Chest hurts: what causes the pain? Chest pain in the nipple area. Main reasons. What to do if nipples hurt

Painful sensations in the area of the mammary glands and areola of the nipples can be evidence of both natural physiological processes in a woman's body and pathological changes.

Physiological causes of chest and nipple pain

Before your period

The most common cause of nipple pain is impending menstruation. During this period - from the middle of the cycle or a few days before menstruation - the level of hormones such as progesterone and prolactin in women rises in the blood.

An increase in their concentration causes fluid retention in tissues and organs - edema, including in the mammary gland. The ducts of the mammary glands swell and squeeze the nerve endings, as a result, the nipples become overly sensitive: any touch to them causes discomfort and even pain.

During pregnancy

Pregnancy can also cause pain in the nipples. Starting from the first weeks, the female breast undergoes active structural changes, preparing for future lactation.

The hormone levels rise again and the milk ducts gain volume very quickly. Meanwhile, the nerve fibers do not grow so rapidly, as a result, they are in a state of tension for a long time - which is why the nipples and breasts in general hurt in women at the beginning of pregnancy.

During breastfeeding

Breast pain can also occur while breastfeeding. There are several reasons for this:

First of all, this is due to the fact that the breasts are "poured", and from a significant increase in volume, pain appears in the chest, in general, and the nipples, in particular.
The nipples can hurt due to improper grip of the breast by the child: either the mother does not correctly attach the baby to the breast, or she is swollen and the nipples are so rude that the baby cannot take it correctly. The baby can incorrectly capture the breast if the mother has taken an uncomfortable position for him or uncomfortably positioned the baby. Due to improper grip, the nipples are injured, cracked, and this can cause more serious breast diseases.
Nipple pain can occur if a nursing mother takes the breast away from her baby too quickly at the end of a feed.
Thin and dry skin on the nipples. A few days after giving birth, it will become deeper and covered with lubricant, and in the first days, feeding a newborn can cause significant discomfort.

Irregular nipples - inverted, long, with folds or growths. While feeding, they can be injured and hurt.
Beginning mastitis or milk stagnation.

Pathological causes of pain in the nipple area

Painful sensations in the chest, including in the nipples, can appear not only in connection with hormonal changes or feeding the baby, but also for a number of other reasons:

Breast tumor

Painful sensations in the chest area are often accompanied by neoplasms, both benign and malignant. However, in such cases, pain is not the only symptom.

Usually, the development of breast tumors is accompanied by:

discharge,
changes in color and shape, size of the nipple and areola,
axillary pain
and the fact that the discomfort is usually observed in one breast.

In addition, self-examination of this breast may reveal nodular lumps. If you notice similar symptoms in yourself - go to the doctor's appointment urgently!

Reception of OK, the action of which is based on the work of hormones

The use of such drugs can cause hormonal imbalance in the body, which is manifested, among other things, by breast tenderness. Often nipple pain is indicated as a side effect of the contraceptive in the instructions for use.

However, if such sensations cause severe discomfort, it is better to change the remedy after consulting a gynecologist.

Psychological prerequisites

In some cases, soreness in the area of the mammary glands is the result of emotional shock, stress, and a strong conflict experienced. The fact is that all these psychological phenomena affect the fragile hormonal balance, with which breast sensitivity is closely related.

Malfunctions of the endocrine or central nervous systems

Nipple pain can also be a symptom of conditions such as intercostal neuralgia and adrenal dysfunction. In addition, it often accompanies reflex and segmental pain, disturbances in the work of the pituitary gland, thyroid gland and liver.

What to do with chest and nipple pain?

Not every time you have pain in your nipples, you should sound the alarm. If you have established that painful sensations occur in accordance with certain phases of the menstrual cycle, there is nothing to worry about: with the arrival of menstruation, there will be no trace of pain when touching the breast.

The norm is the soreness of the nipples in women during pregnancy, as well as at the beginning of the breastfeeding period.

How to reduce nipple soreness?

What to do to reduce discomfort during these periods:

practice good hygiene (but do not overdo it: do not use soap or gels every time you wash your breasts),
wear underwear of the correct size, if possible from natural fabrics and without seams that injure the nipple,
avoid excessive breast stimulation and overexcitation.

If you are a nursing mother or will soon become one, do not be too lazy to study the information on the correct attachment of the baby to the breast - it will noticeably reduce the painful sensations in the mammary gland during feeding. After a while, the pains will disappear completely and, in the future, the feeding period will proceed without problems.

When is an urgent need to visit a doctor?

If you are not pregnant or breastfeeding, your period is over, and at the same time you still feel that your nipples are sore, you should be alert and watch for the accompanying pain symptoms.

An urgent visit to a mammologist is necessary if the following signs are found:

bloody or purulent discharge from the nipple;
noticeable deformation of the breast as a whole, as well as the nipple and areola, a sharp change in color;
the appearance on the chest, namely on the skin of the areola and nipple, cracks, ulcers, redness, edema;
the continuity of pain, its intensification.

Remember that pain is always a signal from the body. It is important to correctly recognize it and identify the cause of the pain. Attention to yourself is a guarantee of health.

It is known that in order to prevent breast diseases, every woman, in addition to an annual examination with a specialized specialist, must regularly conduct an independent examination of her breasts.

It happens that during such an examination, a woman notices that when pressing on one or both mammary glands, pain appears.

When a woman's chest hurts when pressed, it often scares her, as there is a suspicion of cancer. Indeed, severe pain in the mammary gland can be observed in the later stages of cancer, but more often the pain in the mammary gland when pressing on the nipple is a symptom of other diseases that can be successfully treated.

Causes

One of the most common reasons for chest pain when touched is crushing or bruising of the breast. This can be easily avoided by choosing the right bra size and following basic safety rules.

Other reasons due to the effect of which one or both glands hurt when pressed are:

Change in hormonal levels before the onset of menstruation.
Pregnancy and lactation. During pregnancy, pain can occur for completely natural reasons. In the body, hormonal changes begin, the production of the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for milk production, increases.

The mammary gland begins to enlarge, its sensitivity increases, which leads to the appearance of pain (especially with pressure). After the end of hormonal changes, the pain usually disappears.

During lactation, one or both breasts may be sore when milk arrives. This is normal, over time, the body will get used to it, and the pain will stop.

Mastopathy (cystic, fibrous or mixed). With this pathology, the tissues of the gland begin to grow, forming a benign neoplasm. In addition to the formation of a seal, fluid begins to stand out from the nipples. Mastopathy often affects both breasts. The pain in this disease is mild, aching. It is known that 15% of women suffering from mastopathy do not have chest pain at all when pressed. In some cases, if treatment is not started on time, mastopathy can lead to the development of breast cancer.
Fibroadenoma. It is a benign neoplasm that does not respond well to treatment. At the same time, the mammary gland thickens and becomes painful when pressed, discharge appears from the nipples. If the disease is found in women over the age of forty, then a prompt solution to the problem is recommended. Degeneration of a tumor into a malignant neoplasm is rare.
Lactostasis. This is nothing more than stagnation of milk in the ducts of the mammary glands. It is accompanied by the fact that the nipples hurt if you start to press them. During palpation, you can feel small foci of compaction, the skin above them may be hyperemic. In the process of feeding or expressing, the woman becomes painful.
Mastitis. With this disease, an inflammatory process begins in the mammary glands, which, in the absence of timely treatment, can lead to the development of a number of serious complications. Most often, mastitis occurs due to non-compliance with the rules of hygiene while feeding the baby. The infection enters the gland tissue through cracks in the nipples. Breast pain worsens with breastfeeding and even light touching of the breast.
Swelling of the breast. It can occur for various reasons, but is almost always accompanied by pain in the chest with pressure.
Breast cancer. Breasts with cancer rarely hurt, usually in the last stages of the disease.

In addition to the above causes, chest pain can be observed with the following pathologies:

Diseases of the thyroid gland.
Intercostal neuralgia. When pinched, pain spreads throughout the nerve, which is why pain occurs not only in the lower back and back, but also in the chest. With neuralgia, severe attacks of pain are observed, which intensify with movement. It also hurts when pressing on the chest, inhaling and exhaling.
Diseases of the CVS.
Osteochondrosis.
Respiratory diseases.
Thrombophlebitis.

The risk group for breast diseases includes the following categories of women:

have not given birth;
having bad habits;
not breastfeeding a baby;
suffered chest trauma;
having poor heredity (there are relatives with breast cancer in the female line);
suffering from diseases of the gallbladder, thyroid, liver;
living in places with poor environmental conditions;
overweight;
women who have had multiple abortions;
chest pain when touched can occur with diabetes.

What to do if you have breast pain?

In most cases, chest pain is physiological in nature and after a while goes away on its own, without any treatment.

If the painful sensations continue for a long time and arise spontaneously, and in addition to chest pain, symptoms such as fever, soreness when pressing on the chest, persistent hyperemia and swelling of the breast are observed, then this is a reason to see a doctor.

A woman must choose the right bra (it must be made from natural fabrics and fit in size). In addition, in the presence of excess weight, a low-fat diet, multivitamin complexes are prescribed.

If all of the above does not help, then the doctor may prescribe drug therapy with hormonal drugs to restore hormonal metabolism. It should be remembered that you should not self-medicate and take hormones without a doctor's prescription. This is fraught with a deterioration in the condition and the development of a number of complications, the consequences of which will then be difficult to eliminate.

In case of detection of pathological changes in the mammary gland, the underlying disease is treated. So tumors and cysts are most often removed surgically. With mastitis, antibiotics are prescribed, in case of abscess formation, it is opened, followed by treatment and dressing of the wound, and so on.

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In conclusion, I would like to note that when symptoms such as chest pain when pressed, discharge from the nipples, changes in the shape and consistency of the breast, you should immediately consult a doctor for further treatment. This will help avoid complications and preserve the woman's health for many years to come.

There can be many reasons why a woman's nipples hurt. This phenomenon is very common and most often is not considered a pathology, since it is a natural physiological process. But this cannot be ignored either. You should consult a doctor who will determine why your chest hurts and, if necessary, prescribe treatment. In other words, nipple soreness can be a symptom of a serious medical condition.

The question of why a woman's nipples hurt is asked at different periods of life by many

Pain in the nipples of the breast (mastalgia) is periodically recorded in almost 2/3 of women, and the nature of the unpleasant sensations can be very different. The entire area of the mammary gland is recognized as one of the most sensitive areas, and the areola is even more so. The skin here is delicate and thin, and the tissues are permeated with numerous nerve fibers and blood vessels.

This physiological feature leads to the fact that at the slightest damage to the skin, the nipples may hurt. They are able to get sick with violations in the functioning of the mammary gland, changes in the state of the ducts. In any case, when nipple pain is detected, the causes can be physiological, not related to the disease, or pathological, when the pain syndrome becomes a symptom of the disease. In the first case, no special treatment is required, but it is only important to eliminate the provoking factors.

If the nipples in women hurt for pathological reasons, then additional signs are observed. It is necessary to assess the degree of danger in a timely manner and, if severe symptoms are found, consult a doctor. An assessment of unpleasant sensations is important:

how the nipple hurts (cutting, twitching, aching character);
duration and intensity of manifestations;
the frequency of relapses;
accompanying signs.

Pain in the nipples of the breast, or mastalgia, is periodically recorded in almost 2/3 of women, and the nature of the unpleasant sensations can be very different

Men also sometimes have nipple pain. The main causes are associated with trauma and damage to nerve fibers.

However, in rare cases, a disease is recorded - gynecomastia. This pathology is caused by the excessive production of female hormones in the male body, which leads to the proliferation of the mammary gland. Other diseases are also possible.

Physiological and nonhazardous specific causes

When a woman does not want to think about why the nipples of her breasts hurt, she tries to connect this with reasons not related to pathological processes in the body. This is a physiological mechanism due to exogenous influences. The following main non-pathological causes of nipple pain can be distinguished:

Neurogenic factor. With frequent and prolonged psychological overload, as well as nervous stress, the hormonal balance is disturbed, which leads to malfunctions in the functioning of the mammary gland. The result is pain in the nipple area.
Wrong choice of bra. In such cases, chafing occurs, which causes pain.
Sexual contact after prolonged sexual abstinence. The phenomenon occurs due to a sharp hormonal surge.
A bruise in the chest area. Physical impact on the mammary gland leads to swelling and stretching of delicate tissues, which affects the nerve fibers.
The use of substandard detergents. Washing the nipple area, for example with soap, dries out the skin. It is this effect that can cause painful discomfort.
Allergic reaction. It occurs as a painful irritation to the skin. Allergens are often synthetic fabrics and detergents.
Taking hormonal drugs and contraceptives. They provide the entry into the female body of an additional portion of estrogen and progesterone, which increases, which sometimes causes pain.
Excessive stimulation. With intensive stimulation of the breast, blood begins to actively flow into the nipple region, which can also explain why the nipple hurts in this case.
Piercing and permanent makeup. When such procedures are carried out with damage to the mammary gland, the nipples are very sore, and both the right and left nipples can be affected.

Most often, when answering the question of why the nipples of the breast hurt, an unsubscribe to the reasons that are not related to pathological processes in the body follows

The female body can be under specific stress associated with the menstrual cycle, the process of conception, pregnancy, lactation. It is these conditions that often explain why the chest hurts:

The influence of the menstrual cycle and cyclic mastodynia can cause nipples to hurt when touched. They can whine, both on the right and on the left breast during some periods of the menstrual cycle. The most characteristic is premenstrual syndrome, usually starting 3 days before menstruation. At this time, the level of estrogen, prolactin and progesterone increases significantly, as a result of which the size of the gland increases.
In addition, nipples hurt when pressed during and immediately after ovulation. Cyclic mastodynia, as a rule, is felt within 5-7 days, but with a delay in menstruation, this period may increase. Pain syndrome disappears with active bleeding. The process is a natural reaction of the body, which means that no special treatment is required.
The period of puberty in a girl. At this stage of development, there is an active growth of the mammary gland and an increase in the size of the nipple, and changes in the nerve fibers sometimes do not keep up with this development. As a result, girls often have a sore papilla, and pain can be felt in the left or right, as well as in both at the same time. With normal development, the completion of the formation of the gland automatically eliminates the pain syndrome. If the chest pain is too long and intense, then you should see a doctor.
Pregnancy. It is believed that nipple pain is often a sign of pregnancy. After conception, the blood flow to the breast increases, the production of prolactin increases, which causes the proliferation of the ducts. As a result of this effect, tension appears in the nerve fibers, which provokes pain syndrome. Pressure increases the intensity of pain, a burning sensation appears.
Immediately after the birth of a child, the iron prepares for its intended purpose. An active inflow of milk begins, which often leads to tissue cracking, even causing bleeding. When you touch the nipples during this period, burning pains occur. To reduce the intensity of the pain syndrome, wound healing ointments are used. You can expect problems if the nipples are red.
Breastfeeding. This period for inexperienced mothers often becomes a real challenge. Improper placement of the baby, unsuccessful extraction of the nipples, bite injuries - this is what makes the nipples (one or both) sore. The hygiene of the nipple zone plays an important role. If basic hygiene standards are violated, then skin irritation can be expected.

What to do if the nipples hurt during physiological processes, and quite intensely? To eliminate pain, medicinal ointments and folk remedies are used. Inflammatory reactions are effectively removed by ointments such as Actovegin and Solcoseryl.

The use of the cabbage leaf is quite popular. A small amount of honey and butter is applied to it, after which it is applied to the sore chest. A compress made from a mixture of chopped cabbage and yogurt helps well. The prepared gruel is placed on the nipple and fixed with a bandage. If edema appears, you will need the help of cold compresses, you can apply ice for 18-25 minutes.

Pathological manifestations

All the cases of painful sensations in the chest discussed above can be attributed to physiological processes that are not associated with diseases, although with their frequent occurrence, they can lead to pathologies. In addition to these circumstances, pain can be a symptom of various diseases.

The nipple of the breast hurts for the following main pathological reasons:

Lactostasis. Retention of milk in the ducts can lead to blockages. With this pathology, redness appears on the chest and red nipples are found. With lactostasis, the pain syndrome is usually one-sided, that is, the right nipple or breast on the left hurts. The most effective way to combat this phenomenon is to thoroughly express the remaining milk.
Mastitis. The disease is characterized by inflammation of the mammary gland or ducts of an infectious nature. It often appears as a complication of lactostasis when an infection is attached. Another way of infection is the penetration of the pathogen through microscopic cracks. In this case, the pain in the nipples stabs, pulls, burns. When the nipples turn red and are very sore, mastitis can be suspected. The fight against infection is carried out with antibiotics.
Mastopathy. This disease is caused by a change in breast tissue that occurs due to the overproduction of progesterone with low estrogen levels. Seals in the form of cysts form in the gland. Pain occurs in the nipples and is worse when touched.
Non-cyclic mastalgia. This pathology is not associated with a change in hormonal balance. The following factors become the causes of the disease: various inflammatory reactions in the chest area, metabolic disorders in the female body, intercostal neuralgia, disruption of the pituitary gland, diseases of the adrenal glands and liver, disorders of the central nervous system. Weakening of immunity, depression, surgical treatment in the chest area provoke the development of the disease.
Tumor formations. Nipple pain can be caused by both benign and malignant tumors. Neoplasms are noticeable by the appearance of nodules, discoloration of the skin, deformation of the nipples and the entire breast. Transparent or whitish discharge is found, and in oncology, they may have blood impurities.

Pathological pain in the nipple area is accompanied by additional symptoms. Be sure to consult a doctor if the following symptoms appear:

discharge that does not look like lactation;
swelling in the nipple area;
redness;
bleeding;
changes in the shape or color of the nipple and surrounding tissues;
a rash or noticeable cracked nipples;
itching and burning;
increased body temperature;
nausea and vomiting, indigestion;
general weakness.

Pathological pain in the nipple area is accompanied by additional symptoms

Nipple pain in women is most often caused by natural physiological processes and are not considered hazardous to health. However, cases are often recorded when pain syndrome is a symptom of pathology. It is important to correctly assess the degree of danger of pain. If you have any particularly warning signs, you should see a doctor.

Undoubtedly, if a woman has a chest pain in the nipple area, this cannot but be alarming. This symptom can indicate both a natural hormonal change in the body, when it is a variant of the norm, and a serious illness that requires immediate treatment.

Consider for what reasons soreness in the nipples may appear.

Incorrectly selected underwear

No matter how trite it may sound, often long, albeit mild, pain in the nipple area is caused simply by the wrong selection of the bra. It is necessary to pay attention that the shape and size of the cup correspond to the breast, do not press on it, do not pinch it. It is important that the inner seams or lace inserts do not touch the nipples. In some women, synthetic bra material can cause an allergic reaction. Slimming underwear, which corrects the figure, can also negatively affect.

Local allergic reaction

The high sensitivity of the nipples and, in general, the skin is a reason to pay more attention to the choice of not only underwear, but also detergents, both used for personal hygiene and used for washing clothes. It happens that the breast in the nipple area hurts due to overdrying of the breast due to frequent washing with soap. Sometimes the used deodorants, lotions or ointments, even moisturizers, are not suitable for the skin.

An individual structural feature should be considered the presence of a small number (less than 10) of Montgomery tubercles in the areola. It is in them that the ducts of the Montgomery glands come to the surface, which release lubricant for the nipples and areola, which protects them from drying out and has bactericidal properties.

Pregnancy and lactation period

Not all women experience pain in the nipple area during pregnancy, but there are those who consider this symptom the first sign of conception, and they are right. Most women during pregnancy, similar to puberty and the climatic period, experience discomfort, pain around the nipple. The fact is that under the action of the hormone prolactin, the ducts of the mammary gland grow, preparing for feeding the child. And the nerve tissue does not have time to grow at the same rate, because of which the nerves in the chest are tense, stretched, and the chest can be very painful.

Sometimes the breast hurts around the nipple immediately after giving birth in the first 5-6 days, and even if the young mother does not breastfeed. For more comfortable feeding, the body changes the epithelium of the nipples and areola to a coarser one, which can cause slightly unpleasant sensations.

However, really serious pain in the nipple area is more often observed in nursing mothers, especially those breastfeeding for the first time. Their main reason is improper attachment of the baby to the breast, when the baby does not grip the entire areola with his mouth, as it should, but pulls on the nipple with his lips, causing damage and microcracks. Sometimes one breast in the nipple area hurts due to excessive dryness or insufficient breast hygiene.

The most serious justification for such pain in a nursing mother can be lactostasis - stagnation of milk in some lobes of the breast, arising from sluggish sucking of the baby, too thick milk or physiologically narrow milk ducts of the mother. Lactostasis must be eliminated with the help of correct and frequent attachment of the child or expression, otherwise, if an infection enters the body, it can provoke mastitis - a severe infectious inflammatory disease in which it will be impossible to feed the child.

Cyclic pain in the nipple area

During maturation, girls often have chest pain near the nipple, especially during the period of rapid growth and before menstruation. This symptom is called cyclic mastodynia or mastalgia. Unpleasant sensations, as a rule, occur monthly a few days before the onset of menstruation and stop when it begins. The chest may be just very sensitive, or there may be pains around the nipple - burning, pulling, stitching, aching or pressing.

Sometimes they are joined by similar pains in the lower abdomen. As a rule, the discomfort that accompanies the monthly cycle disappears as they grow older, but can return when using hormonal contraceptives, during pregnancy or menopause.

Cyclically arising pains near the nipple should be alerted if they continue in a healthy woman of reproductive age, accompanied by transparent discharge from the nipples, and especially in the presence of seals (lumps, nodes) in the breast. These may be symptoms of fibrocystic mastopathy, which requires timely treatment by a gynecologist or mammologist.

Piercing, body modifications, permanent make-up

Modifications of the body that are extremely fashionable in our time, even in such intimate areas as the nipple and areola, are not always safe. To prevent the puncture of the nipple from damaging the milk ducts, it must be performed by a professional who knows the anatomy well, and in order not to inject an infection under the skin when applying a tattoo, the operation must be carried out with strict observance of sterility.

More daring modifications, like wearing heavy breast jewelry, should be discussed with a doctor. At least, if the patient has a chest pain near the nipple with a puncture, a tattoo, or other changes in it or near it, the doctor will first of all suspect this very reason. In addition, piercings increase the risk of injury to the area around the piercing.

Injuries to the nipple-areola zone

In addition to accidental injuries, which, although rare, do occur, the nipple can be injured by over-sucking, overstimulation of a partner, or inappropriate wearing of body jewelry. Since this part of the chest is characterized by increased sensitivity and susceptibility to infection, in addition to the inevitable pain, injuries are dangerous due to infectious infection and require timely medical attention.

Inflammatory diseases

A serious disease of the breast is mastitis, an inflammation of the breast as a result of a bacterial infection. It can occur in both lactating women and non-lactating women. Mastitis should be suspected if the breast hurts severely near one nipple, has increased in size, reddened, and the temperature has risen. Purulent or sulfurous discharge from the ducts of the mammary glands may be added. Mastitis should be treated as soon as possible by a professional doctor, as it can be life-threatening when neglected. With complex antibiotic therapy, the disease is very effectively cured without leaving a trace.

Skin diseases

It is worth consulting a dermatologist if:

the skin near the nipple hurts
red spots, bubbles, crusts, cracks appear on or around it

Such symptoms can be caused by some skin diseases of a different nature - fungal, viral, allergic. For example, psoriasis, eczema, herpes and candidiasis can manifest themselves as characteristic pains in the most sensitive areas.

Neurological diseases

There are a large number of nerve endings around the nipples and on them, so these places are extremely sensitive. Neurological pain can be suspected if, for example, the area near the nipple hurts in the absence of any external changes and causes (color, shape, skin temperature). The manifestation of reflected pain from a pinched nerve, for example, intercostal neuralgia, is especially likely in the nipple. Sometimes this pain occurs after breast surgery, trauma to the chest or the surrounding area. Neurological pains are characterized by the absence of signs of other damage to the chest, and are manifested, most often, on the one hand.

Muscle pain

Muscle pains can affect the nipples, for example, due to habitual poor posture, leading to chest compression. Excessive chest muscle tension associated with pain syndrome can also be observed with prolonged work in an uncomfortable position, wearing uncomfortable clothes, and excessive training of the chest muscles. Also, the reason why the muscle near the nipple hurts can be fibromyalgia. In the case of muscle pain, it is necessary to eliminate or treat their cause, since the manifestations in the areola area are only reflected pain.

Oncological diseases

The most serious reason why the breast near the nipple hurts is undoubtedly cancer. Every woman is afraid to discover this disease in herself. Women who regularly examine the mammary glands do the right thing. It is better to do this immediately after the end of menstruation - then extraneous factors will not affect the appearance of the breast. Alert should be a change in the shape or color of the nipple, areola or the entire breast, the presence of secretions, peeling of the skin.

If the areola near the nipple hurts, there is severe itching, burning, tingling, swelling, peeling, discoloration of the nipple, especially in women over fifty, this may be a sign of an insidious, difficult-to-diagnose disease - Paget's disease. This is a type of breast cancer that is very difficult to diagnose in the early stages and to treat - in the later stages. Only a biopsy will help to accurately diagnose.

That is why women need to carefully monitor the changes occurring in the breast, especially its areola-nipple zone, and if they suspect unexplained changes, not even accompanied by pain, contact a gynecologist or mammologist.

Occasionally occurs in every woman. Soreness can be associated with both pathologies and temporary harmless phenomena.

Why does the nipple hurt? There can be many causes of pain.

The most common reason a nipple hurts is because of premenstrual cider. This pain is called cyclical and starts about a week before your period. In this case, both nipples and both mammary glands hurt. The pain is accompanied by swelling, heaviness and distension of the chest, an increase in its size. Painful sensations disappear immediately with the onset of menstruation. Cyclic pain is associated with hormonal changes that occur in a woman's body every month.

Nipple and breast pain can occur during pregnancy. They are associated with changes occurring in the female breast in preparation for breastfeeding.

The reason for the pain in the nipples can be the use of drugs for the treatment of infertility. Antidepressants can also lead to this type of pain.

If the nipple hurts the breast before menstruation, then this may be a sign of mastopathy, which must be distinguished from premenstrual syndrome in time and be sure to consult a doctor.

Nipple pain is often associated with breastfeeding. Many women consider such a phenomenon to be the norm and sometimes endure considerable torment. But doctors believe that pain cannot be tolerated, and its causes must be eliminated. Moreover, lactation should not bring torment, but pleasant sensations for both mother and baby. If the mother is in severe pain, the feeding process may simply go wrong.

As a rule, the left nipple or the right nipple hurts if the position of the baby or mother during feeding is incorrect.

Problems with nipples can occur if they are too dry, uncomfortable or incorrectly sized, damaged and

This pain is possible if a nursing mother is breastfeeding and bottle feeding. Usually, in this case, the baby simply sucks the breast in the wrong way.

If the nipple hurts during breastfeeding, then the woman may have an inflamed mammary gland. This disease is called mastitis and is characterized, in addition to pain,

Breast pains in nursing mothers begin if she does not change the bra for a long time and the nipples are moisturized for a long time.

To keep your breasts from hurting while breastfeeding, you need to look after them carefully. The nipples must not be injured or squeezed. Dryness and excessive moisture should be avoided. Try to wash the nipples with soap as little as possible and do not use alcohol-based preparations for their treatment.

If cracks or wounds appear, you must immediately stop feeding until the wounds heal.

Proper feeding of the baby is essential to prevent nipple pain. In order for the nipple to squeeze less, the baby must also grasp the areola. At the end of feeding, the breast should not be pulled, otherwise the baby will press down on the nipple. It is necessary to carefully release it by moving the child's gums apart.

It happens that the nipple begins to itch, and then the woman involuntarily scratches the delicate skin, which leads to painful sensations. Even an operation on the mammary glands performed many years ago can become the cause of pain.

The nipple hurts if it is even slightly damaged while sleeping on the stomach during lactation. Painful sensations can occur if a woman forms milk very quickly.

Laces, bra seams, or tight underwear can damage the delicate nipple skin.

The causes of pain can be damage to the nipple nerve, circulatory disorders, candidiasis, psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis, herpes, pustules.

Pain can occur when the outlet is blocked and a milk bladder forms.

If you have any pain in the nipples, you should consult a doctor so as not to overlook life-threatening diseases.