid meat, dairy, and processed foods
These create acidity and lead to an increased risk of chronic disease. Moreover, because of the high concentration of saturated fat, dairy products can lead to hormone imbalance, which your body will signal by developing PCOS and breast cysts.
2. Include ingredients in your diet that balance hormone production
– Evening primrose oil – balances the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, the “master” glands of the body, optimizing hormone production and reducing PMS symptoms like breast pain and breast lumps. The oil is available in capsules, sometimes along with vitamin E.
– Maca powder – is an endocrine adaptogen; it doesn’t contain any hormones, but it contains the nutrients our bodies need to support balanced hormone production. You can add maca powder in smoothies, fresh juices, oatmeal, or sprinkle over cereals.
– Vitex Agnus Castus – balances the secretion of prolactin, reducing cyclical breast pains.
– Iodine – is necessary for normal function of the thyroid, while its deficiency is a cause of fibrocystic breasts, because the breast tissue is more sensitive to estrogenic stimulation and develops microcysts. The main sources of iodine are iodized table salt and seaweed.
3. Learn to adjust your activity according to your body’s needs
Your body has its own special configuration like no other, so you need to learn to understand its special needs – food, sleep, exercise – and turn them into a routine. Don’t freak out when you hear the word “routine”. For your body, this is the best thing because it keeps it away from any stress and creates the perfect environment for it to create its own routine, the self healing one.
4. Massage your breasts
Breasts are mainly composed of fat tissue and aren’t blood-irrigated as much as the other parts of our bodies. Especially if you are sleeping face down and you are wearing underwire bras, the blood flow circulating in the breasts is reduced, making them a perfect storage place for toxins. Massage your breasts with castor oil to mobilize the lymphatic system and release the accumulated toxins and excess hormones.
5. Increase the intake of healthy fats and fibers
The intake of soluble fibers helps our system to flush out the toxins and estrogen metabolized by our liver. In the absence of fibers, these are transported into the colon, but are reabsorbed in the circulatory system and create a double burden for our liver. Oats, chia seeds, ground flax, psyllium husks, and oranges are the main sources of soluble fibers. Healthy fats allow hormones to adhere easier to the cells’ membranes. Avocado, hulled hemp, and raw flaxseed oil are some of the healthiest sources of fats you can consider for your diet.
Thank you for writing about this. I have also had breast issues in the past. It is so scary to go to the doctor to get them checked every year. But like you said, it starts with what you put in your body and how you treat it.
Going to the doctor is really scary for me too, but the relief I feel after each ultrasound check…
From everything I have read about mammagrams they are very dangerous, even causing cancer if you don’t have it already. Doctors want you coming back so they can get your money. Look up Dr.Lorraine Day she cured herself from breast cancer just going back to total veggie diet. Eat what God has given us [organic of course]. :]
Prevention is important and every woman should have a mammography after turning 40.
I enjoyed reading your article and agree with you totally. However, it is disconcerting to read your comment advising women to get mammograms…Please do more research. Yes, diagnostic testing and preventative medicine are absolutely necessary to a proactive approach to health, but one must consider the ratio of risk to benefits before submitting to diagnostic procedures..Thermography has proven to be much more accurate than mammography in early detection of tissue changes that can potentially develop into cancer. It is common knowledge mammograms subject the breasts to radiation ( which is a known to cause cancer )and require mechanical pressure that can damage breast tissue and spread cancer if it is present…Thermography, on the other hand, is completely non invasive and 100% safe…
Doctors say that after 40 years a mammography is more accurate, but what I’ve learned is that you shouldn’t use it as often as advised by medical doctors (once a year), because, as you said, it requires radiation that can cause cancer. It’s also not conclusive for women with large breast cysts or dense breast tissue (like myself) that can hide small malign issues. These also fail to be discovered during the ultrasound or thermography exams, and this is why some doctors even recommended an MRI, another non-invasive method of detection.
Read the Cochrane review on this. For every one woman saved by a mammogram, 10 more are treated unnecessarily and some of those healthy women die from the treatments. The real truth is the doctors don’t know which “cancers” will be life threatening and which will just stay in place, so they treat them all.
yes Ana you need to read the Cochrane review. 40 is too young for starters. “If 2000 women are screened regularly for 10 years, one will benefit from the screening, as she will avoid dying from breast cancer.
At the same time, 10 healthy women will, as a consequence, become cancer patients and will be treated unnecessarily. These women will have either a part of their breast or the whole breast removed, and they will often receive radiotherapy, and sometimes chemotherapy.
Furthermore, about 200 healthy women will experience a false alarm. The psychological strain until one knows whether or not it was cancer, and even afterwards, can be severe.”
Your specification is much appreciated, Alegria! With time, I also changed my opinion about the use of mammography as a screening for women in their 40s. I was younger when I wrote the article, and now that I’m 37 and soon reaching the age when I should have my first mammography. Since I’m not sure about the way it will affect my body, I don’t think I will do it unless there will be issues detected by ultrasounds or MRI.
Thanks for posting about this! I’ve dealt with this is in the past but haven’t had issues lately, which made me get a little complacent. I love what your point about treating the root cause instead of just the resulting symptom.
I use doterra essential oils to help me with my health and wellness goals. I dug up some suggestions in my favorite go-to book. For mammary gland support: Clary sage, geranium, grapefruit, cellular complex blend, invigorating blend & women’s blend. It also has a breast detox. I’m so excited to get proactive on some preventative steps with this.
It’s so great you haven’t had issues lately, I also feel so relieved after every medical examination! Essential oils sound very interesting, lately I’m hearing a lot about their healing properties.
What’s your favorite go to book?
It’s definitely Kathryn Alexander’s Dietary Healing, it’s totally an eye-opener because it explains exactly how things are going on in our body and why you should make a food choice or not. I warmly recommend you this book, this is where I bought it from http://amzn.to/1nhOZJU
I really commend you for writing so candidly about this. I feel like sometimes, certain medical conditions get “swept under the rug” a bit, especially in the online health/wellness blogging community. But for me, reading this was very informative, as my mother has a higher incidence of cysts, and breast cancer runs in our family on the maternal line. After my grandmother died of breast cancer, I started thinking about how my chances of having the same disease were multiplied due to genetic probability. But what you said about solving the cause, not just curing the effects, really resounded to me. “Food as medicine” is a concept that’s been around for thousands of years, and we’re only just re-learning how much of an effect food has on our bodies. I truly do believe that food can play a large role in preventing many ailments before they even arise. Thank you for writing such an informative article – the best of luck to you in your health journey!
I love using the breast care balm from Banyan whenever my breast cyst comes back. Also taking evening primrose oil 3 times a day whenever I have a cyst really helps. I listened to my body, as you are doing, and found that for me what triggers cysts is when I drink coffee, tea (herbal teas are fine), or eat chocolate.
Evening primrose oil made wonders for me too! I’ve never used Banyan products, but I this balm sounds like a blessing! Thanks for the info 🙂
H ow often and how many evening primrose do you take every day?
Hi Ana, just found this lovely post while doing a research on Google. I often feel like I am the only one in the world with breast issues! I had a cyst removed with a surgery 6 years ago, then another one last year (checked with biopsy – then they decided to put me on the waiting list for the surgery (still waiting)), and during the last weeks I have found 3 more.. It’s really frustrating, And all the doctor’s appointments and the waiting are just additional stress, but you have to do it. I will start today massage and oil packs with castor oil, as suggested by an Ayurvedic consultant. My diet is great, healthy lifestyle, exercise etc.. the only issue that I have is stress, and I’m pretty sure that this has a deep effect on the formation of these cysts. Thanks again for sharing!
Eileen
August 16,2017
My advice from bad exsperience of getting my cysts drained was brutal. I went in feeling i was going to explode and desperate for relief. Dr hit a nerve and my left side went numb to my finger tips and hurt me to breath. Never ever again will i esperate them. I will try the oils thanks for sharing
So sorry for your bad experience, no one should go through that! My doctor said that even if one cyst is removed, it will slowly rebuild or other will appear, because this is how my breast tissue is programmed. Even if some of my cysts are quite big, I prefer to keep them under control by going to ultrasound check once or twice a year, rather that having them drained. With time I learned to live with them and accept the fact that this is the way my body is built.
I read in an article that massaging the breast with ginger oil help with reducing lumps followed by 15 minutes of ice packs and 10 minutes of a warm compress
Sounds like an interesting medicine, as the ginger oil might increase circulation and stimulate lymph accumulation in breasts. Thank you for sharing!
Plz what can I use for dilated breast duct called duct ECTASIA. I already had two mammogram in one and half year. Pls I need detox from radiation too. Had to do X-ray’s etc. Now they want to surgically remove the duct. Pls help me. Already taking evening primrose oil and chamomile tea. I got the oil to massage too.pls help me
I would like to ask that can i have a healthy sex with fibroids?! It leaks. I haven’t told about this to anyone at home because I live with my step family
Sheher, normally it wouldn’t be a problem, but you need to check it with your doctor first. And it would be a good idea to share your health issues with your family, because you need all the support and especially for regular checking at the gynaecologist. Try to have a balanced diet too, without too much meat and dairy, and with plenty of fiber and green leafed veggies – it helps with hormonal imbalance that are usually the cause of the cysts. Wishing you all the health!
Yes Ana!!
I am eating more and more leafy greens and poultry fresh chicken along with herbal teas like turmeric tea, ginger tea respectively
Watch the documentary in Netflix “What a health”. No dairy, cheese, chicken, meat etc. It increases your chances for many diseases. Only a plant based diet. Eye opening.
Thank you for the suggestion, definitely putting it on my watch list!
I’m 57 and I just found out I have breast cancer. Breast invasive carcinoma. I have very dense tissue in my one breast and when I went for a monogram they couldn’t see through it. Then came the ultra sound, they still couldn’t see anything. I then had a biopsy, that came back clean all was good. They thought….. The one doctor I spoke with was uneasy about the results. He suggested taking out the dense tissue. At first I said no, for what, all the test came back fine. He said he wasn’t convinced. After going back and forth for a while I decided to have it done. he took out 7mm of tissue, the size of a pea. 2.5mm was cancer, the size of a small dot. The type of cancer I had/have is in the milk ducts of the breast. All estrogen/hormone related. This kind of cancer doesn’t normally grow lumps it goes in a line and spread’s out. If not caught in time it will start growing and a lump will appear. I’m now seeking advise from a Macrobiotic specialist and I will be doing my treatment naturally. I fully believe the body will heal itself, when you fuel it with the right nutrition. Everything I had done was done in a total of 3 weeks. Mine was found very early so I have time to research and do what’s right for me. Don’t put off ultrasounds or mammograms. It could save your life!
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Patricia!
Hi! Where do you go to get breast ultrasounds? I have what my doctor thinks is a cyst but the breast center will only do an ultrasound if I do a mammogram of both breasts. This seems wrong to me! I am just wanting an ultrasound to start. I am 36 and not comfortable getting a mammogram when I feel ultrasound is sufficient in my case. Thanks!
It most likely depends on where you live. Over here you can go to private clinics for ultrasounds, and it’s a relatively cheap investigation.