Breast tenderness (tender, sore or painful breasts), advice and a possible solution

My story

I have had problems with sore breasts for the last twenty years. The tenderness is spread across the whole breast for about two weeks before the onset of the period. Some people say this is a symptom of premenstrual syndrome. I do not take the contraceptive pill, as brands I tried exacerbated the problem. It is very similar to the tenderness which is normal during breast growth at puberty or during the early stages of pregnancy and indeed the breasts do grow by about a bra size over the two weeks before each period. Over the years I have tried taking; diuretics, vitamin B6, evening primrose oil as well as abstaining from caffeine, alcohol, salty and sugary foods. None of these things had much effect on the pain.

If this description rings bells with you, I may be able to offer some advice. However, if your pain has only recently started, is sharp, localised, in a single breast or not linked to your period, consulting a doctor is the best course of action.

Possible causes A page about my theory concerning breast tenderness and hormones in milk

My advice

In 1999 I switched to organic milk, cheese, butter and chocolate (I do not use organic veg). The breast tenderness totally disappeared. If I make the switch to organic or soya milk after menstruation, the breast tenderness does not manifest itself in the run up to the next period. This is such an easy change to make since milk can be frozen and most supermarkets stock these products (sold as Ecological milk in Sweden). It may cost you as much as a pound a week extra. To have the best chance of working it is best to avoid all non organic dairy produce including cheese and chocolate all the time, even when the breasts are not painful.

I hope that if you have breast pain you will have time to tell me about it soon in the questionaire below. If you then decide to try switching to organic milk I would be very interested to hear about your breast pain a month or more after you make the change. If you don't mind, I will mail you a reminder to visit this site again and fill in another short follow up form.

Click here to see the results of the survey so far

Click here to go to the follow up form. See below for the initial questionaire

1)Name:
2) Email address	(I will not pass on to anyone else, but I will contact you in four weeks)
3) If you don't have time to do this form now, but still want to participate, click here and go directly to submit form at the bottom.	I am busy now but please mail me to remind me about this in a couple of weeks when I'll have more time.
4) Country of residence
5) Age
6) For how long have you suffered breast tenderness?
7) Describe when your pain is worst. Is it linked to your period?
8) Rate the severity of your pain. 10 being very severe, 1 being mild.
9) Describe your pain. eg. Tender to press, bruised, swollen, localised, one breast or both, irritated nipple.
10) How much milk do you drink per day?
11) How much of the milk you drink is organic?
12) How much cheese do you eat?
13) How much of the cheese is organic?
14) How often do you eat milk chocolate?
15) Are you using hormone based contraceptive pills, injections or implants? Please give the brand if you can.	Brand of contraception:
16) Are you having hormone replacement treatment?
17) Are you pregnant?
18) Please add any comment or message for me. (If you have already experimented with organic milk tell me what you found.)
	Please click here when you have completed the form.

Thank you for filling in this form,

Juliette McLean milk@mark-ju.net