Breast Care
General Principles

One in eight of women will have to face the trial of breast cancer at some point in their lives. In addition to cancer many women endure breast tenderness & pain, fibrocystic breasts and plain cysts.

If you have been reading other sections of this web site you will by now have grasped that we take a holistic approach to our health. Caring for our breasts and minimizing the risks of health problems with them can be divided into two parts, general health care (parts 1 to 3), and specific actions (parts 4 to 6):

Start with the basics - Nutrition: Increase your intake of organically grown fruit and vegetables, reduce consumption of meats, especially red meats, reduce consumption of grains (we eat too many). See the nutrition section.
Hydrate yourself properly.
Exercise: for good overall health undertake moderate daily exercise to ensure good over health, and stimulate the immune system.
Invest in good quality Bra's, or better still have tailor made bras. Good fitting support, that does not pinch, pull, or overly constrict is important.
Massage your breasts each day (see below).
Natural Progesterone Cream: use this cream on your breasts every three to four days once over thirty 30 years old.

Breast Anatomy

 

 

The breast has no muscle tissue. A layer of fat surrounds the glands and extends throughout the breast. The breast is responsive to a complex interplay of hormones that cause the tissue to develop, enlarge and produce milk. The three major hormones affecting the breast are estrogen, progesterone and prolactin, which cause glandular tissue in the breast and the uterus to change during the menstrual cycle. Each breast contains 15 to 20 lobes arranged in a circular fashion. The fat (subcutaneous adipose tissue) that covers the lobes gives the breast its size and shape. Each lobe is comprised of many lobules, at the end of which are tiny bulb like glands, or sacs, where milk is produced in response to hormonal signals. Blood and lymph vessels form a network throughout each breast. Breast tissue is drained by lymphatic vessels that lead to axillary nodes (which lie in the axilla) and internal mammary nodes (which lie along each side of the breast bone). When breast cancer spreads, it is frequently to these nodes.

During pregnancy and the period of breast-feeding, the breasts become larger and elastic fibres in the skin tear, this shows as red irregular marks on the skin surface. By regular massage with a moisturizing cream the elasticity of the skin is increased and the breast skin becomes soft and supple. The women in our families use a collagen rich cream with a little natural progesterone added to it and it appears to work extremely well.

It is really important to wear a good sports bra when exercising regardless of the size of your bust. It will help to reduce breast pain and minimise 'sagging' in the future! But many women don't know how to choose the right style or size. Here are our tips for finding the right sports bra.

Breasts have no muscles of their own and are only held up by the pectoral muscles the muscles of the chest on which they lie. Extra support can be given by wearing a good bra. Most of the support that well-fitting bra gives to the breast should come from beneath and not from the straps. You can check this by slipping off the straps to see if the bra will stay in place without them. The back piece and the sides of a good bra should be in level with the front.

 

The Function Of Diet In Breast Care

Eliminate hydrogenated fats from your diet altogether, not only will this improve breast health it will improve your general health. Eat less animal fat. Eat more oily fish, but take care, only one portion of farmed fish per week, farmed fish contain high levels of pesticides and heavy metals.
Use extra virgin olive oil instead of standard cooking oils.
Eat lots of antioxidant rich foods, blueberries for instance or onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.
 

It is a slightly disturbing fact, but 80% of women wear incorrectly fitting bras. Most of us have never been properly sized in our lives. 50% keep our bras for more than five years, yet the materials used in the construction of bras have a working life of three years at best before their elastic or other properties loose their effectiveness.

The best way of purchasing a bra is to go to a proper lady’s outfitters and have yourself correct sized and a bra made for you. When choosing a bra for large or heavy breasts, make sure it has flat well-padded under cup wiring and wide elasticized straps that gives support to the centers of the breasts. If the bra cups are creased all over, then they are too big for your breast size. To find out the correct size of the bra cup, first measure around your rib cage under your breasts. Then measure around the fullest part of your bosom at the level of the nipple. The difference between the two measurements will give you the cup size.
The sagging of breasts is due to slackening of the supporting muscles, and is more possible if the breasts are heavy or very dense. Wearing a well-fitting bra will delay sagging for little while. Always wear a good supporting bra during exercises, running, jogging and pregnancy. During pregnancy you must pay more attention to their correct fitting. Exercising does not reduce the size of heavy breasts, nor do helps increase its size. Swimming is an excellent exercise for the bust shape and it strengthens the muscles while the water supports them during the exercise.

Take supplements including vitamins C, E, beta-carotene and the mineral selenium.
Eat more fiber, 80% of your immune system is in your intestines, eating plenty of fibber minimizes the amount of excess estrogen in your body by stopping estrogen reabsorption.
Limit alcohol - it can cause an increase in estrogen levels.
Cut back on coffee, cola, chocolate and strong tea, caffeine is a factor is cancer.
Balance your protein intake. Protein is needed to build and keep muscles tone and firm. Protein also provides much-needed Collagen. Three to four meals a day that consist of protein is recommend. 

Breast Massage - Self Care

Massage can provide gentle and effective treatment of a number of the breast complaints that women have, including post-surgical and scar work, easing of discomforts of pregnancy and breastfeeding, treatment of congestion and edema, and alleviation of many of the causes of breast pain. Toxins are believed by many to be the local beginnings of cancerous tissue so it is imperative that these toxins be continually removed through the body's veins and lymphatic vessels. When these toxins are unable to exit the body properly, the possibility of cancer increases. Massage also heightens your awareness and self knowledge about your breasts making you more likely to detect early changes in your breasts that might herald an approaching problem.

Your breasts are essentially structures made up of fat and gland, mounted to the female's chest wall with a delicate system of ligaments. The circulation in the breast is much the same as the rest of the body consisting of arteries, veins, and lymphatic vessels. In short, the arteries bring fresh blood too the cells carrying along with it the nutrition that the breast and its tissues need for proper health. The veins bring the blood back from the cells along with cellular waste and toxins. The lymphatics are designed to return the toxin and other waste materials that lie in the intercellular fluid between the cells.

A recent study of 4,700 women found that women who wore bras had an increased chance of acquiring breast cancer. It is very possible that the constant pressure that the bra puts on the breast is limiting the flow of toxins that need to be released, resulting in the increased cancer rate. Any more than a gentle amount of pressure can flatten the lymphatic vessel and stop the toxic flow from the breast. However this study did not examine the difference between women who wear poorly fitting bras as against those using well made tailored bras. It is clear that a well fitting bra does help and support the breasts from many other disorders and problems, so don’t go throwing them away just yet. The Study found the highest rate of breast cancer in those who wore bras 24 hours a day, and the lowest rate in those who never wore bras. The study suggested that women should wear their bra less than 12 hours a day, however this study should be treated with some degree of caution and balance.

Now that you have a better understanding of your breasts, it is important that you apply this knowledge to your health. The four-step procedure shown on this page will give you a simple massage technique that can be done, by yourself, in the privacy of your own home. Although almost any gentle massage technique will be of benefit, but try and work these four techniques into your personal regimen.

1. Flush fluids from the breast, (both venous and intercellular).

2. Bring nutrition to the tissues and specifically remove the toxins via the lymphatic system.

3. These techniques will enhance the health and elasticity of the support ligaments, which will in turn provide you with better breast support.

More specifically, step One is a gentle draining motion designed to drain the breasts lymphatic system and is possibly the most important of the four steps. Steps number Two and Four are to assist in the movement of venous fluids. Feel free to experiment with these to movements and find what is comfortable for you. Step Three is simply to help keep your support ligaments in good health and assist in the fight against gravity.

This procedure should be done at least twice a week. It can be done on bare skin, but personally I find that doing it while in the shower or bath is most comfortable.

Step A:

Use your fingers to gently smooth away from the nipple. These movements travel from the nipple and directly away using no more pressure than what you would apply to your eyelid. Any more pressure would flatten the lymphatic vessel and stop the flow of toxins and fluids. Also, make this stroke slow, not fast, for it to be effective.

Gently massage the breast with a kneading-like motion, using lifting and pressing movements.

Slowly and carefully use your hands to twist the breast in a clock-wise and counterclockwise direction, being careful not to put too much tension on the breast.

Step D:

Use both hands as shown to apply several, moderate pressure, compressions to move out more pressure fluids.