Breast Pain During Early Pregnancy
Women are likely to feel breast pain around the nipples and areolas during early pregnancy. Some mothers might feel tingling on other parts of the breast for several weeks throughout their pregnancy.
Breast pain in early pregnancy can be uncomfortable, and women pregnant for the first time might feel quite sore.
Pain in the breasts usually reduces as the trimesters roll by. However, expectant moms need proper guidance to manage breast pain at such a stage of their pregnancy.
That’s why this guide provides vital details on what part of the breast hurts in early pregnancy and other essential information. Moms-to-be can get enough guidance from this article to limit how much pain they experience weeks after conception.
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What Part of the Breast Hurts in Early Pregnancies?
Soreness of the breasts is common, but pregnant women feel it more around the tip of their nipples and lower areola region. The larger part of a pregnant mom’s breasts will also become tender and might be sensitive to the touch.
How Does Breast Pain Hurt During Early Pregnancy?
Many pregnant women will report a tingling sensation around sensitive areas of their breasts. Other women might feel dull aches, heaviness, tenderness or sharp pains as well.
What Causes Sore Breasts in Early Pregnancy?
Soreness around the breast is a common symptom of early pregnancy. In some cases, breast fullness and soreness are the first signs mothers see before missing their menstrual period.
A rapid surge in pregnancy hormones is the likely cause of sore breasts.
The most common hormones responsible for such soreness are estrogen, progesterone and prolactin. These hormones usually increase right after conception and for several weeks throughout the pregnancy.
Without the production of these hormones, women won’t be able to produce breast milk after giving birth.
The hormones cause an increase in blood flow to the breasts, making it more sensitive and tender. These hormones also stimulate the growth of milk ducts, fat, fluid, and extra tissue.
Such hormonal changes can increase a woman’s breasts by a cup size or more in some cases. During pregnancy, additional sensitivity and soreness is common around the breasts. The soreness usually subsides later on in the pregnancy or during early stages of breastfeeding.
How to Relieve Breast Pain during Early Pregnancy
Getting relief from breast pain during early pregnancy isn’t hard. Expectant mothers can apply one or more methods described below to ease breast pain during pregnancy:
Breast Pads
Invest in high-quality nursing bras or breast pads without uncomfortable wiring. You can select a sports bra (preferably made from cotton) without underwire to ease pain around your breasts.
Supportive Bra
Using supportive bras during early pregnancy might reduce the level of breast pain expectant moms feel. You can get your breast size measured by specialists to aid your search for a perfect-fitting bra.
But don’t use tight bras. Wearing super-tight bras during early pregnancy might worsen the pain.
Warm Showers
If a cold compress is too much for you, consider taking a bath with warm water to ease breast pain. Warm water can help numb the pain experienced around your nipples for some time and reduce its sensitivity too.
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How Breast Pain Changes Throughout Pregnancy
Breast pain is commonly stronger around the nipples during early pregnancy. In most cases, breast pain symptoms change as a woman inches closer to the pregnancy’s term.
1 – 12 weeks
In the first trimester, women will likely experience breast fullness and protruding nipples. Pain around the nipples will be sharper during this period and might give off a tingling sensation sometimes.
Such pain around the breast can persist for a few weeks to about 3 months in some women. Tenderness and visible changes to breast size will naturally come with such pain throughout the first trimester.
However, the amount of pain experienced is expected to subside as a woman moves through trimesters. Hormone levels are likely to increase for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and gradually drop before the next trimester.
13 – 28 weeks
Even if hormonal levels subside in the second trimester, increase in breast size is still expected. Expectant moms will need to purchase bigger bras or settle for supportive options with tougher underwire.
Pain levels around the areolas and nipples will reduce in this trimester. However, tenderness around other areas of the breasts might make poking painful.
Women will notice their breast size change in this period and see more veins underneath, large and dark areolas/nipples, and some stretch marks.
Colostrum (aka liquid gold) might also leak out of a woman’s nipples during this trimester. Additional swelling of breast tissues and increased fluids are expected and may be painful for some women.
29 – 39+ weeks
Nipple discharge is typically the most painful event in a woman’s third trimester. During this period, women will normally let out colostrum at an increased rate.
Increased tissue growth is expected and women will see their breasts grow even bigger and may be painful. Breast pads may be necessary to relieve pain during this period and absorb discharged fluids.
Pain during the third trimester is minimal and usually caused by the buildup of fluids and growth of milk ducts.
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Conclusion
Knowing what part of the breast hurts in early pregnancy is vital, especially to women pregnant for the first time. Soon-to-be moms can cope with most symptoms during early pregnancy and may require more than one method for total relief.
However, if you feel the symptoms are too serious to bear, it’s best to consult your OB-GYN. You may also consult a specialist for women’s health, primary care provider, midwife, or general practitioner for assistance.
Dealing with breast changes during early pregnancy shouldn’t be too difficult to handle with adequate support. And since the pregnancy is quite early, you should expect more changes during the late second and third trimesters.
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