| Dear Marla: I think I have fibrocystic breasts. I have so many lumps in my breast that having a mammogram is very painful, not to mention scary. My doctor wants to do a biopsy of every one of them! Is there anything I can do to make them go away? Theresa, Cincinatti, OH Dear Theresa, Thirty percent of American women have fibrocystic breasts, characterized by benign (noncancerous) but painful lumps that move freely within the breast tissue. (Cancerous lumps, on the other hand, generally do not move freely when touched and are rarely painful.) The condition and tenderness generally worsens as menstruation approaches and estrogen levels increase in the body. When feeling any kind of breast lump, please talk with your health care practitioner about taking proper precautions. In most cases, however, treating a fibrocystic condition does not have to involve surgical removal (biopsy). There are other treatment options to try first. Fibrocystic breasts are usually a sign of estrogen dominance?relatively high estrogen or low progesterone. Generally, this imbalance can be corrected with the use of a nutritional supplement like ProCycle® PMS vitamins. Formulated especially with women like you in mind, ProCycle® PMS contains the amount of vitamin E, magnesium, and vitamin B6 your body needs to relieve a fibrocystic condition as well as other symptoms of PMS. To help decrease water retention, I also recommend avoiding caffeine, including coffee, tea, chocolate, and soft drinks. If you find that nutrition alone is not enough, the next step I recommend is the use of a natural progesterone cream to gently rebalance hormone levels. Together, these simple actions are often enough to correct a fibrocystic condition. You shouldn't have to live with the discomfort of a fibrocystic condition. If you or your health care practitioner would like more information on treatment options for fibrocystic breasts, please email me at
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or call (800) 558-7046. Educating women on their health care options is a personal mission for Marla Ahlgrimm, R. Ph., founder and CEO of Women's Health America and co-author of "The HRT Solution: Optimizing Your Hormone Potential" and "Self-Help for Premenstrual Syndrome." If you have a women's healthcare question, chances are hundreds of other women would also like to know. Send Marla your question:
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