Breast pain is also known as mastalgia in medical circles. The word itself derives from Greek words masto and algos, whose meanings are breast and pain. Almost 70% of female population all over the world has experienced the pain in the breasts. The pain might not be bothersome for some, but there are a number of patients experiencing very severe and intense breast pain.
Doctors differentiate two types of breast pain: cyclic and non-cyclic. More common type is cyclic pain, while patients who had breast biopsy or some sort of breast trauma may suffer from non-cyclic breast discomfort andpain.
Know the Symptoms of Breast Pain
Cyclic breast pain is normally linked to menstruation, and women at the age group of 20 to 30 are the most common patients. However, this condition is known to emerge also in women over 40 years of age, because of the perimenopause. This type of breast pain is characterized as heavy and dull and normally affects the upper part of the breasts and then spreads to the underarms. It is felt as the worst during the first day or two of the menstrual period and then it is known to subside.
Non-cyclic pain is usually sensed as tight and burning sore, and many women feel the pain localized at one specific spot. In some cases it can spread and affect the whole breasts, being either a transient or a constant condition. This pain has nothing to do with the menstruation and is more common among women older than 40 years.
What Can Provoke Breast Pain
Size of your breast can cause some unwanted effects, including the non-cyclic pain in your breasts, neck, shoulders or your back. Hormones are the factor blamed for cyclic breast pain, especially during menstrual period or in and after the pregnancy. Retention of water, so common during the menstruation, is yet another reason why many women feel breast pain. Imbalance of fatty acids in the body can also be blamed for breast pain. In fact, if there is an imbalance of fatty acids in the body, your breasts are more sensitive to many hormones and may become very painful at times. Many herbalists recommend primrose oil to solve that problem.
Different breast cysts, surgeries or traumas to that part of the body are also known to cause breast pain. Various bacterial infections can also provoke pain in the breasts, as well as some medications such as birth control pills, antidepressants or hormone therapy. Gaining some extra weight or wearing a bra that doesn’t fit you or even the breast cancer are also possible causes of the breast pain.
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