Anything that affects your hormones can cause breast pain. Some culprits include fertility treatments, hormone replacement therapies, thyroid medications and birth control pills (even switching birth control regimens). These can cause sensitivity, tenderness and swelling because they impact your estrogen levels.
The most common hormonal breast soreness comes from an increase in the level of oestrogen before a period. This causes milk ducts and glands to swell, trapping fluid in the breasts. Many women have tenderness or pain in the lead-up to a period, and sometimes right through it.
Shooting pain in the breast is common, and is often the result of hormonal fluctuations in the body. If a person regularly experiences breast pain before a period, they will often find it disappears on its own when their period begins or ends.
Hormones are making your breasts sore.
Hormonal fluctuations are the number one reason women have breast pain. Breasts become sore three to five days prior to the beginning of a menstrual period and stop hurting after it starts. This is due to a rise in estrogen and progesterone right before your period.
This stage follows a transitional period called perimenopause, where estrogen and progesterone levels in the body fluctuate unpredictably. These hormonal fluctuations commonly cause breast pain. Sore breasts, also known as mastalgia, are also very common during menstruation.
There are two basic types of breast pain – cyclic and non-cyclic.
Menstruation, pregnancy, and breastfeeding are common reasons, but infections and cysts may also cause discomfort. Less commonly, pain may stem from cancer. Many different conditions can cause breast pain. Hormonal shifts, breast infections, and pregnancy may play a role.
Stress and anxiety can also be linked to breast pain. Non-cyclical breast pain may be continuous or it may come and go. It can affect women before and after the menopause. The pain can be in one or both breasts and can affect the whole breast or a specific area.
Use hot or cold compresses on your breasts. Wear a firm support bra, fitted by a professional if possible. Wear a sports bra during exercise, especially when your breasts may be more sensitive. Experiment with relaxation therapy, which can help control the high levels of anxiety associated with severe breast pain.
In general, breast development begins between the ages of 8 and 13. A girl's breasts are typically fully developed by age 17 or 18, however in some cases they can continue to grow into her early twenties.
Breast pains are a common part of the menopause transition, although they are experienced in different ways. For some women, it's an experience of tenderness, burning or soreness as they go through the perimenopause and into the menopause. For others, it's a stabbing, sharp or throbbing pain.
Stimulating, caressing or simply holding breasts sends nerve signals to the brain, which trigger the release of the 'cuddle hormone' called oxytocin, a neurochemical secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland in the brain.
Typical breast cancer, when it is found, also doesn't cause pain. “If a tumor grows big enough that you can feel it, it will feel like a rock in your breast tissue.
While breast pain is definitely a common symptom of early pregnancy, many women experience breast pain before starting their period, too. During early pregnancy (one to two weeks after conception) your breasts might feel sore, tender to the touch, and heavy.
As you reach the age of 40 years and approach perimenopause, hormonal changes will cause changes to your breasts. Besides noting changes in your breasts' size, shape, and elasticity, you might also notice more bumps and lumps. Aging comes with an increased risk of breast cancer.
Women may experience breast pain during puberty, menstruation, premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, menopause, and after childbirth. Breast pain felt during these times is considered normal. Breast pain associated with menstrual periods – called cyclic breast pain – normally goes away on its own.
Gigantomastia or breast hypertrophy is a rare condition that involves developing extremely large breasts due to excessive breast tissue growth. It affects people assigned female at birth. If you have gigantomastia, you'll experience rapid and disproportionate breast growth.
1. Breast Tenderness. Sore breasts are a telltale sign of low estrogen levels and are normal. This is because, during the part of your cycle before your period, estrogen levels decrease naturally.
Ultrasound. An ultrasound exam uses sound waves to produce images of your breasts, and it's often done along with a mammogram. You might need an ultrasound to evaluate a focused area of pain even if the mammogram appears normal.
Breast pain two weeks before your period can occur because of hormone fluctuations, which happen around the middle of your menstrual cycle or when you are ovulating. This can result in breast pain two weeks before your period along with a feeling of heaviness in your breasts.
It often feels like a sharpness, burning, or soreness in one area (or areas) of the breast instead of a generalized feeling of pain and tenderness. This type of mastalgia is more common after menopause. The pain may be constant or it can come and go.
Mild dehydration can cause fluid retention, which may worsen breast pain. Drink more water or eat fruits that can help keep you hydrated.