Unfortunately, breast pain (and "cyclical" breast pain that is worse around the time of your menstrual period) is very common, especially in younger women. Most of this pain is due to fluctuations in sex hormone levels in the blood, as these hormones stimulate breast tissue, causing breast swelling and tenderness (especially in women with dense, fibrocystic breasts).
Fortunately, although it can be distressing, mastodynia (breast pain) is almost always a benign condition. You should, of course, undergo a thorough breast examination by your doctor, to ensure that there are no suspicious masses, and also to assess for the presence of painful breast cysts that, often, can be drained with a needle (sometimes, performing a needle aspiration of these benign breast cysts can help to reduce breast pain). Otherwise, the management of breast pain is directed towards symptom control. Wearing a supportive bra "24/7", the use of heat packs or/and cold packs, and the occasional use of anti-inflammatory medications are the usual recommendations (some people still recommend the use of Vitamin E supplements, but this has not been shown to be useful by recent research; also, cutting back on caffeine and discontinuing tobacoo use can be helpful).
Sincerely/ Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS
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