Pregnant woman with right chest and armpit pain

A woman's body will undergo many changes during pregnancy. The most obvious change in early pregnancy is amenorrhea. Some pregnant women also experience severe morning sickness. Due to different physical conditions, each pregnant woman will have some unique reactions during pregnancy. Some pregnant women experience pain in the right chest and armpit. What is going on? Women's breasts will change during pregnancy, and this change will last throughout the pregnancy. Let's learn about it together~

1. What causes pain on both sides of the chest during pregnancy?

Generally speaking, the pain may be caused by the redevelopment of the pregnant woman's breasts. If the pain is severe, it may be an infection and you should seek medical attention in time.

Breasts may feel swollen 40 days after menstruation stops. In severe cases, there may be breast and nipple pain, which may last throughout pregnancy. This is because the placenta and villi secrete large amounts of estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin, which cause breast hyperplasia and breast enlargement. It is also a preparation for breastfeeding and is a physiological phenomenon. As your breasts grow larger, you should promptly change to a wider bra and avoid binding your breasts. If the bloating stops suddenly, it often indicates that the fetus may have died, and you should go to the hospital for examination immediately.

The itchy breasts of pregnant women are mainly caused by dry skin due to the secretion of hormones in the body after pregnancy. The only way to cure it is to drink more water, eat more fruits, and avoid eating irritating foods. Chest pain is caused by breast development, and applying hot compress will do much better.

Generally speaking, if there is sudden, persistent, and severe pain in the breast accompanied by obvious tenderness, it is considered to be various acute infectious diseases of the breast; if there is local throbbing pain, local suppuration may have occurred. If breast pain is paroxysmal and often begins before menstruation or worsens during menstruation, and is relieved or disappears after menstruation, it is considered premenstrual tension syndrome. The pain is distending or stabbing, sometimes involving the ipsilateral armpit or shoulder and back. If there is mild to moderate tenderness locally, it is considered to be a proliferative lesion.

2. Pregnancy reactions during pregnancy

Generally, about 6 weeks after the menstruation stops in the early stages of pregnancy, about half of pregnant women will feel dizzy, weak, tired, sleepy, and have a loss of appetite. Some people may also have pregnancy reactions such as abnormal appetite, picky eating, preference for sour taste and aversion to greasy food. Some people may also experience nausea and vomiting in the early morning and when the stomach is empty. They cannot smell greasy or other odors, otherwise vomiting will occur immediately. All these are physiological reactions of pregnancy, and pregnancy reactions will generally disappear naturally around 12 weeks of pregnancy. Although it is a physiological reaction and is still very uncomfortable, the above pregnancy reactions that occur during pregnancy generally do not affect health and do not require treatment.

However, there are also a few pregnant women who experience prolonged nausea, frequent vomiting, and even vomitus mixed with bile or blood, causing dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. At this time, pregnancy reactions develop into pathological conditions. Due to being in a state of hunger for a long time, the body uses adipose tissue to supply energy, resulting in the accumulation of ketone bodies, the intermediate products of fat metabolism, causing metabolic acidosis. The patient will experience obvious weight loss, thirst, dry skin and oral mucosa, decreased urine volume, and the appearance of ketone bodies in the urine. If the disease continues to progress, liver and kidney function damage will occur, manifested as jaundice, elevated blood transaminases, increased blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, decreased urine volume, and even anuria, as well as the appearance of proteinuria and tubular urine. If this happens, pregnant women should go to the hospital as soon as possible for adjustment and treatment, and replenish fluids and nutrition in time so as not to affect the normal development of the fetus.