Overview

Breast pain (mastalgia) can be described as tenderness, throbbing, sharp, stabbing, burning pain or tightness in the breast tissue. The pain may be constant or it may occur only occasionally, and it can occur in men, women and transgender people.

Breast pain can range from mild to severe. It may occur:

• Just a few days a month, in the two to three days leading up to a menstrual period. This normal, mild-to-moderate pain affects both breasts.
• A week or longer each month, starting before a period and sometimes continuing through the menstrual cycle. The pain may be moderate or severe, and affects both breasts.
• Throughout the month, not related to a menstrual cycle.

In men, breast pain is most commonly caused by a condition called "gynecomastia" (guy-nuh-koh-MAS-tee-uh). This refers to an increase in the amount of breast gland tissue that's caused by an imbalance of the hormones estrogen and testosterone. Gynecomastia can affect one or both breasts, sometimes unevenly.

In transgender women, hormone therapy may cause breast pain. In transgender men, breast pain may be caused by the minimal amount of breast tissue that may remain after a mastectomy.

Most times, breast pain signals a noncancerous (benign) breast condition and rarely indicates breast cancer. Unexplained breast pain that doesn't go away after one or two menstrual cycles, or that persists after menopause, or breast pain that doesn't seem to be related to hormone changes needs to be evaluated.