Why do my breasts hurt but I don't get my period? This question is very often heard from the lips of women at the appointment with a gynecologist. Especially the fair sex is concerned about the condition when menstruation does not go with severe soreness of the chest. If the breasts hurt, but there is no menstruation, then this can be explained both by physiological factors and by the manifestation of various ailments and diseases. Consider the main causes of pain and the treatment of such a phenomenon.
When Pregnant
Most often, if the breasts hurt, but there is no menstruation, the reason is the onset of pregnancy in a woman. This is due to the fact that after fertilization, hormonal changes are observed in the female body, chorionic gonadotropin is released, and various changes occur in the breast. Thus, she is preparing for future lactation.
The breast consists of lobes that contain the milk ducts. Under the influence of the hormonal background that has changed in the woman's body, the glands begin to fill up, and the fair sex feels that her breasts are swollen.
This is what provokes the appearance of pain in the initial period of pregnancy, which is considered a physiological phenomenon. In the future, the female body begins to get used to it, and the breasts no longer hurt.
Ectopic pregnancy
For what other reasons do breasts hurt, but there is no menstruation? In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, at the initial stage, the same processes occur as with a simple one. The egg is fertilized and then begins to move into the uterine cavity, but for various reasons it never gets there, and because of this, the embryo attaches to the ovaries, the wall of the tubes, developing further in the woman's abdominal cavity.
When the breast hurts and there is no period, the most common option is an ectopic tubal pregnancy. In this case, the development and growth of the embryo begins in the tube, in parallel with this, all the necessary hormones are released, and then the development of pregnancy itself occurs.
All these phenomena described above cause typical symptoms of pregnancy, including changes in the mammary glands under the influence of the female hormonal background. In addition to the fact that the breast hurts, and there are no periods, it is also able to swell, pour, especially during the first month of pregnancy.
In this case, the normal development of the fetus and pregnancy as a whole outside the uterus is impossible, due to which pathological signs appear: pain syndrome, the formation of browndischarge in the first days of the expected menstruation.
Negative test
If menstruation has not started, you should calm down and in no case panic. There are many reasons for this episodic delay. In some cases, it is enough to get nervous, or a delay can provoke ordinary overwork.
If someone does not know how much before menstruation the chest hurts, then in such situations you should wait up to 10 days. But if after that the menstruation did not begin, it is necessary to take a pregnancy test. If the test is negative, there is no menstruation, and the pain continues to bother you a lot, then this may be a symptom of the manifestation of some kind of pathology.
Those women who do not know if breasts can hurt before menstruation should take into account that such a symptom is common.
Mastopathy
With this disease, a lot of cysts and tissue areas are formed in the mammary gland, which are somewhat reminiscent of scar tissue. In some cases, such neoplasms can turn into malignant tumors.
Mastopathy develops due to a hormonal imbalance in the female body: the concentration of progesterone in the blood decreases below the permissible norm, and the content of estrogen hormones, on the contrary, increases markedly.
In this case, a woman complains that both breast glands hurt a lot, and the pain even radiates to the armpit and shoulder area. The swelling of individual areas of the chest is palpated in parallel with this. Also noticeablemenstrual disorders: menstruation becomes irregular, delays are often noted.
Delayed period
10 days before menstruation, the chest hurts - what can it mean? With violations of the cycle, for example, a delay, quite often there is a feeling of soreness in the chest area. If the fair sex is concerned about pain in the area of the mammary glands, and there are no periods, then this may be caused by the following factors:
- hormonal imbalance;
- stress;
- polycystic ovaries;
- physical activity;
- starvation and obesity;
- gynecological diseases.
Hormonal disorders can often be triggered by both the use of drugs and the development of various endocrine diseases. In most cases, if the chest hurts, menstruation comes in a week. But the failure of the cycle occurs with pathologies of the thyroid gland, as well as the pituitary gland.
Stress is considered one of the most common causes that significantly affect a woman's menstrual cycle, and most often this manifests itself in the form of a delay in menstruation. Delay with pain in the mammary glands can also be provoked by physical hard work, severe overwork and excessive physical exertion.
If the chest hurts 2 weeks before menstruation, but they do not occur, and the delay is not connected in any way with pregnancy, then this is a syndrome of the so-called polycystic ovaries. This disease is most often manifested in women with excessweight, greasy hair and skin, excessive hair growth of the skin.
Why else does my chest hurt, no period, test negative? Gynecological ailments inevitably cause various failures of menstruation, including delays. This can also include inflammatory diseases (colpitis, adnexitis, endometritis), neoplasms (cancer and uterine fibroids), genital infections, endometriosis and others.
Women are worried about the appearance of atypical vaginal discharge (yellow, brown), her chest hurts, her lower abdomen hurts, there is no menstruation, and her general well-being is deteriorating.
Mastitis
Soreness can also have an inflammatory nature of origin, being a symptom of mastitis. This ailment often develops in the representatives of the weak half of humanity in the postpartum period, in breastfeeding women. Mastitis is caused by infection in the breast tissue. With this disease, the following symptoms are observed:
- Swelling of the gland.
- Temperature increase.
- Redness of the skin.
- Fever.
- Pain when touched.
- Feeling worse.
At the initial stage of development, mastitis is serous in nature, but as the inflammatory process develops, pus can accumulate in the gland, thus leading to the appearance of an abscess or phlegmon. In such cases, the condition of women is more often severe.
Tumors
In most cases, if the chest hurts, pregnancy or menstruation is the cause. However, it may be a sign of a tumor. All women know how serious and dangerous a situation can be in which a breast tumor is suspected. Breast oncology inspires great concern, which in the early stages can be completely asymptomatic. However, in general, there are still some signs by which a diagnosis can be made. These include the following:
- Redness, roughness of the skin.
- Pathological discharge, eg bloody, purulent.
- Extraction of the gland or nipples.
- Deformation and asymmetry of the breast.
- Nodal seals in the tissues of the gland.
- Erosion formation, as well as expansion of the saphenous veins.
- Swollen lymph nodes in the armpit.
Pain in a woman appears at a very late stage, when the tumor formation grows into the surrounding tissue. And at an early stage, self-examination by the patient of her breast is of considerable importance for diagnostic procedures.
Injuries
Sometimes there are situations when pain is caused by some kind of traumatic injury. In most cases, bruises of the chest occur in practice, which occur in everyday life or during sports activities. Such situations are easy to diagnose, since there is a connection between unpleasant signs and the influence of mechanical factors. Visually, you can detect abrasions, hematoma in the gland area, pain during palpation and during movements in the chest area.
What to do?
For chest pain and delayed menstruation, it is better to consult a specialist, to be examined. The specialist will perform the necessary gynecological examination, as well as breast palpation.
If necessary, it will be necessary to conduct some laboratory tests, for example, a complete blood count, the level of hormones in it (pituitary, thyroid, sex). If there are suspicions of sexual infections, then the blood serum is sent for analysis by PCR.
For diagnostic purposes, ultrasound of all organs of the abdominal cavity, mammary glands, small pelvis, mammography, pregnancy test, MRI are used.
Diagnosis
To reveal why a woman's chest hurts, but there is no menstruation, the patient should undergo a special laboratory and instrumental examination in the clinic. This is simply necessary for any pathologies of the mammary glands, and some methods are recommended as screening methods. You can confirm or exclude the disease using the following methods:
- Ultrasound.
- Mammography.
- Computed tomography.
- Examination of secretions taken from the nipple.
- Biopsy of gland tissues.
- A blood test for hormone levels.
Only after a full examination of the patient can we talk about the cause of the pain. If any pathological processes are identified by a specialist, then therapy should be started immediately.
Features of treating an unpleasant symptom
In case of a confirmed diagnosis of an ectopicpregnancy, a woman needs hospitalization, as well as subsequent surgical intervention. The operation is carried out both by the classical method and with the help of a laparoscope.
The last option is preferable. The doctor makes several small incisions with the help of special tools, performs the operation, following the actions on the monitor screen. Such a laparoscopic operation is much less traumatic, only subtle traces remain after it, and the patient quickly returns to her usual way of life.
Modern therapy of mastopathy is carried out in a conservative way, but in some cases surgical treatment is also used. Pathology can be successfully treated if detected at an earlier stage.
Anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal drugs are used. It is also necessary to find and eliminate the main causes of disruption of the endocrine glands. In addition, vitamins, iodine preparations, and antioxidants are used in the treatment.
Complex methods are used for the treatment of menstrual disorders. First of all, it is necessary to identify the underlying disease that caused such a failure.
In an inflammatory disease, the use of antibacterial drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal drugs, vitamins is prescribed. Neoplasms require only surgical intervention.
Expert advice for chest pain
Feeling sore in the chest with a delay in menstruation is a normal signthe onset of pregnancy. But if the reason is different, then this may be a signal of female diseases. That is why any deviation of the menstrual cycle needs the attention of a gynecologist. Experts recommend regularly visiting a gynecologist for prevention, at least once every six months, as well as independently palpate the mammary glands.
