Is A Small Hard Lump In The Armpit A Symptom Of Breast Cancer?

Posted on Sun, 10 Jul 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 10 Jul 2016 Answered on

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a 26 year old woman. One day after using Veet to remove my underarm hair, I developed a small, hard, painless, immobile lump in my armpit. The lump is not red, my skin-colour only. In fact,it is not visibly noticeable. I dont have any discomfort or pain even when I apply pressure on it. It has been 3 days now. The lump has not become larger or caused any pain. I read online that this could be a breast cancer symptom - after that I inspected my breasts thoroughly. No bumps or any visible changes in my breasts. Should I be concerned?

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
No need to worry.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone through the query and understand your concerns. It is likely to be a lymph node swelling and your research has indicated correctly about the association with breast cancers. However, there are other causes that could cause a lymph node swelling. In your case it is probably due to a minor localized infection of the hair follicles or soft tissue. Since you have not found any breast swellings, I would reassure you that you need not get concerned.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar