Any woman at least once in her life felt pain in the area of the mammary glands before the onset of menstruation. What is the cause of such an unpleasant sensation? In the absence of other pathological causes, chest pain is a signal of the onset of ovulation in a woman.
What is ovulation
This is the process of egg maturation, which leaves the ovarian follicle and is ready for fertilization. In a healthy woman, ovulation occurs on the 15-20th day of the menstrual cycle. During this period, the female body is ready for the conception of a child. If the egg is not fertilized, it dies and leaves the body with menstruation. Ovulation lasts more than one day. This process takes about a week in the middle of the cycle.
Ovulation is absent in pregnant women and women who have experienced menopause.
Can the chest hurt during ovulation? Along with strong sexual desire, a change in the quality of vaginal discharge, abdominal pain, fever in the pelvic area and a change in mood in women during this period, there are pains in the soft tissues of the mammary glands.
Causes of discomfort
Most women experience pain in the mammary glands during ovulation. The glandular tissue fills with fluid, increasing in size, the breast becomes sensitive to the slightest touch. These signs are felt in the middle of the cycle. The question is whether the breast may hurt during ovulation, the woman asks when the pain becomes stronger than usual.
With each menstrual cycle in the female body, the hormones estrogen and progesterone are proportionally produced. When estrogen levels rise in the blood, chest pain increases. This means that fertilization did not take place, and the woman will soon have her period.
The cause of chest pain may be the lack of ovulation, such pain is localized on the outside of both glands. There are cases when chest pain is a sign of pathological formations in the mammary glands caused by an overabundance of the hormone estrogen. In such situations, the doctor should prescribe appropriate treatment.
Can breasts hurt before ovulation?
Before the start of ovulation, the chest should not hurt. This is exactly the period when the female body rests after menstruation and before the maturation of a new egg.
Can breasts hurt during ovulation?
The mammary gland is a hormone-dependent organ of the female body. Due to the release into the blood of the hormone prolactin, which is necessary for lactation in the event of pregnancy, the breast begins to coarsen and increase in size during ovulation. The enlarged glandular tissue presses on the nerve endings located nearby, which causes unpleasant sensations in the chest. Since one of the main signals of the onset of ovulation is pain in the area of the mammary glands, answering the question: “Does the chest hurt during ovulation?”, We can say that the chest hurts directly during the maturation and exit of the egg from the follicle. But many women hardly notice such discomfort.
Does breast hurt on the day of ovulation?
Those women who do not feel bursting in the mammary glands during the egg maturation period can feel pain on the very day when the egg matured and left the follicle to meet the sperm.
What happens next?
Does breast hurt after ovulation? Some women complain that they feel chest pain after ovulation. Such sensations can persist due to the presence in the mammary gland of the hormone prolactin, which has not yet been completely excreted by the body, or due to the onset of pregnancy, as a result of which the body begins to intensively produce progesterone and prolactin. Does the chest hurt immediately after ovulation, or does this indicate pregnancy? The exact answer to this question can be found only on the day of the menstrual delay using a pregnancy test.
Should the chest hurt after ovulation?
If fertilization does not occur, all hormones produced by the body to support a possible pregnancy are excreted from it. The mammary glands gradually acquire their usual appearance, the pain subsides, and the woman begins menstruating. Another question: does breast always hurt after ovulation during pregnancy? It all depends on the body itself and on the pain threshold of a woman. She may simply not pay attention to the weak sensations in the chest area. In this case, she learns about pregnancy only with a delay.
Chest pain that is associated with other causes
We have already figured out whether the chest can hurt during ovulation. However, the cause of the pain in the mammary glands may not be related to the maturation of the egg. Such factors include various types of mastopathy, fibrocystic diseases, oncological processes, thyroid disease, disorders associated with trauma to one or both mammary glands.
With fibrocystic mastopathy, some areas of the glandular tissue become denser, and in some of them small capsules with liquid form. During ovulation, healthy areas of the gland swell and compress the patients, thereby exerting double pressure and pinching of the nerve endings. Hence the chest pain.
With the formation of malignant tumors, the glandular layer mutates at the cellular level. There is an uncontrolled proliferation of pathological tissue. This leads to compression of the nerves in the gland and deformation of one or two breasts. There is pain that does not depend on the menstrual cycle and ovulation.
Women with diabetes usually have problems with the thyroid gland. Since the endocrine system is responsible for the production of hormones, and the mammary glands are directly related to the hormonal background, frequent hormonal jumps and chest pain occur. In diabetes, the destruction of small vessels occurs, tissue sites cease to be saturated with oxygen. Because of this, tissue cells die, forming whole clusters in which the inflammatory process occurs. With ovulation, it intensifies, and the pain is felt more intensely.
In case of a mammary gland injury, connective tissue and adhesions occur in the affected area, which limit the free swelling of the gland during ovulation, thus causing pain.
Ways to reduce chest discomfort
These include:
- Breathing exercises, meditation, aroma and herbal medicine, aimed at relaxing the whole body.
- Warm bath or shower, light chest massage.
- Reduced stress and heavy physical exertion.
- Quitting smoking and alcohol.
- Healthy balanced nutrition, intake of vitamins A, B, E.
- Loose clothes, a comfortable non-squeezing bra, preferably sports.
- Taking anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs for unbearable pain.
Methods for diagnosing breast problems
If the pain becomes regular, severe or appears for the first time, a woman should consult a doctor who can prescribe an examination of the mammary glands using an ultrasound machine.
A woman regularly before menstruation should conduct an independent breast examination for lumps. Ladies over 45 years of age are screened with a mammogram. It is enough for young people once a year to do an ultrasound of the mammary glands.
Treatment methods
If chest pain during ovulation is caused by an imbalance of hormones in the female body, you must consult a gynecologist who will prescribe the necessary therapy. Treatment can be conservative, for example, with the use of hormonal drugs. Sometimes in severe cases, when the chest is too large a seal that disrupts the blood flow and brings severe pain, surgery is required. But if the cause of the pain is a violation of metabolic processes in the tissues, the doctor can recommend drugs based on beneficial herbs and ointments for local effects on the cause of pain.
Herbal medicine and dietary supplements
The following drugs are often prescribed:
- Mastodinon. It includes the sacred vitex plant (common thistle), which helps to normalize the production of hormones in the right ratio. Reception should last at least three months.
- "Cyclodinone."
- Agnukaston.
- Nolphit.
- Calcium. It is found in fermented milk products, strengthens the nervous system and best helps to deal with the causes of chest pain during ovulation.
Synthetic drugs
Along with herbal remedies, a gynecologist can recommend the use of drugs for local exposure to the problem:
- Gels and ointments ("Diclofenac", "Piroxicam") have a local analgesic effect.
- Cream or Progesterone suppositories affect the cause itself: an excess of progesterone in the tissues.
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ointments reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
- "Tamoxifen" is intended for the treatment of cancerous tumors in the mammary glands, but at the same time reduces pain.
- "Danazol" is effective in mastalgia and in pain not associated with ovulation. There are side effects that are mentioned in the instructions.
- "Bromocriptine", "Lysuride" ("Dopergin") - are dopamine agonists, inhibit the production of the hormone prolactin. They have many side effects, but they cope well with pain in the mammary glands. A course of treatment is required for at least 2-3 months.
All gels and ointments must be applied once or twice a day, it is advisable not to get in direct sunlight immediately after application, since the body's response to the drug varies depending on ultraviolet radiation.
Summarize
Can the chest hurt during ovulation? Yes, pain in the mammary glands during ovulation is what many women feel. In order for the hormonal background to always be normal, doctors advise taking contraceptives. They help regulate hormones, and as a rule, there are no severe pains during their long-term use. Doctors also advise all women from the age of 20 to 45 to check their breasts at least once a year with an ultrasound scan. And also regularly conduct a self-examination of the mammary glands in the shower for the presence of seals, redness and fever of a single area on the skin of the chest. The pain should not last more than a few days before menstruation, if pregnancy has not occurred. After giving birth and during the lactation period, you need to monitor your breasts more often. After ovulation no longer occurs due to menopause, a woman should undergo a mammogram once a year. Doctors recommend with chest pains to relax more and try not to be nervous over trifles, to protect the glands from shock and injuries.
If nevertheless the pain turns out to be constant and unbearable, it is necessary to undergo an examination and consult a doctor, he will certainly offer suitable treatment.