Most female breast pain results from hormonal changes. Estrogen and progesterone can actually increase the size and number of ducts and milk glands in your breasts. This causes the breasts to swell and retain water. A few days before your period starts, both breasts can swell and become tender, painful, or even lumpy.
Women's breasts are made up of fat, nipple, glands (alveoli) and a network of ducts through which milk can pass from the glands to the nipples. Each breast contains between 15 and 20 sections called lobes, each of which is composed of many smaller structures known as glands or alveoli. These glands produce milk.
Genetics doesn't play a role in breast size
Although genetics aren't the end-all, be-all when it comes to breast size, they do play some role. "Breast size is a combination of genetic and environmental factors," Dr. Constance Chen, a plastic surgeon, told INSIDER. "Some people are predisposed to larger breasts.The breast is the tissue overlying the chest (pectoral) muscles. Women's breasts are made of specialized tissue that produces milk (glandular tissue) as well as fatty tissue. The amount of fat determines the size of the breast. The breast also contains blood vessels, lymph vessels, and lymph nodes.
The major muscle in the chest is the pectoralis major. This large fan-shaped muscle stretches from the armpit up to the collarbone and down across the lower chest region on both sides of the chest. The two sides connect at the sternum, or breastbone.
Look at your breasts and feel each breast and armpit, and up to your collarbone. You may find it easiest to do this in the shower or bath, by running a soapy hand over each breast and up under each armpit. You can also look at your breasts in the mirror. Look with your arms by your side and also with them raised.
The terms pulled muscle and muscle strain refer to an injury that involves an overstretched or torn muscle. A person with a muscle strain in the chest may experience sudden, sharp pain in this area. Although uncomfortable, a strained chest muscle is usually a minor injury that tends to heal within days or weeks.
Your chest helps maintain posture and upright stability that in time improves your posture. I know a lot of women I've exercised with have thought that working-out your chest will make your breasts shrink in size. By exercising your two main chest muscles, it can actually lift the breast to make them appear perkier.
To make sure you work all the chest muscles, include a mix of motions in your chest workout routine:
- Press using the flat or incline bench, dumbbells, or bar, or seated machine chest press.
- Lift using the parallel bars, floor, or bench.
- Pull using the cable fly bench, dumbbells, or cable crossovers.
Mild intercostal muscle strain commonly heals within a few days. Moderate strains may take 3 to 7 weeks to heal, and severe strains that involve a complete tear of the muscles can take longer.
An examination from a physiotherapist is usually sufficient to diagnose a pectoral strain. Further investigations such as an X-Ray, Ultrasound, CT scan or MRI scan may be required to confirm diagnosis, rule out other conditions and assess the severity of injury.
Although not the only cause of chest pain, these heart problems are common causes: Coronary Artery Disease, or CAD. A blockage in the heart blood vessels that reduces blood flow and oxygen to the heart muscle itself. This can cause pain known as angina.
Symptoms of muscle strain include:
- Swelling, bruising, or redness due to the injury.
- Pain at rest.
- Pain when the specific muscle or the joint in relation to that muscle is used.
- Weakness of the muscle or tendons.
- Inability to use the muscle at all.
The left side of the body houses a number of vital organs. Under and around the left breastbone are the heart, spleen, stomach, pancreas, and large intestine. And that's in addition to the left lung, left breast, and left kidney, which actually sits higher in the body than the right one.
What causes pleurisy? Most cases are the result of a viral infection (such as the flu) or a bacterial infection (such as pneumonia). In rarer cases, pleurisy can be caused by conditions such as a blood clot blocking the flow of blood into the lungs (pulmonary embolism) or lung cancer.
Sometimes chest pain may be something as simple as a pulled chest muscle. Inflammation in the cartilage that connects the ribs to the breastbone can also feel like a heart attack. If you have sudden chest pain that is causing you concern, you should seek immediate medical treatment to rule out a serious condition.
Physiotherapy is an excellent treatment for a pectoralis minor injury.
- Above: Soft tissue massage of the pectrol muscle by experienced therapist.
- Above: Trigger point massage applied to the chest muscles by a specialist MSK therapist.
- Above: Soft tissue massage applied to the chest by an experienced therapist.
The left side of the body houses a number of vital organs. Under and around the left breastbone are the heart, spleen, stomach, pancreas, and large intestine.
The major muscle in the chest is the pectoralis major. This large fan-shaped muscle stretches from the armpit up to the collarbone and down across the lower chest region on both sides of the chest. The two sides connect at the sternum, or breastbone.
Pericarditis is considered chronic if symptoms last longer than three months. If you have acute pericarditis, the most common symptom is sharp, stabbing chest pain behind the breastbone or in the left side of your chest.
