Mammalgia and Breast Pain

Chest | Gynecology | Mammalgia and Breast Pain (Symptom)


Description

Mastodynia, mastalgia or mammalgia are names for a medical symptom that means breast pain. Pain can vary from minor discomfort to severely incapacitating pain. Breast pain can cause worrisome about a possible cancer risk than about the pain.

Breast pain during lactation or after weaning is not included into this Description but usually classified as breast engorgement or mastitis.

Causes

The most common cause of breast discomfort is from the effects of hormones on breast tissue from the female menstrual period. Many women experience mild monthly breast pain in conjunction with their periods (menses). For some women, however, the pain can be more severe. This premenstrual breast pain is referred to as cyclic breast discomfort. The exact cause of cyclic breast discomfort has not been determined.

Much less common causes of breast pain include benign growths (tumours) in the breasts (including cysts), breast cancer, and certain medications. It should be noted that breast cancers are often painless and can be detected by manual examination, mammogram, or ultrasound of the breast. Breast pain is called mastodynia, mastalgia, or mammalgia by physicians.

Diagnosis and Treatment

While in many cases it would possible to predict which treatment will be most effective with a series of endocrinological investigations, involving thyroid and complicated pituitary hormone testing is rarely done in practice.

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