Can nipples hurt before menstruation? Most women, asking this question to the doctor, want to make sure that the pain syndrome in the mammary glands is a temporary phenomenon and not associated with pathology, provoked by hormonal changes in the body during menstruation. Indeed, discomfort in the chest in the majority of cases should not cause concern, since it is not considered a deviation.
Chest pain: normal or abnormal?
Being one of the premenstrual syndromes, painful nipples before menstruation cause discomfort to almost every second representative of the weaker sex. Often this symptom occurs simultaneously with other manifestations of PMS - swelling, dizziness, acne on the body, mood swings and a number of other signs.
According to statistics, nipplesBefore menstruation, women often get sick. If menstruation is late, but the woman experiences pain in the mammary glands, the first thing the gynecologist should make sure is that there is no pregnancy. Therefore, girls experiencing these symptoms should first take a pregnancy test.
Or do your nipples hurt before your period for a long time? It is possible that there is a pathology of the mammary glands. Be that as it may, if the chest and nipples hurt before menstruation, and the syndrome does not go away with the onset of menstruation, you need to consult a doctor.
Why is this happening
Can nipples hurt before menstruation? There are several main reasons for this phenomenon:
- increased production of female hormones on the eve of critical days;
- appearance and development of pathological processes in the mammary gland;
- failures in the endocrine system.
If the gynecologist suspects the presence of a breast disease, he will refer the patient to a mammologist. Based on the results of the examination, the doctor will be able to make an accurate diagnosis and determine the cause, the elimination of which guarantees the success of the treatment.
Hormonal changes
Estrogen and progesterone are the predominant hormones in the female body. Their number in different periods of the menstrual cycle can vary markedly. For example, estrogen reaches its highest concentration in the body shortly before ovulation.
Changes in hormone levels can significantly affect the conditionmammary glands. In many women, the breasts fill up, become elastic, slightly increase in size. If breasts swell regularly before menstruation and nipples hurt, most likely there is nothing to worry about. The change in the color of the areola, which occurs as a result of an increase in hormone production, is also considered the norm.
Can nipples hurt before menstruation? Of course, because the production of female hormones in the body entails the stimulation of the growth of adipose tissue, which is the main material in the structure of the mammary gland. The chest swells, increases, and therefore pain appears. The severity of the syndrome depends on the woman's age, physiological characteristics and lifestyle.
Breast Diseases
If the relationship between menstrual flow and discomfort in the nipples is not observed, you need to look for the cause elsewhere. Among the diseases of the mammary glands, the most common is mastopathy - this is a benign growth of tissues, accompanied by pain. Mastopathy is also characterized by discharge from the nipples. In contrast to the natural swelling of the breast before menstruation, with mastopathy, there is prolonged swelling and more pronounced mastodynia (as doctors call pain in the mammary glands).
Other causes that provoke pain in the nipples may be associated with tissue inflammation, malfunctions of the endocrine and genitourinary systems, but the most dangerous is cancer. Regardless of age, if nipples hurt before menstruation at 42, 32 or22, you should not delay a visit to the antenatal clinic.
External stimuli
Women's breasts are overly sensitive. The skin covering the mammary glands consists of many nerve plexuses, therefore, on an individual basis, the breast can respond to certain factors. The nipples will not hurt badly before menstruation, if the cause of the pain syndrome is not any pathology. But still, the increasing sensitivity of the breast before menstruation can cause a lot of discomfort to a woman due to:
- an uncomfortable or poor quality bra;
- excessive sweating and poor hygiene;
- long exposure to the sun or UV rays;
- climate change;
- drastic weight change;
- stress;
- long-term medication (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, hormonal, etc.);
- application of allergenic household chemicals, cosmetics.
In some cases, the problem can be solved by eliminating the influencing factor or using special moisturizers.
Nipple pain before period
In some women, the onset of menstruation is imperceptible and completely painless, while other women can experience real suffering before menstruation. Interestingly, to date, no criteria have been established that would determine whether a given phenomenon is a norm or a pathology, depending on whenthere was a syndrome, how many days before menstruation. Can nipples hurt before menstruation, either a week before their onset, or a couple of days in the same woman? Yes, this really happens, but the most important indicator that would indicate pathology is the continuation of pain during menstruation, and sometimes after it. Normally, discomfort disappears in the first days of female discharge.
If you haven't got your period but your breasts hurt, it's best to take a pregnancy test. If the result is negative, you will have to pass a clarifying blood test for the level of hCG. If the result turns out to be negative, you should definitely consult a doctor to determine the further tactics of the examination.
Changes in the breast during pregnancy
Test showed two stripes? So, we are talking about changes in the mammary glands that occur in expectant mothers. From the moment of conception, the woman's body begins to actively prepare for gestation, childbirth and lactation, so the breasts significantly increase in size, swell, the areola around the nipple becomes darker.
Changes in the mammary gland are also caused by hormonal changes and are directly related to an increase in the production of prolactin, a substance that ensures lactation. Under the influence of this hormone, gland tissues grow much faster than nerve endings, sensitivity increases. In pregnant women, even a light touch on the nipples can provoke unpleasant and painful sensations. In addition to pain inbreasts that pass by the second trimester, the expectant mother may observe yellowish oily discharge from the nipples. You should not worry - this is the formation of colostrum, which will be the first meal of the born crumbs.
During period
If chest pains appear during critical days, but are not accompanied by other symptoms, an individual feature of the course of premenstrual syndrome cannot be ruled out. In rare cases, discomfort in the mammary glands and nipples in women persists for a few more days.
After period
It is also necessary to consult a doctor for those patients who have discomfort in the chest and nipples after critical days. Normally, on the 5th-7th day of the cycle, soreness in the mammary glands should be absent. Their appearance can be caused by endocrine disorders in the body, due to which the production of estrogen increases, or by the development of a tumor. If the nipples are very sore before menstruation, and after critical days the symptom persists or intensifies, it is important to undergo a diagnosis in order to exclude or confirm a malignant tumor. Also quite a dangerous disease is the fibrocystic form of mastopathy.
Why nipples stopped hurting before menstruation
Many gynecologists believe that the absence of a PMS symptom indicates a hormonal imbalance in the body. If the breast does not undergo any changes before menstruation, most likely, the production of estrogen in the woman's body has decreased. Cause of female hormone imbalancecan serve:
- irregular sex life;
- Using the wrong estrogen-suppressing oral contraceptives;
- unhe althy lifestyle (frequent drinking, smoking, lack of full physical activity, unbalanced diet);
- lack of vitamins and minerals;
- approaching menopause;
- stress and anxiety.
The hormonal background also changes after childbirth. If, before the birth of a baby, a woman always had nipples before menstruation, and after the restoration of stable menstruation, this syndrome is not observed, we are talking about a postpartum hormonal change. In order for the female body to work in the same way as before childbirth, at least 2-3 years must pass.
How dangerous are nipple pains
Since the pain syndrome is a sign of a hormonal disorder in the female body, the possibility of developing functional disorders in the work of the genitourinary and reproductive spheres, inflammatory, infectious or oncological pathologies is not excluded. The sooner the cause of discomfort in the mammary glands is determined, the higher the chances of overcoming a serious disease, if any. There is no need to be afraid or postpone a visit to the doctor. A timely diagnosis increases the patient's chances even with breast cancer. Only at an early stage can serious and sometimes irreversible complications be prevented.
Nipple discharge
It was previously noted that with pain in the nipples in women,secretions appear. Depending on their color and consistency, they make an assumption about the cause of the symptom. Most often, fluid from the nipples in non-pregnant women is due to high levels of estrogen and prolactin, which, as already mentioned, prepare a woman for labor and affect the appearance of fluid in the milk ducts.
In addition to premenstrual syndrome, the cause of discharge from the chest can be excessive exercise, irritability, stressful situations. If the discharge is observed constantly, accompanied by painful sensations in the gland and nipples, it is important to visit a mammologist as soon as possible.
The way to eliminate pain syndrome
If nipple pains are part of the symptom complex of premenstrual syndrome, they do not need treatment. Unpleasant sensations in the chest are due to the physiological characteristics of the female body and normally disappear without any kind of intervention.
Combat severe chest discomfort with the following tips:
- Take a bath. Heat has a beneficial effect on the condition of the glandular tissue, especially if you add a few drops of essential oil, herbal tea or sea s alt to the water. Warming up in warm water is not allowed if there is inflammation in the chest or if the diagnosis is not clear.
- He althy lifestyle. In order for PMS to cause fewer problems, including not being accompanied by severe pain in the mammary glands, it is important to eat right, give up bad habits, get enough rest, take sedatives during stressfulsituations, drink magnesium-containing vitamin-mineral complexes.
- Avoid hypothermia. In the cold season, you need to dress according to the weather, as freezing causes chest pains, colds, and inflammation.
If the cause of pain in the nipples lies in the influence of external factors, a woman should be more careful in choosing underwear.
When buying a bra, you should pay attention to the quality of fabrics - it is advisable to abandon synthetics in favor of natural materials (cotton, linen). Caution should also be exercised when choosing detergents, washing powders, fabric softeners after washing. Medicinal preparations in the form of creams and lotions for breasts and nipples can only be used on the recommendation of a specialist.
If the nipples hurt very much, you don't need to endure the pain. Today, there is a wide range of painkillers that will help transfer PMS (Tamipul, Nurofen, Spazmalgon, No-Shpa, Analgin). It is important to note that taking painkillers and antispasmodics is necessary only if it is not possible to reduce the pain syndrome in other ways.
