My chest suddenly became swollen and painful.

Breast pain during puberty: Girls first experience breast pain, usually between the ages of 9 and 13. At this time, girls' breasts begin to grow and develop, and at first the nipples become protruding and there is a slight feeling of swelling and pain. After the first menstruation, it will disappear on its own as the breasts grow and develop during puberty.

Breast pain in the early stages of menstruation: Many women experience breast swelling, hardening, and tenderness during their first menstruation. In severe cases, the breasts may swell and become uncomfortable with just a slight vibration or impact, and the original granules or lumps may become more noticeable. It is caused by the increase in estrogen levels in the body before menstruation, breast hyperplasia, and edema of the breast tissue. After the menstrual period, the shift subsides.

Breast pain during pregnancy: Some women experience breast pain around 40 days of pregnancy due to changes in estrogen levels in the body, which causes breast hyperplasia and breast enlargement. In severe cases, the pain may last throughout the pregnancy and does not require treatment.

Breast pain after childbirth: Breast swelling, lumps, and pain are common 3 to 7 days after childbirth. This is mainly caused by mammary lymph node retention and interstitial edema and obstruction of mammary gland duct. Prevention methods: Pregnant women should breastfeed as soon as possible; if there are lumps, you can apply hot compresses and massage the lumps before breastfeeding; you can also use an automatic breast pump to absorb milk and promote smooth breast tubes.

Breast pain after abortion: After abortion, some women experience breast pain and lumps. This is because pregnancy is suddenly interrupted; the body's estrogen levels drop sharply, causing the newly developed mammary glands to suddenly stop growing, resulting in breast lumps and breast pain.

Breast pain during sex: This is related to the physiological changes in the breasts during sexual intercourse. For those with low sexual desire or disharmonious marital life, the hematoma and swelling in the breasts will not easily disappear or will not disappear completely due to the inability to meet their sexual needs. Persistent hematoma will cause breast pain. Breast cancer: It is more common in women aged 20 to 40 years old, with a slow onset of disease history. In the early stage, there are one or more lumps in the breast, without pain or tenderness, with unclear boundaries with surrounding tissues, skin adhesions often occur, and axillary lymph nodes in the same direction may swell. Clinically, there is no fever. After the pus mass softens, it forms a cold abscess; it may penetrate the skin to form a fistula or sinus tract, and discharge a thinner thick fluid with cheese-like debris. In a very small number of patients, the lumps become hard lumps through fibrosis, which changes the shape of the breast and causes the nipple to retract, making it difficult to distinguish from breast cancer.

During examination, diffuse thickening of the breasts on both sides may be found, which are lumpy, granular or mass-like, and the boundary between the thickened area and the surrounding breast tissue is not obvious. Sometimes the two sides may be different. The above findings are often more obvious before menstruation and soften or disappear after menarche. When cysts occur, multiple cystic nodules of different sizes can be felt in the breast. There is some controversy about the relationship between lobular hyperplasia of the breast and breast cancer, but most experts and scholars believe that more than 90% of lobular hyperplasia is a physiological change caused by endocrine imbalance. Its essence is neither inflammation nor tumor, nor is it an early stage of cancer. However, there is one situation that deserves our attention, that is, some breast cancers are sometimes misdiagnosed as lobular hyperplasia, which is not taken seriously and not thoroughly investigated, thus delaying the good opportunity for early treatment.