A physician's examination and a mammogram can help determine the cause of the pain. All recurring breast pain needs evaluation to determine its cause. To assist your physician, it will be helpful if you understand the different kinds and characteristics of breast pain. Pain in the breast is referred to by physicians as mastalgia or mastodynia. This pain may be characterized as cyclic, noncyclic or musculoskeletal.
Cyclic pain appears to be related to the female hormones estrogen, progesterone and prolactin.
Their effects on breast tissue vary at different times of the month and life cycle. Pain related to these changes usually begins at ovulation and increases until the menstrual period begins. After menstruation, the pain decreases. Both breasts are usually involved, but occasionally, one breast will experience a greater degree of pain. The discomfort is felt throughout the area and is often described as a dull, aching pain, as if the breast were filled with milk.