Breast pain must be tested and don't let the chest become a burden

Breast pain must be tested and don't let the chest become a burden

Every woman may experience breast tenderness, which can be continuous, intermittent, or transient; in addition to tenderness, some women may also experience tenderness, dull pain, silky pain, tingling, dull pain, burning pain, and knife-like pain. , due to individual differences in sensitivity and tolerance. If breast pain occurs, female friends should identify the cause, face it calmly, actively adjust it, and handle it correctly.

photo network

Many types of breast pain

Physiological pain

Breast tenderness can occur during physiological periods such as puberty, menstruation, and pregnancy.

**During puberty (9 to 13 years old), the breasts develop, and as the nipples bulge, dome-shaped indurations appear in the breasts, and there will be slight swelling and pain. After menarche, the pain will go away on its own as the breasts mature.

Before menstruation, there may be breast fullness and tenderness, which is mostly caused by edema of breast tissue caused by increased estrogen levels, and the pain is gradually relieved after menstruation.

After 40 days of pregnancy to 3 months, changes in estrogen and progesterone can cause breast hyperplasia, breast enlargement, breast tenderness and nipple pain, and even continue throughout pregnancy.

In the postpartum days, the breasts are often full, induration, and painful, which is caused by the hypersecretion of prolactin, which is caused by lymphatic retention in the breast, milk production, and poor mammary ducts.

behavioral pain

After the abortion, some patients have breast tenderness, and a lump can be palpated by digital examination. Mostly due to the termination of pregnancy, the estrogen in the body suddenly drops, and the enlarged breast suddenly stops growing, causing lumps and breast pain.

Breast distension and pain may also occur after sexual intercourse. On the one hand, it is related to the physiological changes of the breast during intercourse. Sexual desire is indifferent or sexual life is not harmonious enough, and the due sexual satisfaction cannot be achieved. Breast congestion and swelling are not easy to subside or subside incompletely. On the other hand, it is the caressing behavior of spouses in married life, if excessive squeezing, it will also cause temporary breast "trauma", showing breast swelling and pain.

pathological pain

Breast pain is not only a general term for breast tenderness, but also a type of hyperplasia. It belongs to the category of breast addiction in traditional Chinese medicine. Western medicine believes that it is related to endocrine disorders. The retention of sodium and water in the breast tissue causes breast edema, causing periodic pain. Half of women have breast pain symptoms, especially those over 30 years old who are unmarried, childless, and not breastfeeding.

In addition to lobular type, breast hyperplasia also includes cystic type and fibroadenosis type. In the middle and late stages, there may be continuous, intermittent distending pain, or even short-term tingling, involving dull pain.

Acute mastitis (mammary carbuncle) is characterized by local redness, swelling, heat and pain, which is common in primiparas during lactation, with burning pain or systemic symptoms such as chills and fever when the pain is severe in the early stage.

Plasma cell mastitis is acutely painful, and chronically distended or dull.

The pain of breast tuberculosis is persistent, with distending pain before ulceration and dull pain after ulceration. In the advanced stage of breast cancer, due to necrosis and liquefaction of the lesions, it presents with unilateral breast pain or pain in the armpit and shoulder.

Special attention in special times

Adolescent breast pain

It's a developmental phenomenon, don't worry. However, if you have a lump in your breast, you need a doctor. Most of the breast fibroids are recommended to be surgically removed, supplemented by acupuncture and Chinese medicine for conditioning. Premenstrual cyclic breast tenderness mostly disappears naturally after menstrual cramps, without burden. However, women with this constitution are prone to breast hyperplasia and uterine fibroids as they age.

breast tenderness during pregnancy

It is a physiological phenomenon, caused by the placental villi secreting a large amount of estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, mammary gland hyperplasia, and breast enlargement. Generally, no treatment is required; however, if the breast swelling disappears suddenly, you should go to the hospital to check the fetal condition. For postpartum breast fullness and pain, breastfeeding should be started as soon as possible to ensure smooth breast ducts.

Prevention and recuperation emotional conditioning

Chinese medicine believes that the liver and stomach meridians go through the breast, and the breast is connected to the uterus through the three channels of Chong, Ren and Du. Liver meridian problems will manifest in the breasts and uterus. Women's anger and improper diet can easily lead to discomfort in the liver and stomach meridians, manifested as depression and unhappiness, fullness of the two flanks, etc., which are the causes of breast pain and uterine fibroids. Therefore, female friends should learn to self-regulate in life, maintain an optimistic mood, not be in a hurry, pay attention to a light diet, regular daily life, moderate physical activity, exercise, and avoid excessive tension, late sleeping and staying up late and other bad habits.

Pay attention to a balanced diet, eat more low-fat and high-fiber foods, eat more whole grains (cereals, beans) and fresh vegetables and fruits. The survey shows that the symptoms of breast pain in women who stop drinking coffee are significantly improved, and those with breast pain should stay away from caffeinated drinks.

Breast enhancement products contain hormone drugs, which can easily aggravate breast tenderness.

Do not take diuretics to reduce breast swelling or antibiotics for pain relief without medical advice.

Choose bras of different textures and sizes in different physiological periods to avoid compressing the breasts and increasing discomfort. Abortion is a remedy for contraception, and it can also cause breast pain, so it should be avoided as much as possible, let alone frequent and multiple abortions, otherwise it will lay a ticking time bomb for breast and gynecological diseases.

Identification, identification, symptomatic treatment

Determine the nature of pain

Don't worry about breast pain, don't be negligent, try to judge the nature of the pain and treat it according to the symptoms. The physiological period, pain location, presence or absence of tumor, pain type, and periodicity should be considered, combined with local systemic symptoms to comprehensively determine the cause of pain, and if necessary, instrument or pathological examination.

**Menstrual breast pain is often heavy, distending, dull pain or short-term acupuncture, tenderness and nodules in the upper outer quadrant, and increased activity; mammary gland hyperplasia occurs before and after menopause, with cord-like, sheet-like or cystic nodules in the breast , was dull, distending pain, long duration, superficial pain location.

The pain of mastitis is severe and accompanied by redness, swelling and fever, which is often unbearable.

Most breast pain is not related to cancer, and breast cancer is rarely painful in the early stages.

If the breast pain lasts for a long time or is getting worse, there is a lump that is uneven, the edge is unclear, and it does not move.

Heart disease, spondylosis, chest wall disease, etc., can be mistaken for breast pain; costochondritis, intercostal neuralgia, lung disease may cause chest pain, and need to be carefully identified.

pain relief methods

Breast massage is an effective way to relieve breast pain. Correct massage can dredge the lymphatic system, eliminate edema, dredge the mammary ducts, and remove accumulated milk, which is effective for premenstrual and postpartum breast pain.

Acupuncture, acupuncture, scraping and other traditional Chinese medicine techniques can play analgesic effect, and can also assist in the treatment of breast diseases.

Hot compresses, cold compresses, and alternating hot and cold compresses can relieve pain symptoms. For cold or stasis-type stuffy pain and dull pain, hot compresses can be applied.

Topical application of cactus, dandelion, mung bean powder, and cold noodle cakes are commonly used at home to relieve febrile breast pain; take a whole piece of cabbage leaf and roll it with a rolling pin and wrap it on the breast, which is the easiest home remedy to relieve the swelling and pain of breast carbuncle.

active symptomatic treatment

The treatment of breast pain advocates the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Breast pain syndromes often include liver stagnation and qi stagnation, liver stagnation and spleen dampness, liver and kidney yin deficiency, and disorder of Chong and Ren. Proprietary medicines include Xiaoyao Pills, Rupixiao, Rukang Tablets, Runing Granules, etc. Acupuncture and prescriptions have a certain effect on breast addiction and pain, and the course of treatment is slightly longer.

For those with severe hyperplasia, obvious pain, and impact on work and life, pain relief or surgery can be performed as prescribed by a doctor.

Mammary carbuncle swelling and pain, acupuncture, massage, Chinese medicine can be treated without interrupting breastfeeding, antibiotics can be used for obvious inflammation, and surgical drainage is required for abscess or ulceration.

Pain after artificial abortion, take vitamin B6, stir-fry 80 grams of malt and thick fry (lactating people) to remove residue and drink for a week.

Breast cancer surgery complicated with local and upper arm swelling and pain, adjuvant treatment with acupuncture and massage methods, the effect is obvious.

Text/Chief Physician Jiang Yanhui, Beijing Xicheng Maternal and Child Health Hospital

All rights reserved, reprinting is prohibited without permission

Pay attention to the public account "Family Medicine" to learn more about health science****