Breast hematoma?

[worrier_queen]

I have recently had some trauma to my breast and I believe there is what's a rather large hematoma on it. I don't think there is much swelling but it is tender to touch. I can tell there is blood pooling(clotting?) under the skin as well and it isn't like a bruise. I'm a minor and I have a lot of medical anxiety, but my parents dismiss my medical worries without even looking at what's wrong. They are very dismissive with anything I bring to their attention and have said this is just me being dramatic, but I would really appreciate some advice on how to treat a hematoma, how long they generally take to go away, and when to seek medical help. I am really scared about this and can't find anything online to help me.

[CHIN_C]

Most breast hematomas resolve within a few weeks. Some hematomas may undergo liquefaction and develop into a breast seroma. Others may undergo saponification and develop into fat necrosis +/- calcifications. While benign, fat necrosis can have a very variable, sometimes alarming appearance on mammography. Make a mental note of the location of the trauma (e.g., right upper outer breast) so that you can alert the doctor interpreting your mammogram at age 40 and beyond.

[worrier_queen]

Thank you very much for the advice. I'll keep an eye on it and make a note of where it is!

[AnnieBrooke]

There is a lot written online about hematomas. Try googling just "hematoma." I would add, because the breast is soft, it takes pretty serious trauma to cause a hematoma, unless you were in a car crash or something like that. If you were, your folks should take you to the doctor.

[worrier_queen]

Thank you very much for the quick reply! I was fairly anxious when I wrote this (haha can you tell?) and because of that I think I was assuming the worst. Reading up on it at first was difficult because the only things I could find with relation to breast hematomas were about surgery, but now after looking for a while I'm wondering if it could just be a fairly large bruise. While the trauma was serious I don't believe it was on par with that of a car crash, so I'm hoping it's just a bruise that'll go away with some care. Again I appreciate the answer very much!

[AnnieBrooke]

Hi, I'm glad it helped, my guess would be it's not a hematoma but you're the one who has to (calmly) figure out whether a visit to the doctor is warranted.

I wanted to remark about your comment "I have a lot of medical anxieties." I assume you know being like that is changeable; in other words, it's a sprained ankle, not brown eyes. You're not stuck being that way. You can get over anxiety and obsessions, and obsessing or catastrophizing over health is a really common thing to do. (My husband had a sore arm once, and he nearly wrote his will on the way to the hospital.)  If I were you, I'd look up what you can online about how to deal with anxieties, specifically anxieties about health. You might be able to figure out why you do it and what possible positive reason you might choose to be this way, and if you want to stop, ways to stop. I don't think you should be treating your medical anxieties as an immutable part of your psyche. If an anxious person believes they will never change, all that does is make the anxieties worse. And I assure you that it is possible to get over anxieties.

Anyway, good luck with the issues you've asked about, it's always good to have a way to check on symptoms. But also, please take your anxiety seriously as a medical issue. It is more serious than skin cysts and bruises.