Many women are very nervous about breast pain before menstruation and turn to various places to seek medical advice, fearing that it will become cancerous if not treated actively. How do breasts come about? From a girl’s childhood to maturity, her breasts grow from nothing to something, which is the process of continuous growth of breast glands under the action of estrogen. The process from having to maturity to breastfeeding is also a process of glandular proliferation. After menopause, the breasts begin to degenerate, the glands become less and less, and are gradually replaced by fat. It seems that women have a lifelong relationship with the growth of breast glands. Why do my breasts swell and hurt before menstruation? As estrogen levels rise, the endometrium thickens and the breast glands proliferate. Before menstruation, the thickness of the endometrium and the proliferation of the breast glands reach a peak, which leads to breast pain and abdominal distention before menstruation in some women. When estrogen drops and the endometrium sheds to form menstruation, the breast pain and abdominal fullness gradually disappear and the woman enters the next menstrual cycle. Breast enlargement is not a “disease”. Like the uterus, breasts are affected by the fluctuations of estrogen in the body every month, and breast enlargement before menstruation and reversion after menstruation occur in every menstrual cycle, so discomfort and nodular changes are very common and fall within the normal range of breast changes. And this cyclical change lasts about 20 years or more. So this pattern is not a disease, just as one cannot say that each monthly period is a disease. There are more and less menstruation, and there are light and heavy hyperplasia; the difference in abdominal pain during menstruation each month is the same as the lightness of breast pain before menstruation, and we need to change our lifestyle and adjust our routine to avoid continued pain in the next cycle. The diagnosis of “breast enlargement” is unique to China! This is how mastocytosis is defined abroad: “a disorder in the normal process of development and degeneration”, “Most breast pain can be considered “normal”, while some pain is more distressing and requires attention, and this condition can be considered This can be considered a “disorder”, but very rarely the pain is so severe that it significantly affects the quality of life and can be considered a “disease”.” It seems that what we usually call mastopexy is actually a normal physiological change or a physiological disorder. Will mastocytosis turn into breast cancer? Will a little girl grow up to be a boy? Of course not! Therefore, mastocytosis will not turn into breast cancer either! The original explanation for most women’s diagnosis of breast enlargement in the medical process is this: “The alternating monthly changes in glandular growth and degeneration of the breast glands in response to fluctuating hormone levels in the body, resulting in swelling and pain in the breast glands, occasionally accompanied by significant pain when the growth is heavy”. But this answer is too long, so the name “mastocytosis” is slowly being used as a diagnosis. In other words, breast enlargement can be determined by your symptoms only. Breast cancer occurs when individual cells mutate during the cyclical changes in the breast gland and grow rapidly and perversely. There is a disease diagnosed as “atypical hyperplasia” that does carry the risk of cancer! However, it is not diagnosed by “a touch” or “an examination”, and often it is only after surgery that pathological tests are performed. So it’s not the same as what we call “breast enlargement”. What should I do if my breasts are “enlarged”? Most women with breast enlargement have painful swollen breasts before menstruation or during ovulation, and occasionally there are palpable glandular thickening or nodules. When women are emotionally unstable or work too hard, insomnia or mental stress will cause breast pain, just like walking too much suddenly causes pain in the legs, it is because some of the body’s original rules are broken, so when your emotions are regular, your work is regular, your sleep is regular and your mental factors are regular, your breasts will also be regular and will not hurt so much and will not swell so much. When all these are regular, but still serious pain in the breast affects the quality of life what to do? This is the time to take oral Chinese medicine to relieve the pain and adjust the disorder. We cannot eliminate “breast enlargement”, just like we cannot eliminate menstrual flow. This is a normal physiological change in women’s bodies. Occasional premenstrual breast pain is the same as abdominal pain during menstruation, and if we can avoid this pain by adjusting our lifestyle, do you still need medication? The timing of breast exams The average woman should get into the habit of self-examining her breasts every month and going to a breast specialist every six months to a year for a routine checkup, either with a breast ultrasound, mammogram or, if necessary, a breast MRI. The recommended time for physical examination and self-examination is within one week after menstruation, when the breast glands are in their most natural state, like a beach at low tide, which is most suitable for examination. It is recommended to have a breast ultrasound examination every three to six months, a mammogram every year, and an optional breast MRI according to your specific condition. What are the high-risk groups for breast cancer: 1. Women who are <12 years old at menarche, >55 years old at menopause, over 35 years old without childbirth or breastfeeding; 2. People who drink alcohol excessively, are obese after menopause, prefer high-fat diet, and have breast cancer genes in their family, including men (hereditary breast cancer, accounting for 5%-10% of breast cancer, can only be determined through genetic testing); 3. Women with frequent use of birth control pills and multiple abortions, long-term emotional depression and mental depression; 4. Those who use exogenous estrogens quantitatively for a long time; 5. Patients with previous ductal or lobular atypical hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ; 6. Women who have suffered from breast cancer on one side; 7. Women who have received radiotherapy or long-term radiation damage to the chest; 8. Women with immune deficiency.