What is breast pain ?

Posted on November 19, 2013 by john in Health care

Breast pain, also called mastalgia, is one of the most common reasons for visits to the gynecologist, especially in young women. There are two basic types of breast pain :

The cyclical breast pain : appears a few days before menstruation and usually bilateral, ie affecting both breasts.
Breast pain unrelated to menstrual cycle : usually affects only one breast and even a very delimited from it.

Cyclical breast pain

Breast pain that occurs before the period, also called premenstrual breast tenderness is very common, in fact, affects more or less half of women of childbearing age.

It is characterized appears between 5 and 7 days before menstruation and with it the pain diminishes or disappears. Breast pain from this cause is repeated cyclically with each menstrual period. It is a pain of varying intensity, which can range from mild discomfort or feeling of ” tension” severe pain. It usually affects both breasts, although it may be more intense in one than in another, often hurt more superior and external areas of the breasts, even to the underarm area.

Sometimes the pain is accompanied by pain in the lower abdomen, headache, feeling of increased volume and even body weight gain due to fluid retention and changes in the character of women, such as irritability, nervousness, crying easily, etc. This whole set of symptoms called premenstrual tension syndrome.

This type of breast pain is not due to any injury or disease of the breast but seems to be related to the changes that occur in the breast by the action of the female sex hormones ( estrogen and progesterone).

Normally, to diagnose breast tension syndrome is usually sufficient that the gynecologist perform a physical examination of the breasts. In this examination the gynecologist will encounter a mammary gland tense and pressure-sensitive, especially in the premenstrual phase. Mammography is performed only if the woman’s age or physical examination findings so warrant.

Many women with this type of breast pain do not require any treatment because it is not a disease. However, there are a number of measures that can help to alleviate or ameliorate this type of pain, such as:

Some doctors recommend the use of dietary supplementation with evening primrose oil or evening primrose.

If the pain is important you can resort to drug treatments, which must be prescribed by your gynecologist.

Use fasteners without hoops.
During the breast tenderness, follow a diet low in salt and fat and eating no food or drinks such as coffee, tea, cola drinks and chocolate.

Non-cyclical breast pain

This is breast pain that is not related to the menstrual cycle and can be continuous or appear intermittently and randomly throughout the cycle.

There are many benign processes that can cause breast pain :

A big breasts can, by its own weight, causing pain, sometimes radiating to the shoulders and back.
Fibrocystic call is the most common benign condition of the breast and is a series of changes that occur in benign breast tissue. It is accompanied by pain and induration or nodules in the breast examination.
The call fibroadenoma is the most common benign tumor of the breast. Although by itself does not cause pain, it can be accompanied by changes in previous fibrocystic disease.
Trauma to the breast can also cause pain.
Mastitis or breast inflammation causes pain, redness and warmth in the affected breast.

Types of Breast pain

Breast cancer requires special consideration. Only between 10% and 30% of all breast cancers are manifested by pain, which is often mild.

Finally, do not forget that other parts of the body that are near the breasts can cause pain and this can be confused with breast pain. The pain of the muscles of the chest or ribs or even cervical or dorsal spine may be reflected in the breasts. In these cases, it is advisable to seek medical advice.