close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffOften, breast pain resolves on its own within a few months. Very few women require specific treatment.
To treat breast pain, your doctor might recommend that you:
- Eliminate an underlying cause or aggravating factor. This may involve a simple adjustment, such as wearing a bra with extra support, or a significant change, such as switching birth control methods.
- Use a topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication. You apply the medication directly to the area affected by noncyclic breast pain.
- Take an oral contraceptive. If you already take an oral contraceptive, you may need a dose adjustment.
- Reduce the dose of menopausal hormone therapy. You might also consider stopping menopausal hormone therapy entirely.
- Take a prescription medication. Danazol is the only prescription medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating breast pain and tenderness, but it comes with the risk of potentially severe androgenic side effects, such as acne, weight gain and voice changes, that limit its use. Tamoxifen, a prescription medication for breast cancer treatment and prevention, may be recommended for some women, but this drug also carries the potential for side effects that may be more bothersome than the breast pain itself.
References
- Smith RL, et al. Evaluation and management of breast pain. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2004;79:353.
- Miltenburg DM, et al. Benign breast disease. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America. 2008;35:285.
- Richardson J. Breast signs and symptoms: Breast pain. In: Adams Hillard PJ. The 5-Minute Obstetrics and Gynecology Consult. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:22.
- Golshan M, et al. Breast pain. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed June 1, 2010.
- Millet AV, et al. Clinical management of breast pain: A review. Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey. 2002;57:451.
- 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.
- Rodden AM. Common breast concerns. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice. 2009;36:103.
- Parsay S, et al. Therapeutic effects of vitamin E on cyclic mastalgia. The Breast Journal. 2009;15:510.
Find Mayo Clinic on