What causes nipple and areola pain? Is it related to disease?

I wonder if female friends have noticed that they have nipple pain for a period of time every month? Friends who have found this may be anxious about whether they have a certain disease. In fact, nipple pain is a normal phenomenon. It mainly occurs before and after ovulation. When menstruation comes, this phenomenon will naturally disappear. But if it doesn't disappear naturally, then you need to consider whether you have a breast disease.

The breast is the target organ of endocrine hormones, which means that under normal circumstances, that is, during endocrine changes in the menstrual cycle, breast tissue will be affected by endocrine hormones and undergo physiological changes. The breast will undergo cyclical proliferation and involution during the menstrual cycle, which manifests as fullness and mild pain in the breast before menstruation. The breast pain will be reduced or disappear after menstruation. This physiological change is a normal phenomenon for women of childbearing age, but the degree of breast pain varies from person to person.

If this physiological proliferation exceeds a certain range or is incomplete, it will cause breast tissue hyperplasia over time, which is generally referred to as breast hyperplasia. It can be seen from this that breast hyperplasia is a benign proliferation and degeneration of breast tissue. In essence, it is neither inflammation nor a tumor. But clinically speaking, it is one of the common causes of breast pain in women. It is more common in young and middle-aged women. There is thickening of breast tissue in the upper outer part of the breast, which is soft and tough. Sometimes a lump with unclear boundaries is formed, but it rarely adheres to the surface skin and there is no enlarged axillary lymph nodes. Most of the time, it is bilateral. The pain can radiate to the armpits, shoulders, etc. The pain often eases after menstruation.

It is generally believed that breast hyperplasia is caused by endocrine hormone imbalance and sex hormone metabolism disorder, which causes excessive estrogen secretion in the body, leading to physiological breast hyperplasia and incomplete involution. In addition, the liver's estrogen inactivation function is abnormal, so that excessive estrogen causes adverse stimulation to breast tissue and causes breast tissue proliferative lesions. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that breast hyperplasia is caused by emotional discomfort, liver qi stagnation, weak vital energy, and poor circulation of qi and blood, which lead to qi stagnation, phlegm coagulation, and blood stasis, which stagnate in the breasts and accumulate over time.

Generally speaking, there are several possible causes of breast pain:

1. Caused by menstruation: This kind of pain is obviously related to menstruation. Usually, it causes breast swelling and pain two or three days before menstruation due to increased blood supply, and gradually disappears after menstruation. Due to its obvious relationship with menstruation, it usually does not cause trouble to the person concerned.

2. The pain is caused by pressure from an ill-fitting bra, which can be relieved by changing the bra.

3. Excessive breast size causes drooping and discomfort.

4. Pain caused by breast trauma.

5. Redness, swelling, heat and pain caused by breast inflammation and infection. Mastitis is particularly prone to occur during lactation. Proper treatment (such as administration of antibiotics and appropriate massage) can quickly relieve the symptoms.

6. Breast cancer itself rarely causes pain. Pain will only occur when the cancer worsens and invades nearby tissues such as the skin or chest wall.

Therefore, if you have breast pain, you may try to find the cause yourself based on the above possibilities. However, if there is no obvious cause and the pain persists, you should immediately seek the help of a professional doctor. This is very necessary.