How to deal with breast pain

Breast pain is the most common benign clinical breast disorder, commonly seen in women of childbearing age between 30 and 50 years, and is the most common breast disorder in middle-aged women, with adolescence and menopause being less common. A study of 1,171 women in the United States found that 69% of women experienced regular premenstrual breast discomfort, with 11% having moderate to severe breast pain for more than 7 days per month. The etiology of breast pain is not fully understood, and the following factors may be associated with its development. (A) sex hormone abnormalities: increased ovarian secretion of estrogen, progesterone production is not enough to make the serum level of estrogen increases, progesterone levels drop or estrogen-progestin ratio imbalance, can lead to excessive proliferation of mammary glands or incomplete recuperation, which led to fibrosis triggered by breast pain, the organization of structural disorders, the epithelium of the mammary ducts and fibrous tissue hyperplasia to varying degrees and the formation of cysts of the terminal glandular ducts or glandular follicles (B) mammary gland Increased sensitivity of the tissue to sex hormones. (iii) Others: such as unreasonable pregnancy and nursing history resulting in incomplete breast recuperation, oral contraceptive pills, abuse of breast enlargement pills and other exogenous hormone use as well as modern life and work pressure, unreasonable diet and living may lead to endocrine imbalance, triggering breast pain. Breast pain is usually categorized into cyclic breast pain, non-cyclic breast pain and other causes of breast pain. 1, cyclic breast pain is related to the menstrual cycle of breast pain. Many women experience breast tenderness or swelling 2-3 days before menstruation, and small nodules are palpable in the breasts, which disappear after menstruation, which can actually be considered a normal phenomenon. True cyclic breast pain should be referred to each cycle of severe breast pain for more than a week. 2, non-cyclical breast pain Non-cyclical breast pain has no obvious relationship with the menstrual cycle. Unlike cyclic breast pain, true non-cyclic breast pain can occur both in premenopausal women and postmenopausal women. 3. Breast pain caused by other factors: common Tietze’s syndrome, also known as painful rib-thoracic joint syndrome, the pain is often located in the breast covering the surface of the costal cartilage, and the patient often feels pain in the middle quadrant of the breast, and pain when pressing the affected cartilage. The pain is often felt in the middle quadrant of the breast and is often exacerbated when pressure is applied to the affected cartilage. In addition, surgical trauma can also cause breast pain. 1/3 to 1/2 of the patients after breast surgery still have breast pain one year after surgery. Breast cancer with breast pain is uncommon. About 10-13% of breast pain originates from extra-mammary factors, such as gallstones, cervical spondylosis and so on. Most of the breast pain manifests as cyclic breast pain, which is obvious in the premenstrual period, and the symptoms may be reduced or disappear after menstruation. If breast pain occurs, the first thing to do is to eliminate tension and fear, because generally speaking, breast cancer does not cause breast pain. The next step is to go to the hospital for appropriate examination. Generally, color ultrasonography is preferred because most of the patients are younger than 40 years old and the glands are rich and dense, and the resolution of ultrasonography on nodules and cystic and solid masses in the dense glands is much better than that of molybdenum X-ray. For those who are older and do not have abundant glands, molybdenum X-ray should be preferred, and the combination of the two examinations is feasible when necessary. Of course, in some cases it is not easy to distinguish fibroadenomas from breast cancer due to the formation of lumps or nodules, and the diagnosis needs to be confirmed with the necessary pathologic and histologic examinations (core needle biopsy, fine needle aspiration cytology, or surgical biopsy). When breast cancer and other breast tumors are ruled out through these examinations, doctors will provide psychological treatment to patients, and most patients can eliminate their fears and concerns, which can not relieve their pain, but can change their attitude towards pain, thus making pain no longer a serious problem. It has been reported abroad that about 85% of the patients can be cured through psychotherapy. Choosing the right bra is also helpful in relieving breast pain. In addition, there are some patients whose breast pain is due to anxiety, and the use of relaxation therapy for such patients has a certain effect. If the patient’s symptoms are not relieved after these treatments, medication can be considered. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is currently one of the main means of treating breast pain in China, especially for some young patients. Commonly used medicines include Breast Health Tablets, Breast Enlargement Ning, Easy Pill, Xiao Jin Pill, etc., all of which have certain efficacy. If the effect of traditional Chinese medicine is not satisfactory, Tamoxifen can be considered, which is an anti-estrogen drug, 10mg per day can effectively improve breast pain, and its effective rate can be up to 98% for cyclic breast pain and 56% for non-cyclic breast pain. Other treatments such as a low-fat diet and reducing the intake of caffeine, cola, chocolate, etc. may also help to relieve pain.