Why are your breasts hot before your period? Chest pain before menstruation. Reasons for concern

The occurrence of discomfort and painful discomfort in the chest before the onset of menstruation is most often normal. According to statistics, this problem is familiar to about 40% of the fairer sex of reproductive age. You should understand why breasts hurt before menstruation and what are the most common reasons Doctors call this condition.

The feeling of pain in the mammary glands a few days before menstruation is called mastodynia in medical terms. This manifestation is not pathological, as it occurs due to the proliferation of glandular tissue.

In the second phase monthly cycle The egg, ready for fertilization, is released from the follicle. This happens on average on the 12th day. During this period, rapid production of estrogen begins, which causes chest pain before menstruation.

The tissue of a woman’s mammary glands has a structure of lobules, which in turn consists of adipose and connective tissue and has a milk duct. Estrogen is located precisely in the fatty space; accordingly, with an increase in hormone production, the quantitative content of adipose tissue also increases. The mammary glands also prepare the body for the expected production of milk. The synthesis of the hormones progesterone and prolactin leads to slight swelling and engorgement of the breast, and its sensitivity significantly increases. This is why chest pain occurs before menstruation.

Breast pain before period

Chest pain in a woman can be expressed in different ways. Their intensity is influenced by a number of factors, including:

woman's age;
general health;
the lifestyle a woman leads.

And if your breasts hurt a lot before menstruation, then normally the discomfort disappears in the first days of menstruation.

If it increases and swells

Enlargement and swelling of the mammary glands before menstruation is normal. If the pain is unbearable, or a woman discovers a lump in her breast before her period, she needs to go to the doctor.

In some cases, the appearance of pain may indicate problems at work. reproductive system, for example, the ovaries, or a serious hormonal disorder.

What to do?

If your breasts become engorged before your period, but this condition is common for a girl or woman and does not cause any particular discomfort, then there is no reason to worry. But if pain persists, you should immediately consult a doctor.

A woman should pay attention to chest pain in combination with a violation menstrual cycle. If the process does not proceed as usual, this is also a reason to go for a medical consultation.

How to reduce pain?

How many days your breasts hurt before your period may depend on various factors.

To eliminate or at least reduce discomfort, it is recommended to follow these tips:

follow a diet in the second half of the cycle, giving up salty, fatty and large quantity liquids;
wear loose clothes, does not tighten or compress the mammary glands.

If a woman understands why her breasts hurt a week before her period and wants to get rid of the discomfort, she can take herbal remedies that have soothing and anti-inflammatory effects.

Useful herbs include:

series;
Tartar;
dandelion root;
St. John's wort;
celandine.

If your chest constantly hurts 2 weeks before your period or a week before, you should first prevent hypothermia, and also try to avoid stressful situations.

Risk factors

When asking why breasts hurt a lot before menstruation, a woman should be aware of symptoms that are normal.

The following symptoms should not cause concern:

engorgement and swelling of the mammary glands;
increasing their sensitivity;
engorgement of nipples;
pain when wearing tight underwear;
pain when pressing on the glands from the side;
increase in breast volume.

Important: these symptoms may also indicate pregnancy. If such manifestations are combined with a delay in menstruation, it is necessary to do this.

But chest pain before menstruation can be the cause of serious illnesses, for example:

malignant or benign formations;
infectious diseases of the mammary glands;
mastitis;
mastopathy;
traumatic effect on the chest.

The following symptoms may indicate the presence of problems and the need to immediately consult a doctor:

discharge from the nipples of the mammary gland;
pain combined with spasms;
pain in one breast;
change in breast skin color;
the appearance of palpable lumps in the mammary gland.

If your breasts hurt very badly before menstruation, mastopathy should be ruled out. The diagnosis is made only by a gynecologist or mammologist after an examination.

In the presence of characteristic symptoms a woman is prescribed:

Ultrasound of the mammary glands;
mammography;
radiometric examination;
cytological examination in the presence of discharge from the breast.

- a benign breast disease that carries. The pain is combined with the presence of lumps and nodules in the mammary gland, which cause pain when palpated.

Sudden cessation of pain

If a woman usually had breast pain before menstruation, but at one point there was no pain, this leads to anxiety.

Possible reasons for the lack of pain are as follows:

Conception that occurred. Most often it causes an increase in breast sensitivity, but in some cases in women the pain disappears completely. The reason is a change in the hormonal balance in the body.
Active sex life. Regular sex can lead to the complete disappearance of chest pain before menstruation.
Taking certain medications. The doctor's prescription of hormonal medications causes changes in hormonal levels, and the mammary glands may not hurt.
The onset of menopause. After 40 years, a woman begins the period of premenopause, when the body loses the ability to reproduce, that is, conceive and bear a child. In most cases, menstrual flow becomes noticeable and pain in the mammary glands disappears approximately three years before the onset of menopause.

If there was pain, but no menstruation

No less exciting is the situation when your chest hurts, your period is about to come, but has not started.

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for chest pain before or during menstruation.

If pain is not a pathology, the following remedies will help alleviate the condition:

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
Taking magnesium before the onset of menstruation can help avoid severe pain;
Hormonal birth control pills can prevent painful breast swelling, but some may cause more pain as a side effect.

You should not self-medicate, medicines have their own indications and contraindications. Therefore, it is better to consult a doctor before taking it.

Chest pain can be normal or indicate pathological processes in the body. To avoid the development of diseases, it is important to conduct a self-examination, and if you suspect pathology, immediately go to the doctor. It is recommended to visit a gynecologist and mammologist at least once a year.

Video about the causes of chest pain

A few days before the onset of menstruation is a very common phenomenon. According to some data, more than 40% of women of childbearing age are susceptible to it. Let's figure out why breasts hurt before menstruation and how normal this is.

A healthy woman's menstrual cycle is usually 28 to 30 days. In the middle of each such cycle, ovulation occurs, that is, the release of an egg from the ovary. This process involves fertilization of a mature egg. By the way, sometimes ovulation may not occur for one or two months. This is not considered a deviation from the norm.

From all of the above, it follows that a woman’s body prepares for pregnancy every month. The mammary glands are very sensitive to all changes occurring in it. Before ovulation, breast sensitivity increases sharply (even a slight touch to the nipples can cause physical discomfort and pain), it increases in size due to the proliferation of glandular tissue. If your breasts hurt very much before your period, you should consult a specialist, since the occurrence of pain may be evidence of a violation of the proper functioning of the ovaries, the presence of any diseases of the female reproductive system, or hormonal imbalance of the body.

Many women experience chest and lower abdomen pain before menstruation begins. In this case, you should pay attention to the nature and severity of the pain. The appearance of a feeling of discomfort and nagging pain in the lower abdomen may be associated with the development of a disease such as ovarian cystosis. In some cases, nagging pain in the lower abdomen is a sign of the attachment of a fertilized egg to the uterine wall. Therefore, when it appears, you should do a test to determine pregnancy.

The appearance before the onset of menstruation is called mastodynia. It is most often associated with the proliferation of glandular tissue of the mammary glands. If this phenomenon does not bother the woman, does not bring her any particular feeling of discomfort, and, as a rule, there is no reason for worry. This physiological condition is most often observed in women, who are more often exposed to stress and nervous strain. If your breasts hurt before your period, and the pain does not go away even after it starts, it is also recommended to visit a doctor.

The appearance of pain in the mammary glands a few days before the onset of menstruation is very often associated with a violation of the hormonal balance of the body. Normally, with the correct ratio in a woman’s body, particularly severe chest pain, as a rule, is not observed.

Which specialists should you contact if your breasts hurt before your period?

Treatment of diseases of the mammary glands is usually carried out by a mammologist. You should contact this specialist if you notice any signs of breast disease: ball-shaped lumps in the area of the mammary glands, especially under the armpits, bloody or purulent discharge from nipples, cracked nipples, etc. If such symptoms are not observed, it is best to contact a gynecologist, who will promptly determine the cause of the ailment or refer him for examination to a mammologist. Usually, to determine the exact cause of chest pain, tests and an ultrasound examination of the breast and pelvic organs are necessary. In some cases, it is necessary to donate blood to be tested for a tumor marker, which can be used to determine the risk of developing cancer of the female reproductive system in each specific case.

So, we have learned that the appearance can be either a normal physiological state of the body or a deviation in its functioning. In any case, do not panic. Only a doctor can determine the exact cause of this symptom. Therefore, even if all your girlfriends complain that their breasts hurt before menstruation, and consider such a symptom to be the norm, it is still recommended to visit a specialist. So, just in case...

One of the organs of the female body that reacts to any changes in hormonal levels is the breast. Moreover, it can change in size and density + on top of that, sometimes the chest hurts before menstruation. This is due to the fact that after ovulation, before menstruation, the mammary glands hurt and increase in size, but by the end of the cycle their size and performance are restored. Quite often a woman may feel discomfort and inconvenience.

A third of women feel frightening unpleasant sensations, and every fourth also notes pain. Many people are frightened by such phenomena, and they think about the presence of the disease in the body, and begin to find out the reason why their breasts hurt before menstruation. In gynecology, this phenomenon is called mastodynia or mastalgia. Modern woman must know the structure and processes occurring in the body. In them lies the answer to the question of why there are such sensations before menstruation.

Such chest pain before menstruation can be of a completely different nature. For some people, before menstruation, their breasts do not hurt all the time, sometimes severely, sometimes not so much. Some people have pain in one mammary gland. Sometimes quite severe pain occurs, but gradually it develops into aching and dull or remains in one chest. Everyone should know why breasts hurt before menstruation in order to understand their condition.

Pain sensations in each female body are unique; they completely depend on the individual structure of the body. Before the discharge begins, quite often, along with discomfort in the mammary glands, pain appears in the lower abdomen.

Also, the breasts hurt and begin to enlarge (before menstruation). This always results from the fact that female body At a natural level, it prepares for feeding. Discomfort is often expressed as:

skin roughness;
coarsening;
soreness in the chest area;
increased sensitivity;
compaction of glands.

If the reasons listed are not too noticeable, then there is no reason to worry. Fertilization does not occur, the discharge ends, and the condition returns to normal.

But sometimes such a condition, when corresponding chest pain is observed, indicates the presence of various pathologies. In this case, the disease will require treatment and consultation with a gynecologist.

My breasts hurt a lot before my period, but I still don’t have them...

What should cause concern is when your breasts hurt, your period is expected to begin, but your period never appears. The reasons for this may be certain circumstances:

There are many reasons that can cause pain and swelling of the mammary glands. A professional doctor can help you understand the condition of your body. You should not delay your visit to the hospital and wait until the illness goes away on its own. At the appointment, the doctor will prescribe the necessary tests and examinations that will help to identify the causes of the condition as accurately as possible in order to provide high-quality treatment, if necessary.

What to do if a woman has breast pain before her period?

Sometimes women's glands hurt very badly before menstruation, causing spasms that radiate pain to the back. This is abnormal and indicates pathology. Also a sign of anxiety is the appearance of discomfort and pain a week before your period.

It is necessary to urgently go to the doctor, because this condition may mean:

gynecological diseases;
development of mastopathy;
hormonal disbalance;
dysfunction of the ovaries.

If you experience nipple discharge during pain, you should definitely consult a mammologist. Such symptoms require certain studies and diagnosis for quick and effective treatment.

To establish the reasons, the following must be prescribed:

hormonal blood tests;
tests for tumor markers.

In addition to laboratory tests, you will need to conduct a series of ultrasounds to help exclude all possible causes. All these examinations will need to be completed to make sure that the pain is the individual characteristics of a particular organism, and not a rather serious pathology.

Possible therapy

There are no special remedies that will help reduce pain before menstruation. Only a doctor can tell you the right option on what to do if your chest hurts badly. For severe pain, the following may help:

Anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs.
A course of magnesium can help relieve severe pain and other unpleasant syndromes before the start of a cycle, which should be started approximately 2 weeks in advance.
Specific oral contraceptives can help reduce swelling and tenderness in the breasts.
It is worth noting that taking any medications should be done under the supervision of a doctor and more serious causes of this condition should be excluded.
Wearing sports bras that will support the breasts and reduce discomfort can also help in certain situations.

If the cause of the pain is a certain disease, then do not hesitate. Treatment should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor to eliminate all side effects.

Minor discomfort and pain in the chest before menstruation is a completely normal natural phenomenon, if it does not cause severe inconvenience for the woman. After the female mammary glands react to ovulation and the onset of menstruation, all sensations disappear, and the size of the glands returns to normal. How long it takes for everything to return to normal depends on the individual.

Understanding how your breasts hurt before menstruation is important in order to promptly understand the presence of another more serious pathology. If your breasts hurt and you don’t have your period, you should seek medical help. Sometimes, due to your carelessness, you can miss a rather complex disease.

Breast tenderness before the onset of menstruation worries many women. Some of them hardly notice it, others suffer from severe pain, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of life. Why does the chest hurt, and how to deal with it?

Why do my breasts hurt before menstruation?

Pain in the mammary glands a few days before the onset of the menstrual cycle is also called mastodynia. This condition is a variant of the norm. Often its occurrence is explained by the fact that the glandular tissue of the breast grows. This happens because before the mature egg is released from the follicle, a sharp production of estrogen occurs, so the body prepares for conception. These hormones affect the condition of the mammary glands. They are characterized by a lobed tissue structure. All lobes consist of milk ducts, connective, glandular and adipose tissue. The latter produces estrogen hormones, an increase in the content of which leads to an increase in the amount of adipose tissue. In addition, glandular tissue increases, thus preparing for lactation.

The hormones progesterone and prolactin affect the mammary gland in such a way that they become engorged and swollen, become more sensitive, and therefore pain occurs. In most cases, this physiological condition appears as a result of stressful situations and psycho-emotional stress that the woman experienced.

The intensity of painful sensations is expressed differently for each representative of the fairer sex. This depends on many factors that affect hormonal levels. Such factors include age, individual characteristics of the body, the lifestyle a woman leads, and much more.

Typically, breast pain is felt about 10 days before the start of the menstrual cycle. When menstruation comes, that is, conception does not occur, she retreats.

Other causes of breast pain before menstruation

It happens that chest pain is caused not by physiological factors, but by other, more serious pathological conditions.

Non-dangerous causes of pain in the mammary glands include muscle strains. This can happen, for example, due to increased physical activity(carrying heavy objects in hands for a long time, intense sports training etc.).

Reasons that pose a greater threat to women's health may be as follows:

Changes in hormone levels. Any hormonal imbalance can cause dangerous consequences and malfunctions in the functioning of all internal organs.
Gynecological diseases. Often lead to violations hormonal levels. In some cases, they may represent an independent cause of breast pain.
Inflammation of the mammary glands or nearby organs.
Breast diseases. They can be caused by many reasons, be accompanied by different symptoms and occur in different ways. The most common disease that causes pain in the chest is mastopathy.
Benign or malignant tumors. Both of them are capable of causing pain in any phase of the cycle, in particular before the onset of menstrual periods.

In what cases is chest pain considered a disease?

Any woman, regardless of age, is obliged to take care of her own breasts, since the mammary glands are very often susceptible to the development of cancer.

The nature and severity of painful sensations can tell you that a pathogenic process is developing in the body. For example, if the pain syndrome before menstruation has changed, become stronger, or began to occur on other days of the cycle, you need to be wary and closely monitor everything that is happening in the body, and visit a competent doctor.

Women who are at risk should pay special attention to all pain in the mammary glands, that is, those who:

There have been induced or spontaneous abortions in the past.
There is instability of the menstrual cycle, or a complete absence of menstruation.
There is a hereditary predisposition to various diseases of the mammary glands.
Who for a long time takes oral contraceptives and hormone-containing medications for therapeutic purposes.
Who abuses fatty and fried foods, sweet products, fast food, cigarettes.

If a woman who is aware of the nature of painful sensations in the breasts before menstruation notices any changes in this condition, she should visit a doctor. A mild, slightly aching pain is considered normal.

Symptoms at which you should be wary and suspect the development of diseases:

pain in only one breast;
hardened nipples and the appearance of discharge from them;
the pain syndrome has a wave-like character;
compaction formation;
chest cramps;
severe, unbearable pain that prevents you from leading a normal life.

It should be noted that pain and hypersensitivity of the breast can increase significantly if pregnancy occurs. Immediately after fertilization, the susceptibility of the nipples to various mechanical influences increases. Such signs may appear even before your period is missed.

If this phenomenon does not affect the woman in any way and does not cause serious inconvenience, there is no reason to worry. If the pain does not go away even after your period has arrived, you need to consult a doctor, because this represents a deviation from the norm.

In this situation, the causes of pain are usually various factors (gynecological diseases, stress and nervous tension, hormonal imbalance, colds, oncology).

The reason for concern in case of pain in the mammary glands should be a radical change in the menstrual cycle. For example, previously, before the onset of the critical days, no particular pain in the chest was observed, or, on the contrary, it was precisely by such painful sensations that one could determine the approaching onset of menstruation - both options are considered normal. And if a woman notices that the cycle is not proceeding as before, and this is repeated for several months in a row, in this case it is necessary to visit a doctor. A doctor’s consultation will also be required in a situation where the usual symptoms in the form of engorged and painful breasts are not observed. This is due to a decrease in progesterone production, which has a detrimental effect on the ability to become pregnant and give birth to a healthy child.

To exclude the presence of pathology, you should be examined by a gynecologist once every six months, and once a year by a mammologist. In addition, it is recommended to self-examine your breasts monthly. To do this, you need to pick up each breast in turn with one hand, and use the other to check the condition of the breast using palpating movements. If during this procedure lumps or discharge of blood with pus from the nipples are detected, it is necessary to visit a mammologist as soon as possible. It is necessary to promptly detect and eliminate changes that occur in the mammary gland. The treatment will be selected by the doctor; it is individual for each specific patient.

To establish the cause of painful sensations in the chest before critical days, the following diagnostic procedures will be prescribed:

Hormone testing.
Test for tumor markers.
Ultrasound examination of the breast and pelvic organs.

How to relieve chest pain

To reduce pain in the mammary gland before menstruation, you need to approach this issue comprehensively. Activities that will help cope with the problem should first of all include dietary adjustments in the second half of the cycle. It is recommended to limit the consumption of salty and fatty foods, drink less liquid, give up strong tea and coffee, alcoholic drinks. In addition, at this time you should not wear tight, tight-fitting clothes that squeeze the chest. It would be a good idea to consult a doctor. He may recommend taking magnesium-containing drugs, hormonal contraceptives, as well as herbal remedies in the second phase of the cycle to help avoid the occurrence of mastodynia.

Good for breast soreness before menstruation folk remedies. For these purposes they use healing fees, containing plants such as peony, cinquefoil, nettle, string, celandine, tartar, dandelion. In addition, you can use the following recipes traditional medicine:

Vegetable compress. Grind medium beets using a grater, add a little honey. Take a cabbage leaf, beat it off, put the prepared mixture on it and apply it to the sore spot. Cover the top with plastic and wrap it up. The product not only reduces pain, but also helps get rid of lumps in the mammary gland.
Flaxseeds. They have a beneficial effect on hormonal levels, eliminating imbalances. To improve the condition and reduce breast soreness, you should grind flaxseeds. Take the resulting powder one tablespoon twice a day with a drink. big amount liquids.

To relieve pain, you can use analgesics. Drugs such as Ibuprofen and Aspirin provide good pain relief. However, drugs of this effect should be used only in cases where the pain syndrome becomes very severe.

It must be remembered that the use of any medicine is fraught with the occurrence of various side effects. In addition, each drug has certain contraindications. For this reason, you should consult your doctor before using them.

Prevention against the appearance of painful sensations in the chest before menstruation is protection from stressful situations and hypothermia. In addition, you should avoid compressive underwear, which leads to poor circulation and compression of blood vessels and lymph nodes. If you have breast tenderness, you can wear sports bras that do not put pressure on the mammary glands, but provide support.

Even if such a condition occurs, you should not try to treat it yourself. If a woman is bothered by chest pain, the first thing she should do is see a doctor.

Video: why your breasts hurt before your period

What part do you think female body attracts men's attention first? That's right, breasts. Women with small breasts dream of enlarging them. Owners of too curvy figures sigh under their weight. And without exception, all representatives of the fair sex know how sometimes the mammary glands hurt in different situations of a woman’s difficult life. Well, let's devote today's article to this problem. Let's talk about why breasts swell, enlarge and hurt before menstruation.

Why do breasts hurt before menstruation, the gynecologist's answer

To find out why chest pain occurs before menstruation and what is associated with it, it is best to consult a specialist. This means our path lies in the antenatal clinic, where we have been accepting and treating women and girls for many years different ages wonderful gynecologist Ivanova Olga Viktorovna. We turned to her with the question of why my breasts swell and hurt before menstruation. And this is what she told us:

The phenomenon of chest pain before menstruation occurs in 95% of women and girls. For some they are almost unnoticeable, but for others they are so strong that they simply unsettle everyday life. This is due to the fact that in the second phase of the menstrual cycle, when a mature and ready-for-fertilization egg is about to leave the follicle, there is a surge in the female sex hormones estrogen. Chief among them are prolactin and progesterone. So they affect the condition of all female organs, including the mammary glands.

Olga Viktorovna, what is the work of female sex hormones in this case? Why do breasts hurt just before menstruation?

As I already said, approximately on the 12th – 14th day of the cycle, the production of estrogen sharply increases. The tissue of the mammary glands has a lobular structure. And each lobule consists of glandular, adipose and connective tissue and has a duct for milk. Fatty tissue is the site of estrogen localization. Consequently, when their number increases, the volume of adipose tissue also increases. At this time, the glandular areas begin to prepare for milk production. This means that they become a little larger. In a word, under the influence of progesterone and prolactin, breasts become hard, enlarged and become quite sensitive. This leads to pain.

How long does your chest hurt before your period?

It all depends on each specific case. But, generally speaking, about 10-12 days. And as soon as menstruation begins, the pain immediately stops.

Well, okay, we found out why the breasts hurt before menstruation. But something needs to be done about this phenomenon; no one wants to endure pain. What advice can you give in this regard?

If your breasts do not hurt very much before your period, then nothing should be done. You just have to be patient and wait. We women are resilient; childbirth, for example, is much more painful, but we endure. But if your breasts begin to hurt severely before your period, you should consult a doctor. It is possible that the girl had a minor hormonal imbalance, or she recently caught a cold, or was overtired at work, anything can happen. Chest pain before menstruation can intensify for many reasons. It is important to identify and eliminate them. How, this is decided by the doctor in each specific case, because each of us is individual. And what works for one woman may be disastrous for another.

Olga Viktorovna, one more question. Many women are afraid of chest pain before menstruation, considering it a sign of cancer. Are they right?

No, of course, increased sensitivity of the mammary glands before menstruation does not at all indicate the presence of any disease, especially cancer. But to be completely sure of this, a woman should visit a gynecologist at least once a year and conduct an independent examination of the mammary glands once a month. This is done simply. Grab your chest from below with the same hand (left breast with your left, and right breast with your right). And with the second hand, with the pads of the index, middle and ring finger, with progressive, spiral-shaped movements, palpate the breast from its base to the nipple. If nothing tight or painful is found under your fingers, you are healthy. Well, if you find something suspicious, go to the doctor and find out what it is.

Well, well, Olga Viktorovna, thanks a lot to you for a detailed conversation. We wish all women good health.