Breast pain
Many women feel pain in the breast or armpit area. They are concerned that their pain may be caused by breast cancer. However, the feeling of pain in the breast area is not a symptom of breast cancer.
According to a study conducted by the Sutter Health Center in California, 50% -70% of women around the world feel breast tenderness, and the nature of breast pain varies from woman to woman, It may come in some women periodically, which is linked to menstrual cycle, or non-cyclical, and may feel pain in one breast and not both, and may vary pain from one woman to another, the pain is acute in a woman and less acute in others, Many things can cause breast pain.
Causes of unsatisfactory breast pain
There are many reasons why women may feel breast tender, including:
- Hormonal fluctuations: The significant pain in the breast is related to the menstrual cycle and the fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone during which the woman feels the swelling of the breast and some pain before the start of the menstrual cycle by two or three days. The menstrual cycle may stop, and if the woman feels the pain of the breast periodically and related to the menstrual cycle, it is possible that these pains disappear when they reach menopause and the interruption of the menstrual cycle.
- If the breast pain is related to the periodic fluctuations of hormones, the woman will feel pain in both breasts, and may move pain to the armpit area, and perhaps the arms also, and the nature of pain as a feeling of weight and pain, and usually does not require breast pain due to periodic hormonal fluctuations to a cure, A pain reliever such as acetaminophen relieves pain.
- Puberty: Breast pain can be caused by puberty in girls, where breast pain is normal due to changes in the girl’s body during adolescence.
- Pregnancy: Breast pain can be the cause of pregnancy. Pregnant women may experience breast pain during pregnancy, especially during the first three months of pregnancy.
- Breast congestion with breast milk: This occurs in the woman after the birth of the child and fill the breast with milk, which should be discharged milk either by breastfeeding the child or by unloading manually.
- Some medications: There are some types of drugs that can cause a sore or increased pain in the breast, such as ::
- Methyldopa.
- Spironolactone (Spironolactone).
- Some types of diuretics.
- Chlorpromazine (Chlorpromazine).
- Some heart medications.
- Smoking: When smoking increases the epinephrine in the breast, which may cause the woman to feel pain in her breasts.
- Breast size: The large breast can cause non-periodic pain in the breast area of the woman, and it can cause pain in the neck, shoulders and back.
- Non-breast-related causes Breast pain may be unrelated to the breast, caused by the chest, back muscles or arms, and may be the result of women’s sports that may have affected the area around the breast.
- Anxiety and Stress: A woman may feel pain in her breasts as a result of her life pressure, and she is constantly worried.
- Bra: It is possible that an inappropriate bra causes pain in the breast.
- Food: Unhealthy foods that women eat can cause vomiting in the breast, such as high-fat foods.
Causes of pathological breast pain
There are some diseases and health problems that may cause a soreness in the breast, including:
- Mastitis: It is the inflammation of the ducts in women due to infection, where women can feel postpartum severe pain in the breast, and feel burning, itching and cracking of the nipple, and can be accompanied by redness of the breast as well as high body temperature It is also possible to infect women who are not breastfeeding. Breastfeeding often occurs after the baby has been born for 6 to 12 weeks, but may occur during the period of breast-feeding.
- The breast can be inflamed as a result of infection from the baby’s mouth or skin around the breast, or as a result of not emptying the breast well during the baby’s feeding, resulting in obstruction of the milky ducts, milk and breast inflammation. Treatment of breast inflammation is given by the appropriate antibiotic, painkillers such as acetaminophen Acetaminophen or ibuprofen, as well as taking a rest and self-care during breast-feeding, and making sure to empty the breast by learning how to feed the right child.
- Fibrocystic Breast: Some women’s breasts are naturally composed of fibrous cystic tissue, where women feel that their nipples contain many lumps, but these blocks have nothing to do with cancer clusters, and are filled with fluid rather than cells, and so Cystic fibrosis can periodically hurt women as these fibroids increase as the menstrual cycle approaches.
- It is worth mentioning that after any surgery of the breast may cause the scar resulting from surgery Alma even after the healing of the surgical incision.