What causes breast pain during menstruation?

Many female friends may have experienced breast pain during menstruation. In severe cases, the breasts cannot even be touched and it hurts when touched. Since menstruation is a special physiological period for women, there are many problems that occur in our bodies during menstruation, such as breast pain. So what causes breast pain during menstruation? I will introduce it to you today, let’s take a look.

Throughout the menstrual cycle, the sex hormones in women undergo cyclical changes. In the first half of the menstrual cycle, under the influence of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), the follicles gradually mature, estrogen levels increase, and the breasts show proliferative changes. At this time, the breasts will show signs of stretching of the mammary ducts, epithelial hyperplasia, enlargement of the alveoli, and expansion of the duct lumens, leading to edema of the periductal tissues and congestion of the local tissues. Therefore, the breasts will become noticeably swollen and even painful during this period.

Especially 3 to 4 days before menstruation, the ductal epithelial cells in the lobules hypertrophy, and the secretions between the lobes and the terminal ducts increase significantly. Therefore, many women will feel breast swelling, enlargement, tension and firmness before menstruation, and even have varying degrees of pain and tenderness, and sometimes lumps can be felt.

After menstruation, the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body decrease rapidly, the stimulation of estrogen on the mammary gland weakens, the secretion of mammary duct epithelial cells decreases significantly, the cells begin to shrink and fall off, the edema subsides naturally, the volume of the mammary lobules and alveoli decreases, the breasts become smaller and softer, and the pain and tenderness will gradually disappear.

Through the above introduction, I believe many friends have already understood the approximate reasons why women experience breast pain during menstruation. During menstruation, the hormone levels in women's bodies fluctuate greatly, which can cause breast swelling and pain. But this situation will not last long, and the pain will usually disappear after the menstrual period ends.