Common Benign Causes of Breast Pain
Articles dealing with breast pain in patients that have already had a complete workup and breast cancer has been definitively excluded as a cause of the breast pain.
1) A fairly complete non-medical article on the subject: 7 Annoying Causes of Breast Pain and Soreness
2) From ClinicalAdvisor.Com: Managing Breast Pain
Excerpts from this article:
"Breast pain is one of the most common problems for which women consult primary-care providers, gynecologists, and breast specialists. Women often think that breast pain indicates cancer, causing them significant anxiety. In reality, the prevalence of women presenting with mastalgia who actually have breast cancer is 1.2%-6.7%.1 In our breast-specialty practice, an estimated one third of the women referred have breast pain."
"Unfortunately, options for evidence-based practice for the management of breast pain is sparse in the literature. To better serve this patient population, we have created a comprehensive algorithm to guide clinicians in the management of breast pain (download Figure 1 PDF). This algorithm is based on research, personal practice, and anecdotal literature."
Diagnostic and Medical Treatment Algorithm for Benign Breast Pain: Download PDF
3) Referred pain to the Breast: Breast and Shoulder Pain
4) In my personal experience the leading cause of benign breast pain is related to underwire bras. The classic symptom is pain on the outside of both breasts but is not limited to that presentation. We routinely recommended the patient discontinue wearing an underwire type bra for 3 weeks and then give us a call. Many have found relief from this little trick. It’s free and worth a try.
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