Breast Tenderness Before Period: Why and What to Do

Breast Tenderness Before Period: Why and What to Do

About 7 to 14 days prior to period, women suffer from breast tenderness. The breast tenderness before a period can range from mild discomfort to severe pain and discomfort. This is just one of the symptoms that a women may notice during PMS or Premenstrual Syndrome.

You may notice the pain expand from your breast to your underarm. The naturally changing hormone balance that occurs as women reach menopause may alter the symptom of tender breasts or even eliminate it.

Why Do Breasts Swell Before Period?

There are two hormonal changes that cause breast tenderness before period. As your body produces more estrogen early to mid-cycle, you may have an enlargement of the breast ducts that can cause breast pain.

Around the 21st day of a 28 day cycle, your progesterone peaks as well. This causes the milk glands to increase in size, again causing some breast pain before period.

Benign breast changes, known as fibrocystic breast disease and PMS are both linked to premenstrual breast swelling. Almost all women will experience varying intensities of premenstrual breast tenderness throughout their life.

During the childbearing years, women may experience more severe symptoms. However, if you are on birth control pills you may not notice it as much. You will most likely have breast tenderness during PMS if there is a family history of it, you are eating a diet high in fats, or if you consume too much caffeine.

Should I Worry About Breast Pain Before Period?
Most women will have breast tenderness as an annoying symptom, while others may have a more serious medical condition. The symptoms and severity can fluctuate quite a bit before and during the menstrual cycle. However, most often you will find that breast tenderness before period will disappear once the period begins.

If at any time you have concerns about the changes in your breasts, it is important that you consult your doctor.

When to See a Doctor
Although most breast tenderness is not a symptom of a health concern other than your premenstrual cycle, there are times when you should discuss the swelling and pain with your doctor. Some breast swelling and tenderness could be a warning sign of an underlying health issue or infection.

If you notice any of the following, it is important that you contact your physician:

• Lumps in your breasts that are new, changing, unilateral, or only in one breast


• There is a bloody or brown discharge from the nipples


• The pain interferes with your daily activities such as sleeping and other daily tasks


• The swelling and pain do not improve on their own

Your doctor will perform a complete physical exam of you and your breasts. Your doctor will most likely ask questions to help them better understand your symptoms. Some questions you may be asked include:

• Do you have any nipple discharge?


• Are you experiencing any other symptoms, if so what are they?


• Do you have swelling and pain with each period?

Your doctor will proceed to test for lumps and take notes about the lumps during a breast exam. You may also be asked if you complete home breast exams or if you know how.

Any abnormal changes detected by your doctor will be tested using a mammogram. A mammogram is a diagnostic test that uses an x-ray to view inside the breast. During the test, your breast will be placed between a plastic plate and an x-ray plate so that it can be compressed to get a clear image. You may feel temporary discomfort during the test.

If the abnormalities need to be examined further, your doctor may recommend a biopsy to determine if the lumps are Cancerous.

How to Relieve Breast Tenderness Before Period
Breast pain before period can be relieved by some really simple lifestyle changes. See if the following can help:

1. Support with a Sports Bra
Using sports bra will help ease the breast tenderness before period when it is at its worst. You may even find that wearing the sports bra at night will give them extra support.

2. Mind Your Diet
Eating low fat, low sodium, and high carbohydrate foods has been known to help eliminate some of the tenderness and pain. Reducing the amount of caffeine and alcohol you consume will help as well.

Eating a diet that is rich with greens and vegetables will help you relieve symptoms naturally without any medications, especially vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, collard greens, sweet potatoes, and brown rice.

3. Increase Vitamin E and Magnesium Intake
There are many vitamins and minerals that aid in relieving breast pain during premenstrual syndrome, especially vitamin E and magnesium. The U.S. Department of health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health suggests that women consume more of each during PMS.

Some foods that are high in their vitamin E and magnesium content are:

• Peanuts


• Hazelnuts


• Spinach


• Oat bran


• Bananas


• Brown rice


• Carrots


• Avocados


• Corn, safflower, olive, and canola oils

4. Try Some Herbs
Keeping with the natural relief, there are some herbs that help reduce the breast tenderness before period. You will find that many of these herbs are great steeped as tea and used to replace your caffeinated drinks. One of the best is dandelion tea as it is a diuretic which helps flush excess water from your body reducing the bloating sensation.

Others you may use to get the same effect are rosemary, juniper, and cypress. Evening primrose and chaste berry are great to add to the mix to help reduce the pain.

Along with the herbs, flower essences and essential oils have been found to help aid in reducing pain and breast tenderness before period. You may even want to try some grape seed or almond oil mixed with rosemary massaged directly onto your breasts.

5. Medications
If you are unable to treat the pain, swelling, and tenderness on your own, there are many effective over-the-counter NSAids (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium are a few of the commonly used ones. You may also discover that these relieve cramping as well as relieving breast pain.

If you are not interested in becoming pregnant in the near future and suffer from breast pain, your doctor may prescribe you some form of birth control to aid in premenstrual pain and symptom relief.

Breast Tenderness

Breast Tenderness






Breast pain is one of the frequent problems for women and it keeps them worried. Breast tenderness (mastalgia) and pain are commonly associated with Breast Cancer by many women but in reality it is not the only symptom. Women seek medical advice due to the anxiety it causes to them on account of tenderness in their breasts.

Breast pain and tenderness is not prevalent in men and only few men who have gynaeocomastia or any other hormonal problem will have pain. Actual pain is caused in the breast tissue and many women feel their breasts are heavy and full during the onset of menstrual cycle. It is quite common for any women who are in the premenstrual stage to have little tenderness and heaviness in breast. This is due to the hormonal changes indicating that the body prepares itself for monthly cycle.

Symptoms :

The symptoms of breast pain and tenderness may vary from mild to severe. Almost every woman who has attained puberty will have some pain in their breasts before each monthly period which will settle down after the menstrual cycle. There will be discomfort in the breasts for 2-4 days before menstrual cycle.

Some women will experience “cobble” like feeling when touching their breasts with fingers. This feeling will be more distinctive in the outer areas of the breasts. It is also accompanied with fullness or heaviness of the breast with moderate to heavy pain. However if you have persistent pain on your breasts, you need to consult your doctor.

Normally the ducts present in the breast become enlarged every month due to the secretion of milk glands. The hormone progesterone triggers the breast lobules to get enlarged each month when it reaches the peak secretion in 21st day of the monthly cycle.

Causes :

• Menopause and Menstrual Cycle

For women, breast tenderness and heaviness is felt before each monthly period. They are known symptoms of menstruation cycle. The same hormone estrogen can cause breast tenderness during menopause period.

• Pregnancy

During pregnancy, it is normal for the hormones to reach its peak level which will eventually lead to breast tenderness and swelling. For many women, this heaviness will start just 2-3 weeks after getting pregnant.

• Coffee and other Beverages

Menthylxanthine present in coffee is a chemical which dilates the blood vessel and this may cause breast tenderness. Women who drink lots of coffee and other caffeinated drinks are prone to get breast pain.

• Medications and Contraceptive Pills

To some extent drugs that are given for hormone replacement therapy would cause breast pain and tenderness. Similarly women who take birth control pills are likely to develop moderate breast swelling and pain.

• Fibrocystic Breast

Some changes happen in the breast tissue leading to the development of noncancerous (benign) disease called mammary dysplasia. Increased hormone produced by the ovaries is the reason for tenderness in both the breasts.

• Trauma

Any injury to the breast can cause moderate pain and swelling. It can happen during motor cycle accidents and during sports activities. In case if the pain persists you need to seek medical advice.

Treatment :

Women who have breast pain should wear a good supportive bra of the right size. This is more important while doing exercise and it would certainly help to reduce the soreness. You need to do regular aerobics for getting some relief from the symptoms.

In case of moderate pain you can apply icing on the breasts or apply warm compress alternatively. Hot pads would provide great relief for inflammation and pain on the breasts. If you still have pain, you can take painkiller medications Ibuprofen.

You should make dietary changes for reducing breast swelling and pain. Reduce the salt intake daily since sodium can make the breast tenderness worse. Avoid taking foods rich in sodium content since it has water retaining capacity. Reduce the intake of high fatty foods which would also increase breast pain.

Similarly, reduce sugar consumption which is good for overall health and wellbeing.

In case of severe pain, your doctor may prescribe danazol, or estrogene receptor antagonist pill like tamoxifen or would give a shot of goserelin.

Breast Tenderness – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Breast Tenderness – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Breast Tenderness Symptoms

The most common symptoms of tenderness of the breast include:

• Soreness of the breast


• Swelling of the breast


• Increased sensitivity to touch


• Heavy, dull or aching feelings


• Discomfort when moving


• Pain when sleeping


• Aches

For the majority of women, pain and tenderness of breast can be at its very worst during the 10 years before menopause.

But no matter how old the woman is, this pain and tenderness seems to grow with any stress which is emotional or any periods of prolonged inactivity. Also extreme amounts of fat, caffeine as well as salt seem to have an impact which is negative.

Breast tenderness which does not disappear after 2 weeks could be a symptom of pregnancy. It could also be caused by arthritis of the neck or any injury.

Breast Tenderness Causes

Changes in hormones are the cause which is most frequent of breast tenderness or pain. This is especially true during menopause. During the life time transition, the levels of progesterone and estrogen become very irregular. Dips and spikes in these hormone levels may lead many women to experience breast tenderness.
For many women, breast pain or tenderness is caused by too little or too much estrogen, but for others it is caused by too little progesterone. There is no one specific hormone singled out as the sole contributor to breast discomfort.

You're reading Breast Tenderness – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment posted by minhhai2d, the information is for reference only.

In addition, hormone replacement therapy which is used during menopause can be another cause of breast discomfort. This can explain why so many women on HRT continue to experience tenderness of breast after menopause has ended.

Some rare causes of pain or tenderness of breast include:

• Breast Cancer


• Breast cysts


• Medication used


• Breast trauma


• Breast size


• Prior surgery of the breast


• Mastitis


• Stress


• Alcoholism

Breast Tenderness Treatment

When experiencing pain or tenderness especially prior to the monthly period, the following are recommended for some relief:

Go for a walk
If a woman does not exercise she is most likely to experience monthly discomfort. So a half-hour bike ride or daily walk could start to make a real difference in monthly discomfort.

Good breasts support
This can be accomplished by wearing a good support bra while exercising and often even at night to bed may help take the strain off tender tissues.

Pad the bra
Place some lamb’s wool inside the regular bra. This soft material can send a message of comfort to your brain and pushes out any pain messages.

Pain reliever
Ibuprofen or other over the counter anti-inflammatory pills, 2 tablets 3 times a day, can be all that is needed to keep breast pain or tenderness down.

Chill the chest
Ice packs can help with any throbbing pain. Place a plastic bag filled with ice cubes against the breast for 10 to 15 minutes for some relief.

Imagination
Imagine your breast resting in warm sand. This is a simple visualization exercise which may help an individual unwind, dissolve daily stress and also can program the mind to relieve pain.

Have hormones adjusted
If an individual is on hormone replacement therapy, the problem could be solved by the physician prescribing synthetic progesterone in lower doses to be taken for a few days.

Diet Changes

• Forget about butter.


• High-fiber cereal


• Omit coffee