Breast pain or breast tenderness is a common complaint among women. You might describe your breast pain as chronic tenderness, sharp burning or tightness in your breast tissue. The pain may be constant or it may occur only occasionally.
Some women have severe breast pain, occurring more than five days a month, Severe breast pain may even persist throughout the menstrual cycle. Postmenopausal women sometimes have breast pain, but the symptom is more common in younger, premenopausal women and perimenopausal women.
Make an appointment with your doctor if:
.You have breast pain that persists daily for more than a couple of weeks
.Your breast pain is localized to one specific area of your breast
.Your breast pain seems to be getting worse over time
.Your breast pain interferes with daily activities
Symptoms of Breast Pain
The most common symptoms include related pain in the breast and surrounding area. The other symptoms might include lumps and cyst or blockage ok nipples which would eventually result in pain. Some times breast pain also occurs due to fullness of breast with milk, when the milk produces is not feed to taken out accordingly. The common symptoms are
�Pain
�Sensitivity is increased when touched, or pressure is applied
�Aching feelings
�Discomfort when accompanied by movement
�Soreness in breasts
�Swelling of breasts
�Heaviness
�Discomfort when accompanied by movement
Causes of Breast Pain
Many things can cause pain or tenderness in your breasts. Here are some of them:
.Hormone changes during your period
.Water retention, which may happen during your period
.Injury to your breast
.Pregnancy
.Breast-feeding (nursing)
.An infection in the breast
.Breast cancer (not a usual cause of breast pain)
If you have breast pain that lasts for a long time or keeps coming back, it's probably a good idea to talk to your doctor about it.
Treatments and Home Remedies for Breast Pain
Even though there is little formal research to show the efficacy of these self-care remedies, they help many women manage their breast pain. Some may be worth a try:
. Wear a firm support bra, fitted by a professional if possible.
. Wear a sports bra during exercise and while sleeping, 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.
. Limit or eliminate caffeine.
. Decrease the fat in your diet to less than 20 percent of total calories, which may improve breast pain by altering the fatty acid balance.
. Use a pain reliever (analgesic), such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), to alleviate breast pain.
. Watch your intake of sodium. Sodium increases water retention, which causes your breasts to swell. Be especially careful to keep a cap on your salt consumption starting about two weeks before your period.
. Include soy food such as soybeans, soy milk, soy burgers and other soy products in your diet.
. Fish eating specially the ones with omega 3 fats like the Solomon fish, trout and sardines are highly recommended.
. Mix together cod liver oil, vitamin E, ground bark of white oak and garlic tempered oil to a pasty consistency and apply on sore nipples. This paste will help reduce any inflammation in the breast region.
. Stuff your bra with leaves from the head of a cabbage when your breasts feel tender and painful.
. Brew some tea from red raspberry, and drink it everyday. Red raspberry tea is rich in anti-oxidants and helps prevent cancer.
. Apply warm castor oil on pain effected area, by applying it with a cloth soaked in it and placed on the breast.
. Primrose oil gentle massage has been useful in relieving the breast pain. Rub it in and around the breast, it helps to reduce pain.
. Take flaxseeds with yogurt ( 2-3 spoons) is also very helpful.
. Apply a warm compress for 15-20 minutes on your breast, by using a heated towel or a heating pad to get relief from breast tenderness.
. Take a bag of ice, crushed ice is best, wrap the bag of ice in a towel and place on your breasts.
. Take dandelion in capsule form, or make a tea using powdered dandelion root. Simmer two to three teaspoons of the powder in a cup of water for 15 minutes. Drink three cups a day.
. Use ground flaxseed in your food or drink. Add about 1 tsp. of the ground flaxseed in anything you eat or drink.
. Apply Vitamin E oil to the breasts daily to ease the pain.
. Ginkgo biloba reduces breast pain because it reduces inflammation and increases circulation. It can be taken as a daily supplement.
. You can also take calcium supplements 1200mg per day. This helps in easing breast tenderness.
If you experience severe breast tenderness and soreness, see a doctor immediately. This could be cause for alarm because you may have fibro cysts or breast cancer.
~source:mayoclinic.com~
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