lumpy breast

I am 31 years old and completely paranoid about my breasts.  Last spring I felt a lump, it was determined to be a cyst by ultrasound.  However, a follow up mammogram was ordered of that breast and it was normal.  This past week I felt what I thought was another cyst.  I made an appointment and was seen by a nurse practitioner.  Fearful that she would pass me off as not serious I said that I would feel better if a mammogram or ultrasound were performed instead of waiting through a cycle to see if it went away.  After the mammogram and ultrasound the radiologist said he say NOTHING abnormal.  However, a surgeon palpated both breasts for good measure and said he felt NOTHING abnormal and couldn't find anything to biopsy.  My questions are...Knowing that I have lumpy breasts is it a safe rule of thumb to compare one with the other and if the nodularity is the same I am okay? and would a cancerous lump feel differently from the other lumps ini my breast.  I just have really lumpy breasts...feels like small beans around my areola area and I get paranoid of them all.  Thank you for your help.

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear 1217, What you are looking for or feeling for when doing a breast self exam is changes.  If you tend to have lumps that come and go with a menstrual cycle it makes sense to wait through a menstrual cycle to see if there is a decrease or the lump goes away.  It is impossible strictly by feel to determine if something is cancerous or not, but there may be more or less  suspicious findings that would lead to further checking.  For example a new lump that does not decrease in size over a cycle, one that feels different than usual, something like this you would want to have checked out.