If you’ve noticed a lump near your armpit and have taken a covid vaccine recently, don’t panic or rush to book a mammography, say experts. It could just be a temporary side effect of the covid vaccine.
The Society of Breast Imaging (SBI), USA, has warned that women who have received the covid vaccine may develop a swelling in the lymph nodes of their armpit, which could be mistaken as a sign of breast cancer, reports Health.
In the statement, the SBI warns that the vaccine can cause axillary adenopathy, i.e. a change in the size and consistency of lymph nodes in the armpit.
According to the Centre For Disease Control, USA, these are the common side effects one can expect after receiving the covid vaccine.
Axillary adenopathy is usually seen as a sign of breast cancer having spread.
Although it is rarely reported as a side effect of other vaccinations, the statement also says, “higher rates of axillary adenopathy have been reported with administration of both COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized for emergency use by the US FDA: Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.”
This side effect was found to be rarer in the case of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
In both cases, Lymphadenopathy occurred in the arm and neck within 2-4 days of vaccination and lasted for about 10 days.
For this reason, the Society of Breast Imaging recommends that women postpone any mammography scheduled within four weeks after their final COVID-19 shot.
According to WebMD, Swelling and tenderness of lymph nodes after vaccination isn’t just restricted to women but can occur in men too.
Lymph nodes are your immune system’s first line of defence.
When trying to filter out bad cells, lymph nodes around an injury or infection may swell up. And, while lymph node swelling is usually a sign of an infection, it can also be a sign of cancer.
Because lymph nodes kick into action when they come across foreign cells that they perceive as ‘bad’, they can sometimes swell up in response to certain vaccines.
Women who find a swollen lymph node in the armpit should not automatically suspect breast cancer, but there are other telling signs of breast cancer that you mustn’t ignore. According to the CDC these are,
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