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The word tumor has many meanings. Generally speaking, this is how each convexity, elevation above the skin level, is defined. Not every lesion called a tumor is a life-threatening condition. Many tumors are benign changes, and some do not even require specialist treatment.
In medicine, the word tumor is used in several ways:
– when there is a lumpy formation in the body, the characteristics and origin of which have not yet been determined by diagnostic tests. This condition is sometimes called a diagnostic provisional.
– a tumor is also the name of a group of neoplasms and tumor-like lesions that have specific properties and are located in a specific place,
– in dermatology, a tumor is any lesion located above the surface of the skin.
However, it should be remembered that the appearance of lumps or nodules may suggest the development of a serious disease or an aging body.
Heberden nodules
These are painless, hard structures that grow under the skin, around joints, which are changed as a result of degenerative changes or arthritis. Rheumatoid nodules, as they are often called, are painless swellings usually located in places exposed to pressure, i.e. in the joints of the hands, elbows, shoulders, and in the joints of the spine. In rheumatoid arthritis, the same nodules can appear in internal organs, such as the lungs, heart, kidneys, and vessel walls. They are not dangerous in themselves, but may impair the proper functioning of individual organs.
Heberden’s nodules consist of a fibrinous central part around which fibroblasts are arranged in palisades and surrounded by a layer of connective tissue. Such nodules can only be removed surgically. With degeneration of the joints, nodules may appear in the joints of the hands, knee joints, hip joints. The growth of nodules may result in neurological symptoms in the form of paresis. It is extremely important for patients to maintain the efficiency of the joints. Even when you feel pain due to limited joint mobility, you need to exercise daily and take painkillers, but only those prescribed by your doctor. In extreme cases, patients are offered an operation aimed at implanting an endoprosthesis into the damaged joint.
Singing nodules
They are also often called vocal cusps. They usually occur symmetrically and are a form of hypertrophic, limited, and chronic laryngitis. Their formation is related to the overuse of the voice, which leads to a mechanical trauma to the vocal folds. They are most often found in the vocal folds. A significant proportion of the sick are women, because when speaking they emit sounds of a higher frequency.
The disease quite often attacks professional singers and teachers, but it can also develop in people who use their voice unskillfully, for example, they speak very loudly or so-called. in a raised voice. Smoking is also conducive to them.
A symptom (which is often neglected) is hoarseness, rapid fatigue of the voice and its breakdown when speaking for a long time.
In the first stage of the disease, the so-called soft nodules. Such changes can be completely undone if you use your voice sparingly.
If the patient neglects treatment and continues to force his voice, the nodules will enlarge and become hard nodules. Then you can only get rid of them surgically. The procedure is performed using the methods of microlaryngology. After the procedure, it is necessary to learn the proper use of the voice (voice emission) under the supervision of a phoniatrist. Smoking is also forbidden.
Fibromas
There are two main types of fibroids – soft and hard.
Soft fibromas include senile fibromas, acrochordons, and fibrous epithelial polyps. All forms of change occur quite frequently. They usually appear as multiple nodules on the stalks. They can be skin-colored or in various shades of brown. They reach a size of a few millimeters to several centimeters. They occur in obese people, diabetics, with endocrine disorders. Sometimes they appear in women who are expecting a baby. They most often develop on the neck, groin, armpits and nipple area. Such changes can be removed with an electric knife (electroresection), with a scalpel or by evaporating them with a laser.
Hard fibromas include dermatofibromas, histiocytomas, benign fibrous histocystomas, and hardened (hardening) fibromas. They are usually flat-shaped nodules or discs of red, bluish or brown color. They appear singly and usually do not exceed 1 centimeter in diameter. Such changes on the skin are most often experienced by people who have entered the 3rd or 4th decade of life. It happens, and it is not uncommon, that hard fibromas form in places after minor injuries, mosquito bites, fluff or after inflammation of the hair follicle. In immunocompromised people, hard fibromas can take the form of huge and fusing tumors, with a diameter of up to 20 centimeters. Hard fibromas are most often found on the legs and torso. You can only get rid of them by surgical excision.
Angiofibromas
They very often take the form of small, hard, skin-colored nodules. Sometimes they are slightly darker or slightly pink. Their surface is usually smooth. Such lumps often appear on the nose or in the middle of the face. It is not known why they arise. If we want to get rid of them, it is necessary to visit a dermatologist or surgeon who will remove them with a laser.
Fibroid adenoma
It is a benign breast lump that develops in young women (18-30 years old). It is also called fibroadenoma. These nodules arise as a result of the growth of both glandular and fibrous tissue. Lumps are most common in the upper part of the breast and are felt during breast self-examination. They are flexible, painless, easy to move with your fingers. Every 5th woman has multiple fibroadenomas, which do not exceed 3 centimeters in diameter, but it happens that the nodule reaches the size of a mandarin.
Fibroid tumors do not increase the risk of breast cancer, but their removal is recommended. However, deleting one change does not guarantee that others will not be created.
Cysts
Cysts are flexible tumors that are filled with fluid. The ones located in the breasts are quite easy to feel during breast self-examination. They are round, soft and quite clearly movable to the touch.
As the menstrual cycle changes, these lumps change. Before your menstrual period, your period may become enlarged and hurt. Each cyst should be carefully examined (ultrasound and biopsy) to make sure that the fluid in the tumor does not contain cancerous cells. Experts recommend removing cysts that form in the breasts, as some types of cysts may contribute to the development of breast cancer.
Every woman who is prone to the formation of cysts in the breast should regularly undergo regular check-ups, i.e. ultrasound and mammography.
Ovarian cysts can be the size of a walnut or a small orange, or even a large melon. They appear in both teenagers and older women. They do not always require treatment, but must always be monitored. Depending on the type of cyst, they can only be filled with fluid or fluid and thickened tissue. They develop in one or both ovaries at the same time. They can grow inside the ovary, in its wall, or on a peduncle outside the ovary.
Most often they do not cause any discomfort. However, when they reach large sizes, they can put pressure on the organs in the abdominal cavity, which can result in, for example, abdominal pain, pressure on the bladder and frequent urination, gastric symptoms, i.e. flatulence and constipation. Ovarian cysts are usually benign. In women who have periods, the ovaries often develop so-called functional cysts. They are the result of hormonal changes that occur in the body during the normal cycle. Functional cysts do not require treatment as they disappear on their own after one or two consecutive cycles. Sometimes, however, hormone treatment is needed.
Muscles
They are benign nodules that can reach the size of a pea, but also a full-length melon. They are made of the same tissue as the uterus. They become malignant less than one percent of the time. When there are few of them and they are small, they do not cause problems and then regular check-ups at the gynecologist are enough. Sometimes, however, uterine fibroids must be removed. Every fifth woman over 35 and every second XNUMX-year-old who still has menstruation suffers from fibroids.
Myomas arise in women whose uterine cells are hypersensitive to estrogens, the female sex hormones. They grow faster when a woman has high levels of these hormones (i.e. when she is in the so-called reproductive age) and decrease when a woman enters the menopause and the level of sex hormones in the body gradually decreases. The tendency to develop fibroids can also be inherited – not only from the mother, but even from the grandmother.
These benign nodules can grow outside the uterus and bulge towards the serosa that surrounds the abdominal wall of the uterus (called subserous fibroids), they can develop in the wall of the uterus itself (these are intramural fibroids), or they can grow into the center of the uterus ( these are called submucosal). If they develop outside or inside the uterus, they often connect to the womb, which is a band of connective tissue. Then they look as if they have grown a leg.
A woman with fibroids may experience pain in the lower abdomen. If the fibroids are large, they can put pressure on an organ adjacent to the uterus, such as the bladder or rectum, and then you may feel pressure on the bladder or rectum. Myomas are also responsible for prolonged and heavy menstruation and for spotting along the cycle. The woman may also have difficulty conceiving. Surgical removal is required for fibroids, which cause unpleasant ailments in the form of profuse bleeding or severe pain.
Lipoma
It is considered the most common benign neoplasm of the skin, subcutaneous tissue and internal organs. It is usually made of mature fat cells. It develops slowly. A lipoma is a lump clearly demarcated from other tissues that slides easily under the fingers. The process of formation of lipomas is unknown. Some experts say that it is an inherited predisposition, others that it is a disease of the immune system. Usually, the skin around the lipoma is not red, warm, painful, or discolored. Tumors that arise in the subcutaneous tissue are usually removed for cosmetic reasons. The situation is different when lipomas develop in the internal organs. Then they can cause arterial hypertension, renal dysfunction, and blood coagulation disorders. Large mediastinal fat tumors can significantly obstruct breathing. Then they must be removed so that the patient can regain fitness.
Gangliony
They are benign tumors that usually occur near tendon sheaths and joint capsules. They arise from a jelly-like substance in fibrous tissue. They are hard or very soft to the touch. A ganglion is usually the size of a pea, but it can reach the size of a walnut. This happens when inflammation develops in the lesion. Ganglions are formed on the back of the hand, around the wrist, less often on the back of the foot or around the ankle). It is not known why the body builds such structures, although some doctors believe that it is a consequence of minor injuries characteristic of playing tennis, playing the violin, etc. Ganglions are most common in children, adolescents and younger adults. Even after surgical removal, they renew themselves. This problem affects about 10 percent. people with ganglions.
Text: Anna Jarosz
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