Live Life Team
Cyclical breast pain is also called cyclical mastalgia, refers to pain which radiates from the upper outer breast area to the armpits. This affects usually pre-menopausal women as it is linked to monthly periods. Cyclical breast pain is a symptom and is unrelated to cancer of the breast or other serious breast ailments.
Some of the cyclical breast pain symptoms include:
- Pain in the outer, upper area of breasts.
- Pain that radiates from breast to armpits.
- Cyclic pain, that is pain that occurs every month at the same time (1 to 3 days before a menstrual cycle).
- Breast pain that gets better with the end of the menstrual cycle.
- Breast tenderness along with some lumpiness and swelling.
It is advisable to meet with your general practitioner if along with breast pain, you have:
- Lump in the breast or under arms.
- Discharge from nipple or lump.
- Family history of cancer of the breast.
- Redness or swelling in the breast.
- Pregnancy symptoms like a missed period.
If the breast pain you experience continues through the menstrual cycle or it has additional symptoms, it cannot be cyclical breast pain. Under these conditions, it is advisable to meet with your general practitioner for further diagnosis.
Treatment of Cyclical Breast Pain
Initial Treatment.
Treatment usually including taking painkillers like ibuprofen or paracetamol. However, the manufacturer’s recommended dosages should be followed while taking painkillers.Your general practitioner may suggest a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory cream to be applied on the painful areas. He may also suggest tight fitting bras in the daytime and soft support bra for the night. For most women, reassurance that the pain in their breast is not cancerous is comforting.
Severe breast pain
If the cyclical breast pain is too severe that it interferes with your daily activities and is not relieved with painkillers, your general practitioner could suggest other options.
Your doctor will tell you to fill out a breast pain chart if your pain is moderate to sever. In this chart, you can record the severity of your pain, whether it is severe, moderate, or mild. It has a sequence of small boxes with the date and the month next to each box. You are required to fill in each box for one day of a month to indicate the pain level you experience. For example, putting a dot indicates no pain at all, filling half box indicates a mild pain, and filling the entire box shows severe pain.
Thus, this breast pain chart could be used to record the pain for a period of two months at the least so that your general practitioner could analyze the pattern for the pain. Once the record of breast pain for two months is obtained, your general practitioner can determine:
- Severity of the breast pain.
- The time it is very severe.
- Your response to treatment.
Based on the above data, your general practitioner will refer you to a specialist or specialist breast clinic for further treatment.
