Breast swelling: What are the causes of swollen breasts?

Have you noticed your swollen breasts? Why does it happen? What are the causes? Breasts swollen and the pain is accompanied by increased breast tenderness, which in medical terms is called mastalgia. What are the causes of this nuisance? The causes can be many, from a common symptom of premenstrual syndrome to one of the first signs of pregnancy, the stage at which breast enlarges and becomes overly sensitive. Pain, in this case, is caused by the hormonal changes that occur in our body.

It is a more common condition than we think; because of entry it is necessary to point out that the swollen breasts are a common symptom during the childbearing age of women, menstruation or menopause. In other words, the so-called mastalgia accompanies women in every stage of your life. For example, increasing the size of the breasts, and a sense of pain is one of the first signs of pregnancy, time can also be displayed during the painful breastfeeding (mastitis). Let’s look more closely at what are the causes of swollen breast.

Swollen breast and menstruation
In the days before menstruation the swelling of the breasts, accompanied by some pain is normal. A feeling of heaviness that can be uncomfortable and that is included, therefore, within the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. This breast enlargement is motivated by the increased blood flow in the area, caused by hormones. What is the solution? We can apply warm compresses on the area to relieve symptoms.

However, the swelling of breasts can be really annoying and even influence quality of life these days, so in these cases it is recommended that gynecologist to apply some kind of therapy, such as topical ointments based in progestin.

High prolactin and swollen breasts
Hyperprolactinemia, or high prolactin, can cause severe headaches, difficulty becoming pregnant and also an increase in the volume of the breast. In fact, the prolactin hormone is produced by the pituitary gland, whose functions are to produce milk when the baby is born.

Other causes
Breast swelling is due to many reasons. If affects only one breast we can be faced with a mastitis or inflammation of the lactiferous duct, typical of pregnancy. In this case, once diagnosed, the doctor will recommend appropriate therapy. It can be treated with antibiotics, when the mastitis is caused by a bacterial infection or with anti-inflammatory. In some cases, ocular inflammations can the presence of cysts, which need not be malignant. Diagnostic tests and breast self-examination are essential for the accurate detection of this problem.

Finally, if the increase of the breasts is a pregnancy symptom, a simple test will confirm us. Do not forget either that the area of the breasts is one of the most sensitive of the body, so any sign that transmit to us must be taken into account.

Another cause of swollen breasts can be ovulation.