Is it normal for just one breast to be sore

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Having a Heart Attack? How to Tell, What to Do. See Your Healthcare provider If you suspect a breast infection or inflammation, it's important to visit your healthcare provider or gynecologist. The 7 Types of Fibromyalgia Pain. Shingles and How to Recognize It. When to Call a Healthcare Provider Call a healthcare provider for your breast pain if: You have a painful lump that doesn't go away after your period Your breasts are red or swollen You have pus drainage or nipple discharge It lasts longer than two weeks It stays in one spot It gets progressively worse It starts imposing limits on your activity.

Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? To treat a bleb, a person should continue breastfeeding or pumping as usual and massage the breast. Applying a warm compress can help alleviate pain. The breasts can change a lot during breastfeeding. One breast may feel different from the other depending on how recently the person has expressed milk from each breast.

As the breast fills with milk, some people may experience pain, swelling, or sensitivity. During letdown, which is the release of milk, it is possible to feel unusual tingling or electrical sensations in the breast.

An injury to one breast can cause sensitivity, especially if swelling occurs. Some other signs of a breast injury can include redness, nipple discharge, and pain. Breastfeeding can sometimes cause minor breast or nipple injuries. Other injuries can include blows, cuts, and scrapes to the breast. Minor injuries tend to heal on their own, but applying a warm compress may help with pain and swelling.

Regular exercise can cause muscle strain. The breasts sit above the pectoral muscles, so pain or sensitivity in these muscles may feel as though it is coming from the breasts.

Injuries to the pectoral muscles can cause sharp, shooting pains or a dull ache. Common causes of these injuries include straining or overusing the chest muscles, particularly when doing sports or heavy lifting. Gently massaging these muscles or applying ice or heat may provide relief from pain and sensitivity. Some people experience cyclic pain or sensitivity that changes during their menstrual cycle.

Cyclic pain relates to shifting hormone levels. A person may notice that their breasts feel swollen, sensitive, or painful in the days before their period. These symptoms usually occur in both breasts, but it is possible that they will be more intense in one breast than in the other. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may cause increased breast sensitivity.

As with cyclical breast pain, this sensitivity usually happens in both breasts. However, some women may find that one breast or nipple is more sensitive than the other. Not all breast lumps are cancerous.

Many people develop one or more benign lumps in their breasts at some point during their lives. Benign means that these lumps are not cancerous.

The lumps may make the breasts feel full, sore, or sensitive. Fibroadenomas result from overgrown cells forming a mass -oma of breast tissue including fibrous fibro- and glandular -adeno- components. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder PMDD describes a set of severe, debilitating symptoms that appear seven to ten days before a woman's menstrual period begins. It may be caused by an abnormal reaction to the natural female hormone changes, creating a deficiency in the mood-regulating brain chemical serotonin.

Physical symptoms include headaches, abdominal pain and bloating, back pain, and breast tenderness. Psychological symptoms include severe depression, anxiety, and irritability.

Because symptoms tend to get worse over time, medical help should be sought so that quality of life can be improved. Treatment includes improving the diet, adding vitamin and mineral supplements, and getting regular exercise. Birth control pills to regulate the menstrual cycle may be prescribed, along with anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen. Antidepressants in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class SSRI are helpful in some cases. Top Symptoms: fatigue, stomach bloating, anxiety, depressed mood, abdominal cramps stomach cramps.

Symptoms that always occur with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: impaired social or occupational functioning, symptoms of depression, anxiety and emotional lability. Symptoms that never occur with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: constant sadness, disapearance of periods for over a year. Nonspecific breast pain, also called mastalgia or mastodynia, refers to tenderness or pain in the breast with no obvious cause.

It almost always proves to have a benign non-cancerous cause. Breast pain is most common in women aged 35 to 50 and still experiencing menstruation. Fibrocystic changes are common in this age group, where tiny, fluid-filled sacs form within breast tissue and might be felt as small, tender, but non-cancerous lumps. Birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, caffeine, and soy can cause breast tenderness in women of any age.

A breast infection can cause painful lumps. A medical provider should be seen, in order to rule out any serious condition and get treatment for the discomfort. Diagnosis is made through patient history; physical examination; mammogram or breast ultrasound; and sometimes biopsy. A breast infection will be treated with antibiotics. Large, painful cysts may have the fluid drained or be surgically removed.

Lifestyle improvements regarding diet and exercise are often helpful, as well as adjustments to birth control pills or hormone therapy. There are several types of breast cancer, depending on the part of the breast where it starts. The most common types are ductal carcinoma in situ DCIS , invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma. It is rare in men but does occur. Symptoms include a lump, thickening, or pain anywhere in the breast or armpit; red, flaky, or irritated breast or nipple skin; nipple discharge; and any area of irregular skin or misshapenness.

Many harmless conditions can cause similar signs, so it is important to see a medical provider about any of these symptoms. Diagnosis is made through physical examination; imaging such as ultrasound, mammogram, or MRI; and sometimes biopsy.

The best prevention is a combination of screening mammograms as recommended by the medical provider, and monthly self-examination. Top Symptoms: breast pain, armpit lump, breast mass or retraction, breast lump, nipple discharge. A breast abscess is a collection of infected fluid, or pus, within the breast that is generally painful, and may cause fever, chills, fatigue, and body aches. A breast abscess is a complication of mastitis, an infection of the breast tissue, that develops most commonly in breastfeeding women.

Luckily, cyclical breast pain can be treated at home with simple lifestyle changes such as the following. To address cyclical breast pain symptoms, your physician may also prescribe oral contraceptives or estrogen blockers to control your hormone levels. Your physician will provide antibiotics if your breast pain is related to mastitis. There are many causes of pain in one breast and not the other. Usually, this type of pain is not associated with a menstrual cycle.

If it is associated with a menstrual cycle, it is more likely to be caused by cyclical changes in breast tissue. Non-cyclical causes include things like diet and lifestyle, such as smoking, having larger breasts, or wearing poorly fitted bras. Ductal ectasia , when the ducts of the breast dilate, may also lead to breast pain on one side. Infections of breastfeeding mothers like mastitis can also lead to swelling, warmth, and one-sided breast pain. You likely have breast pain before your period because of fibrocystic breast changes.

These changes occur as your hormones prepare you to menstruate and cause changes in your breast tissue, resulting in tenderness. Breast pain after menopause is caused most frequently by hormone replacement therapy, as female hormones cause increased sensitivity of the breast tissue. This may spontaneously resolve over time if you continue to take your medications regularly. No, stress and anxiety generally do not cause breast pain.

Severe physical stress among individuals who are undergoing situations, like starvation or a severe bodily injury, may cause menstruation to stop as well as cyclical pains associated with menstruation.

If a breast is tender, it may mean that the entire breast hurts and is sensitive to touch. This sort of tenderness may indicate a problem with the skin, such as an infection or other cause of inflammation. Tenderness can also occur at the nipple or within the breast tissue when pressed upon.

This can be caused by natural changes associated with aging, a menstrual period, a benign cyst, or even more dangerous issues such as infections or malignancies. Self-diagnose with our free Buoy Assistant if you answer yes on any of these questions. Questions may relate to diseases, illnesses, or conditions you may have or that may run in your family.

Your answers will help us provide you with medical information and identify services that may be relevant to your health. Breast pain is usually linked to periods Symptoms of breast pain caused by periods: dull, heavy or aching pain — from mild to very bad pain that begins up to 2 weeks before a period, gets worse and then goes away when the period ends usually but not always affects both breasts and sometimes pain spreads to the armpit How to ease the pain yourself Do take paracetamol or ibuprofen , or rub painkilling gel on your breasts wear a properly fitted bra during the day and a soft bra to sleep in.

Non-urgent advice: See a GP about breast pain if:. Urgent advice: Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call if:.