Hey all,
I’ll ask the question first, then narrow it down.
What causes a woman’s breasts to be tender and sore?
In the case I am talking about, the person is NOT breast feeding nor has been pregnant in the past 7 years. (I’ve done searches on the net but all refer to women who are breast feeding.)
Second, I am aware that breasts tend to get tender when the woman is on her period, but in this case, this does not apply as she is not.
The person in question is 30 years of age.
Any ideas?
Well, one possibility is that her breasts get sore at a different time in her menstrual cycle than when she is on her period. For instance, they could get sore when she ovulates (mine do).
Or it could be something totally unrelated to the fuctionings of her body. Mine we sore for something like three weeks straight before I figured out that the water in my shower was hitting me with such force that it was making them hurt afterwards for the rest of the day. Once I knew that, I monkeyed with the shower head and now all is well.
I looked through a book of Symptoms and Our Bodies Our Selves, and there were only three explainations in them to account for breast tenderness in a woman who wasn’t pregnant or nursing.
I don’t think these explainations are what you’re looking for, but she might want to do a self-examination and try to figure out how close the pain is to her period…
For me, it alwyas meant that I was pregnant. Is it absolutely certain that she is not?
99.9999% sure. She’s had her tubes cut and tied. (I know it isn’t 100%, but the sore boobs thing has been going on for a while.)
She’s done breast exams and there are no lumps or anything.
I starting to think that it may be an ovulation thing. She gets crampy around the same time.
(Hey, I’m not a woman…I wouldn’t have known. 
)
The “shower” situation is interesting. I’ll have to ask her if there are any situations where something like this may occur.
Thanks for the help guys…er…gals.
I appriciate it.
(And here I was thinking it was an excuse not to have sex. )
Must be a mighty close friend That’s what some of the members used to say.
Have a look at webmd.com they might have a better idea.
I think proper support can help a lot. Underwires are very hard on my teats. For a while I was free-boobin’ it, and that was leaving me pretty achey, too. Nowadays, I wear a sport-type bra–one that looks kind of lacy, and flesh-colored, so I can wear it under normal clothes. It just kind of mooshes things in all around, so it gives a lot of support, but doesn’t have pressure points like an underwire.
But, I still get achey now and then, so it’s hardly a cure-all. Also, depending on how, ahem, well-endowed she is, she might be more comfortable in a different style.
FWIW, breast cancer’s usually (not always) painless.
If the discomfort continues, and all other causes are ruled out (i.e. hormonal issues or physical trauma), she needs to have a mammogram and/or a breast ultrasound to rule out fibrocystic breast disease or other changes.
FYI: the medicalese term for “sore breasts” is “mastodynia”.
Robin
Tell her to write down the days she has sore breasts in her diary - that way she can check whther it fits in with a monthly cycle or not. Definitely go to a doctor for an examination, just in case.
If it does turn out to be cyclical pain, massage with oil of evening primrose can help ease it.