How long before menstruation do breasts hurt?

Many women are prone to breast pain before their period. Usually, menstrual hormones can easily stimulate the breast area, causing pain. However, everyone's physique is different, so breast pain can occur at different times before their period. You need to maintain good health and take care of your body.

How long before menstruation do breasts become tender?

The duration of breast tenderness before menstruation is determined by different physical conditions.

Causes of premenstrual breast tenderness

Cause 1: Breast hyperplasia: Breast hyperplasia refers to the proliferation of breast epithelial and fibrous tissue, structural degenerative lesions of breast tissue ducts and lobules, and progressive growth of connective tissue. The lumps are irregular in shape, appearing as flakes, nodules or cords, with unclear boundaries and no adhesion to the skin. They increase or decrease with the menstrual cycle and are often accompanied by breast tenderness or tingling.

Cause 2: Lobular hyperplasia: This disease may occur at any age after puberty. The lesion is a pathological process characterized by dilation, hyperplasia and cystic changes of glandular lobules and breast duct terminals. The depression, loneliness and anxiety caused by adverse mental stimulation are the "catalysts" of lobular breast hyperplasia, which are more common in women aged 25 to 40 who have irregular menstruation, small menstrual flow, short menstrual period, are unmarried, childless, or are not breastfeeding or have poor breastfeeding.

Reason 3: Breast fibroadenoma: It is the most common benign breast tumor, which is common in young women, in one or both breasts. Most of them are solitary, and a few are multiple. The tumor is round or oval, grows slowly, has a smooth surface, a flexible texture, and clear boundaries. The tumor is easy to be pushed and has no adhesion to the skin.

Among the breast changes during menstruation, the breasts are most likely to swell. The breasts undergo hormonal changes at different times during the menstrual cycle and change accordingly. Due to women's menstrual cycle, estrogen levels and breast hyperplasia samples change. After ovulation, progesterone levels and prolactin also increase, the ductal epithelial cells in the lobules hypertrophy, and the ductal secretions between the lobules and the edges increase.

Therefore, before menstruation, we can feel our breasts are tense and strong, and even have varying degrees of pain and tenderness, lumps, dysmenorrhea, etc. The levels of estrogen and progesterone drop rapidly, weakening the stimulation of estrogen to the mammary glands. The mammary glands show recovery changes, the number of ductal epithelial cells decreases, the cells shrink and fall off, the edema subsides, the lobules and alveoli become smaller, and the breasts become smaller and softer, and the pain, tenderness, and lump feeling also shrink or disappear. The countless repetitions of the menstrual cycle cause the breast to always be expanding and recovering, with changes in the nuclear expansion and recovery cycle, especially in patients with breast hyperplasia.

Severe pain can not only be felt in the breasts when feeling quiet, but also has a certain impact on daily work and life, and even lasts throughout the menstrual cycle. Among them, severe breast pain requires seeing a doctor and receiving treatment. In fact, breast pain about a week before your period is considered normal, and breast pain for more than a week is considered to warrant a visit to your doctor. In addition, if a woman has breast pain, she may worry about whether she has the disease. For women who are afraid to talk about breast cancer, 95% to 97% have early-onset pain as the main symptom. The cause is not very clear, it may be due to psychological stress, such as diet may cause breast pain.