ONGOING BOOB PAIN: WHEN TO WORRY AND WHEN TO WAIT

ONGOING BOOB PAIN: WHEN TO WORRY AND WHEN TO WAIT

When your boobs hurt, it’s no fun, to put it lightly. 

Breast pain can affect how you move through the world – whether it’s at work or on the field – as you avoid contact-heavy situations. It can whittle away your confidence going in for a tackle, or even affect how you perform your job.

Boob Armour is designed to support your breasts both as a preventative measure, and also to protect sore and injured breasts from further high-impact knocks – so you can get back to doing your thing, in total comfort.

How common is breast pain?

We often shy away from talking about breast pain publicly, even though it’s incredibly common. Mastalgia, the clinical name for breast pain, is something many women and people with breasts will experience at some point in their lives. 

When breast pain strikes, sometimes the best thing you can do is wait it out, while some symptoms may call for you to seek medical help and nip your pain in the bud ASAP.

Types of breast pain

There are two main types of mastalgia: cyclical and non-cyclical. You should chat to your doctor about your symptoms to identify which category your pain falls into, but there are some telltale signs to be aware of.

Cyclical mastalgia

As the name suggests, cyclical mastalgia describes breast pain linked to your menstrual cycle. If you notice your breast pain intensifies in the days or even weeks leading up to your period, then there’s a good chance this is the kind you’re experiencing. Cyclical mastalgia will also generally subside as your period begins.

You might be managing cyclical mastalgia if you feel your boob pain in your upper-outer breast, right up to the armpit, and would describe it as ‘achy’ or ‘dull’. About two-thirds of women who report breast pain experience this cyclical type. Typically, cyclical mastalgia affects premenopausal women in their thirties or forties and will settle during pregnancy and menopause.

Non-cyclical mastalgia

Non-cyclical mastalgia describes breast pain that does not align with the menstrual cycle, and is most common among women in their forties and fifties. This breast pain tends to be localised to a particular spot in one breast and has been described as a ‘burning’ and ‘sore’ sensation.

A number of conditions might be the culprit for non-cyclical mastalgia, including infection and the formation of benign nodules. Sometimes, there is no ostensible physical cause.

What it’s (probably) not

When we think of breast pain, we tend to think of cancer. But the reality is that breast cancer rarely causes pain in the tissue. Still, this is something your health professional is likely to want to rule out, so you may need to undergo tests and biopsies to confirm cancer is not present.

That’s what makes preventative breast protection so important: ongoing breast trauma, in the form of knocks and bumps, can lead to lumps forming in your breasts down the track. The process to rule out breast cancer as the culprit can be emotional, uncomfortable and costly.

Other clues

It’s also worth noting that you might feel pain in your breasts, but the source of the injury or trauma is actually elsewhere – your chest wall, for example.

When to seek medical help

Many women will experience breast pain to varying degrees, but when it’s severe or affecting how you go about your daily life, it’s time to seek help. That is, if your breast pain gets in the way of your professional, sexual, physical or social activities, book an appointment to see your doctor and reclaim your confidence.

To tackle game day, or just your everyday, with confidence, shop the Boob Armour range today. When you need to be unstoppable, we’ve got your back. (Well, front.)