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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffBreast pain (mastalgia) — a common complaint among women — can include breast tenderness, sharp burning pain or tightness in your breast tissue. The pain may be constant or it may occur only occasionally.
Breast pain can range from mild to severe. It can affect you just a few days a month, for instance just before your period, or can last for seven days or more each month. Breast pain may affect you just before your period or it may continue throughout the menstrual cycle. Postmenopausal women sometimes have breast pain, but breast pain is more common in younger, premenopausal women and perimenopausal women.
Most times, breast pain signals a noncancerous (benign) breast condition and rarely indicates breast cancer. Still, unexplained breast pain that doesn't go away after one or two menstrual cycles or that persists after menopause and occurs in one specific area of your breast needs to be evaluated by your doctor.
- Golshan M, et al. Breast pain. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Dec. 17, 2012.
- Miltenburg DM, et al. Benign breast disease. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America. 2008;35:285.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2013:5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-08373-7..00002-9&isbn=978-0-323-08373-7&about=true&uniqId=343863096-23. Accessed Dec. 17, 2012.
- Salzman B, et al. Common breast problems. American Family Physician. 2012;86:343.
- Pearlman MD, et al. Benign breast disease. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2010;116:747.
- Rodden AM. Common breast concerns. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice. 2009;36:103.
- Pruthi S, et al. Vitamin E and evening primrose oil for management of cyclical mastalgia: A randomized pilot study. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010;15:59.
- Parsay S, et al. Therapeutic effects of vitamin E on cyclic mastalgia. The Breast Journal. 2009;15:510.
- Evening primrose oil. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed Dec. 18, 2012.
- Gallenberg MM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 20, 2012.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 20, 2012.
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