Pain is the most common symptom of the female breast and is more frequent than breast masses, accounting for 47% to 70% of all symptoms, with 11% of them lasting more than 7 days per month and being more severe. Data from our breast clinic also show that more than 50% of patients are seen for severe pain. Breast symptoms in descending order of occurrence are tenderness, swelling, hidden pain, and masses. 28.2% to 69% of the patients have pain only, 14.9 to 35% have masses only, 18.2% to 19.9% have masses with pain, and 3.7% to 10% have other non-specific symptoms. Many women have had one or more visits to the doctor for breast pain. There was no significant effect of physical condition, household income, education level or race on the rate of visits. Breast pain is classified as cyclical, non-cyclical, and/or extramammary. Cyclical pain accounts for 60% to 70% of outpatient visits and non-cyclical pain accounts for 20% to 30%. It is important to distinguish between the categories of breast pain because the factors and interventions affecting different types of pain are similar, but the assessment and response to treatment varies. When chronic pain cannot be clearly attributed to the corresponding organic lesion, the symptoms are usually caused by psychological factors. About half of patients with periodic pain are often told that it is normal. Some patients are told that the cause is cystic hyperplasia or an endocrine disorder. About 10% of physicians offer patients further testing and recommend that they follow up with a breast clinic or teach them to perform a breast self-examination. Very few physicians recommended non-pharmacologic interventions or gave medications to their patients. Both cyclical and non-cyclical breast pain are chronic and recurrent, and in some patients with severe breast pain, symptoms can persist for more than 10 years, with recurrence factors unknown. Other studies have shown that severe breast pain can interfere with a woman’s sex life, physical activity, social activities, and work or school. There is a correlation between the level of physical activity and the frequency of breast pain episodes, and lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, high-fat diet and excessive caffeine intake are associated with breast pain, suggesting that a healthy lifestyle may be effective in improving breast pain. Women who visit the clinic for breast pain are often “emotionally stressed and irritable”. Women with breast pain were relatively more anxious and depressed than asymptomatic controls. Feeling stressed is thought to be correlated with breast pain. Women with breast pain may have greater cyclical fluctuations in anxiety and depression. Breast pain and fibrocystic changes in breast tissue do not always coincide. Fibrocystic changes in the breast are common, but these histopathological changes do not differ between the cyclical breast pain group, the non-cyclical breast pain group, and the asymptomatic group. With the exception of atypical hyperplasia, which is a risk factor for breast cancer, all other findings are considered to be within the normal range or “disease-free”. To date, there is no answer to the question of whether breast pain is a risk factor for breast cancer and only 0.8-7% of all breast cancer patients have breast pain as a first symptom. Breast cancer should be diagnosed with great caution in patients with breast pain. Premenstrual breast swelling is considered as a possible influencing factor for breast pain. During the non-lactating period, lactogen can disrupt the water-electrolyte balance in the breast and cause periodic swelling and pain in small breast cysts. In fact, during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, the volume of the breast can increase to more than 100 mL, but the weight and total body fluid volume of women with cyclic breast pain do not increase, so diuretics are not recommended for the treatment of breast pain. In summary, possible influences on breast pain are bra wearing, smoking, alcohol abuse, high fat diet, caffeine intake, oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy and psychosomatic abnormalities such as anxiety, depression and feeling stressed. Since breast pain is not related to breast cancer, periodic pain is considered a normal physiological phenomenon, so it has not received more attention from the medical community. However, severe breast pain should not be ignored, especially in today’s society where quality of life is generally valued, and patients who are affected should be taken seriously and helped. Understanding the clinical characteristics of breast pain and the factors that influence it will help us to have an in-depth discussion on the treatment measures for patients with breast pain.