A host of bodily changes that women experience during their reproductive years occur as a result of fluctuations in the levels of certain hormones. Hormonal imbalance might also be the reason why you may suffer from sore breasts after period. In this article, we will look into the causes of sore and tender breasts after period.
While young girls who have just hit puberty and had their first period may dread menstrual bleeding, abdominal pain and other distressing symptoms that appear during the menstrual cycle, this is something women learn to live with. In fact, a normal menstrual cycle marks the ability of your body to conceive and allows you to have a life grow within your womb. All these changes that occur during the reproductive years are induced by hormones. Hormones play a very big role in this transition and continue to do so throughout the different phases of a woman’s life. Whether it’s menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, perimenopause or menopause, it’s the interplay of these hormones that gives rise to a variety of symptoms that appear during these stages.
A majority of women experience bodily changes during menstrual cycle, especially the time before the period due to the interaction between hormones called estrogen and progesterone. Emotional and physical changes that occur before the period are attributed to premenstrual syndrome. Sometimes women might also experience some symptoms after their period. For instance, women may experience sore breasts after period. If you wish to know what causes swelling, tenderness and soreness of breasts after period, scroll down for finding an answer to your question.
Causes
As mentioned earlier, the changes in the level of hormones bring about the physical symptoms as well as the mood swings that women experience at this time of the month. The reproductive cycle usually lasts for a period of 28 days, starting from the follicular phase marked by bleeding due to shedding of the endometrium (uterine lining) to the proliferative phase in which the levels of estrogen and progesterone rise, thereby causing the uterine lining to thicken. If one indulges in sexual intercourse during this time and the ovum released at this time gets fertilized, these hormones will be secreted in higher amounts to facilitate the thickening of endometrium so as to support the pregnancy. Higher levels of progesterone are also responsible for causing fluid retention in the body. When the fluid gets stored in the breast tissues, it causes the tissues to become stretched or swollen. Thus, sore or tender breasts might even be a sign of pregnancy.
At times, the lifestyle choices we make, might also have an impact on the menstrual cycle. Though a woman might miss a period as a result of pregnancy, at times hormonal imbalance caused due to stress could also cause a delayed period. Women who are under a lot of stress at workplace or are going through an emotionally turbulent phase often suffer from irregular periods. Use of birth control pills, obesity, malnutrition or disorders associated with the endocrine glands may also alter the balance of hormones which in turn might give rise to mental and physical symptoms after a period. Estrogen dominance is one of the main causes of tender breasts. So, everything boils down to hormonal imbalance. Anything that disturbs this balance will cause sore, swollen breasts after period.
Besides breast soreness and tenderness, fluctuations in the levels of these hormones could also cause breast pain. The intensity of pain changes during the menstrual cycle. Such a pain is medically referred to as cyclic mastalgia. The hormonal changes that take place every month during the menstrual cycle can cause harmless fibrocystic changes that can cause the breast tissue to become more sensitive than usual. Women may find their breasts to be lumpier right before the period. Usually these symptoms appear before the period and subside afterwards. The ducts and the lobes in the breasts could also enlarge while a woman is ovulating and thus her breasts may feel sore and tender. In a majority of cases, this fibrocystic condition subsides after women reach menopause.
Treatment
Women who have been experiencing such symptoms after period must take a pregnancy test. Tenderness of breasts is one of the most common bodily changes that may occur as a result of pregnancy. If that’s not the case, one might be ovulating. Though soreness of breasts is undoubtedly a very annoying condition, you must not let this stress you out. Stress is known to aggravate the fluctuations in the levels of female hormone. The more stressed out you are, the higher would be the likelihood of a hormonal imbalance. This way you might get caught up in this vicious cycle. It’s important that you stay relaxed. Rather than thinking about pain and soreness and stressing yourself even more, try some relaxation techniques to divert your mind.
If water retention in the breast tissues has caused your breasts to swell up, buy the right-sized brassiere that will support your breasts properly. You must also make some dietary changes, and refrain from drinking coffee, tea or carbonated drinks. Do follow a healthy diet. At times, use of birth control pills or hormone therapy can also give rise to a hormonal imbalance. Women may experience certain symptoms on switching birth control pills or discontinuing their use. A wise thing to do would be to consult a gynecologist before you switch to another pill. If breast soreness seems to be intolerable, you should consult a reproductive endocrinologist, who can suggest ways to correct hormonal imbalance.
While women are truly blessed to have the ability to give birth to a new life, they have to endure a variety of bodily changes to be able to do so. Breast soreness is just one of the many bodily changes brought about by an interplay of hormones. Though sore breasts might not always be a cause of serious concern, women must never ignore severe symptoms that develop after period. Since non cyclical breast pain, breast soreness or formation of lumps might be indicative of medical conditions such as tumors or breast cancer, consult a doctor immediately on experiencing such symptoms.
Disclaimer: This HerHaleness article is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.
