The feeling of chest pain is familiar to many women. Such pain is the most famous complaint of women during the menstrual cycle. Pain sensations can be seen both in one mammary gland, and in two. Sometimes the pain disappears for several months, and then returns again. Why does breast ache, what are the causes of this phenomenon?
Types of pain in the chest
In many cases, pain occurs for some time before menstruation. However, there are reasons why pain in the mammary glands is completely unrelated to critical days.
Chest pain can be classified into 2 types:
- Cyclic pain that is fully interconnected with critical days. Usually aching chest pain can occur in the second half of the cycle, and a few days before menstruation, these sensations can only intensify.
- Non-cyclic pain in the mammary glands is not associated with critical days, but has completely different causes.
According to statistics, two out of three women suffer from pain sensations that are associated with ongoing processes in the woman’s body during menstruation. And only one has the result of the influence of other diseases, injuries, etc.
cyclic pain
This manifestation of pain is most often observed in women aged thirty to fifty years. Cyclical pain is not recorded in women who are in the period of menopause, when the cessation of menstruation occurs.
Manifestations of pain in the form of slight discomfort some time before the critical days are considered normal. Only in some cases, the process is accompanied by sharp pain, which lasts about 7-14 days. The most difficult moment is the period a few days before the onset of menstruation. At this time, a woman can feel her breast ache before menstruation, and sometimes it swells. With the onset of menstruation, the woman's condition returns to normal.
The main cause of pain is hormonal changes, to which the mammary glands are very sensitive. Cyclic pain sensations are not associated with any disease, so they do not require special help. In case of acute pain, the manifestations can be reduced with the help of painkillers ("Ibuprofen", "Paracetamol") or ointments with an anesthetic effect.
Taking birth control pills containing unnatural hormones can aggravate a woman’s condition and aggravate such pains. Some types of drugs to lower blood pressure have a similar effect.
In the case when conventional drugs do not help in reducing pain, the doctor may prescribe special medications that counteract the release of hormones (Danazol, Tamoxifen). Such treatment can reduce the level of the hormone estrogen, so it should be constant. Drugs can cause many side effects, and a doctor can prescribe them in case of acute pain as a last resort.
Non-cyclic types of pain
Pain of this nature can occur continuously or periodically. Pain of this kind have no connection with hormonal changes, and usually occur in women between the ages of forty years. When a woman’s breast is aching, the factors causing this condition can be the following:
- mastopathy
- inflammatory processes, infections;
- breast cancer
- possible structural disorders of the chest;
- chest muscle sprain.
Before prescribing treatment, a woman undergoes an examination that helps to identify the exact cause of the pain.
Sore and aching breast during pregnancy
The main cause of breast pain during pregnancy is the increase in the glandular cells that will perform the functions of the allocation of milk.
From the first days of pregnancy, a woman's breast becomes sensitive, and in some cases painful. The appearance of chest pain and an increase in its size is one of the signs of a pregnancy.
All rearrangements taking place in the mammary glands require activation of the blood circulation process. Chest fills with blood, and a tendency to accumulate in the body fluid during pregnancy causes, respectively, swelling and pain.
During pregnancy, a frequent phenomenon is chest pain. The mammary gland is usually aching at everyone, but these sensations pass by the end of the first trimester (10-12 week). A significant increase and tingling sensation in the chest of a woman is felt at the 20th week of pregnancy. This is due to the preparation of the mammary glands for the birth of the baby and the upcoming lactation. The ongoing processes do not cause severe pain. In the event of such sensations in a woman's breasts definitely need to seek help from a gynecologist to rule out processes that are not related to pregnancy.
If there are any signs, should a woman consult a doctor?
A woman should make an appointment with the doctor if the following manifestations are present:
- the feeling that aching breasts persists after the onset of menstruation;
- pain in the form of burning and squeezing;
- pain is localized in one part of the chest;
- pain does not stop, but intensifies over time;
- in addition to pain, nodes are felt in the chest or its deformation, redness of the mammary glands, the occurrence of elevated temperature;
- pain in a woman is observed continuously for two weeks;
- pain prevents her from doing everyday activities, causing insomnia and irritation.
At the doctor
You should see a doctor in case of persistent pain in the mammary glands. If the doctor does not find any seals, then a further examination may not be necessary. For women over 40, a specialist usually recommends a mammogram. If during the examination will be detected seal, in this case, a biopsy (the study of tissue under a microscope particle).
Treatment will depend entirely on the causes that caused this pain and the result of the examination. When the chest hurts and achs, such sensations can cause various diseases, one of which is mastopathy.
What it is?
Mastopathy is a disease in which fibrocystic growths form in the chest. According to statistics, about 75-80% of women under age 40 have the disease of breast, under the general title "breast."
The disease is widespread. In women with mastopathy, the risk of breast cancer increases by 3-5 times.
Causes of occurrence
Hormonal disorders in a woman can occur for the following reasons:
- disturbances in the liver;
- cessation of feeding the baby with sufficient lactation;
- irregular sexual relations;
- ovarian disease;
- thyroid disease;
- stressful situations;
- pathological condition of the pituitary gland.
All these reasons affect the hormonal background of a woman, which leads to the occurrence of mastopathy. There is no genetic predisposition to it.
An imbalance of hormones manifests itself with a change in the levels of estrogen and progesterone.
Such an imbalance occurs in all women who gave birth little or did not give birth at all. Breast does not appear suddenly, within a few years in the breast lesions appear and grow epithelial tissue in violation of physiological processes. They squeezed ducts, preventing normal outflow of secretion in them and distort the lobules of the mammary glands.
When mastitis in women there is a feeling that chest ache and feeling of fullness and squeezing in the mammary gland. In addition, nausea, lack of appetite, and abdominal pain may be present. The disease requires constant monitoring by a doctor and systematic treatment.
Why does breast ache and how to help myself?
When a problem arises constantly before the start of a cycle, nothing can be done here. You can prepare and purchase underwear, the size of which is designed for increased breast size. This must be done necessarily, because squeezing negatively affects the mammary glands.
If you suspect a pregnancy, a woman must be sure to contact your gynecologist to confirm or refute their hypothesis.
Women should constantly examine their breasts to detect the appearance of lumps or nodules. In case of detection of possible pathologies, it is better to make an appointment with the doctor to exclude oncology.
Medicines for this symptom are not prescribed, so a woman needs to learn how to live with this.
Doctors do not recommend women to self-medicate. The use of various alcohol compresses and warming the chest can have a negative effect on the whole body.
All drugs should be prescribed by a specialist after examining a woman's breast and taking into account her condition.