Breast tenderness causes pain or discomfort in the breasts. It is one of the most common breast symptoms that a women can have. Women should know that tenderness is usually not a sign of breast cancer. The problem with breast tenderness and pain is that there are many causes of the problem. A lot of times no specific reason is found for the pain and it resolves on its own. This article will review some of the most like sources of breast tenderness pain so women can receive some relief for the issue.

The most common cause of breast tenderness in an otherwise healthy woman are called fibrocystic breast changes. These changes result from the swelling of very tiny cysts in the fibrous tissue of the breast. The changes usually occur in both breasts approximately 7 to 10 days before your menstrual cycle. They usually begin to reduce in severity when the menstruation actually starts and are usually gone by the time the menses ends.

Even thought the fibrocystic changes are the most common, there are many other conditions that can result in tenderness. Some of the other causes of breast tenderness include some of the following issues:

Puberty has been known to cause breast tenderness. This can happen in both boys as well as girls. During puberty there are a lot of new hormones circulating and they can result in some discomfort.
Pregnancy is a huge reason for breast tenderness and engorgement. This can be especially true in the first part of pregnancy. In the first trimester the breasts and nipples can become very tender to the touch and easily irritated by any stimuli. Any breast pain later in pregnancy may be due to the weight of breasts. As the breasts get ready to produce milk they become engorged, enlarged and heavy.
An infection of the breast of the breast can make it tender. Mastitis can be a big problem for women, especially ones who are breast feeding.

Hormone imbalances can also make the breast tender. This is especially true when a woman is exposed to too much estrogen. This can happen through hormone replacement or other disorders of the endocrine and reproductive systems. Other medications such as birth control pills or certain ones for cancer syndromes are also a cause.
As any lactating woman can tell you, breast feeding is a huge cause of tenderness. When the breasts become full of milk or engorged, they can be very tender. This tends to resolve when the infant takes a meal.
Any sort of injury of the breast can result in tenderness.

A specific condition called hyperprolactinemia usually results in breast pain. Prolactinemia just means your body is producing a high level of the hormone prolactin, which causes milk production.
The final cause we will mention is breast cancer. But most of the time cancer does not cause any pain and is not one of the typical breast tenderness causes.