Causes and Treatments for Left Breast Pain in Women
Left breast pain in women can mean a lot of things, however, most of the times, they tend to rule out heart attacks by treating it as a general breast ache. Therefore, the first thing you need to do if your left breast starts hurting is to rule out a heart attack. The best way to do that is to consider the following symptoms:
- Pain or pressure in the chest.
After you have made sure that it is not a heart attack, you need to pinpoint the exact source from where the pain is originating. You need to figure out whether it is inside the breast or from underneath or below it. This will have a large bearing on the diagnosis.
Sometimes, there is no accurate area from where the pain might be originating. First, all the possible signs and symptoms need to be kept in mind or ruled out, to reach a conclusion that would indicate towards the reason behind your pain. These are as follows.
- Breast surgery
In case you have had any kind of breast surgery before, the chances are that it is the remnant pain from the point of the surgical cut or stitch. - Injuries
The breast is covered with sensitive skin that protects the nerves and is also elastic. In case you have had a breast injury, the chances are that the scar tissues have not healed yet. - Fat accumulation
Left breast pain in women can also be caused because of certain fat accumulated in a specific area. It can be mistaken as a cancer lump a lot of times. - Infections of milk ducts
A lot of conditions might develop inside the milk ducts after pregnancy. These ducts can become clogged or even infected. These can form cysts and crowd up the milk system or ducts. This can be a reason behind the left breast pain in women. - Inflammation and lumps
You might think that it is a heart attack but most of the times, it could easily be a breast infection or simple inflammation. One should visit the gynecologist if something like that persists. The doctor might prescribe you with some drugs. - Hormonal changes
Sometimes the breasts become soft and sensitive towards touch due to hormonal changes or during menstruation cycles. Even taking oral contraceptives can cause the same. Although this pain usually occurs in both the breasts, however, many times, it is felt in only one of the breasts. - Left-sided breast cancer
It has been noted by many medical studies that in most cases, cancer is painless up to a certain stage. However, some kinds of breast cancers begin with pain, redness and more symptoms like these. Sometimes it might be hard to find a lump but one should not rule out the possibility of the same. - Chest pain
Sometimes the chest muscles under the breast might go into a spasm. This pain may last for a few seconds or even for days. This pain may occur on just one side. Even if you have had a muscle pull, the same might occur. - Gastric
Sometimes chest pain occurs on either side due to simple indigestion or gastric problems. People usually mistake it for a cardiac arrest or a spasm but breathing deeply or going for a simple stroll might help get rid of the pain. - Pneumonia
Left breast pain in women can also be caused by pneumonia since the lungs are in the chest area, which lies under the breasts. - Cartilage
Sometimes, it might feel like a cancer lump but it could be a cartilage that has been hurting in the breastbone. This can cause pain in either of the breasts. This condition is known as costochondritis and occurs between the rib and breastbone junction. - Esophagus
Since the esophagus originates from below the left breast, it is possible that a problem in the esophagus is what is causing the pain. This could either feel like a burning pain or even give an acidic taste in your mouth. Some other digestive issues might also cause the same kind of pain.
There can be many causes of left breast pain in women. Some might be more serious than the others. However, no matter how severe, it is best to go ahead and get the doctor’s opinion since many symptoms are overlapping a lot of times. It is also possible that there could be more than one reason for left breast pain in women. It is very common for women to develop breast cancer, therefore, it is very important to get it diagnosed and treated at the same time. If possible, it is better to get more than one expert’s opinion on the same.
