Breast Health During Menopause: Simple Daily Habits to Look After Your Breasts Naturally
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so there is inevitably a lot of pink appearing everywhere. And whilst raising awareness is important, I think there is another conversation we should be having too:
Breast health isn't just about breast cancer. It's about looking after your breasts every day, getting to know what is normal for you and understanding some of the changes that can happen as your hormones change through perimenopause and menopause.
Our breasts can become a bit unpredictable at this stage of life!
You may suddenly find that your breasts feel tender, heavy, swollen or uncomfortable. Perhaps your bra doesn't fit quite as well as it used to, or you notice that breast tenderness seems to appear at certain points in your cycle. I remember experiencing this myself; I noticed that my breasts could become particularly uncomfortable towards the end of the day, especially after sitting at my desk or driving home, and I couldn't wait to get my bra off.
There is actually a lot going on during the menopause transition, and breast changes can be part of that picture.
Why can your breasts become sore during perimenopause?
One of the frustrating things about perimenopause is that your hormones don't simply decline in a nice, orderly fashion.
Oestrogen can rise and fall quite dramatically, whilst progesterone production can become less consistent as ovulation becomes less regular. This changing hormonal environment can affect breast tissue and may contribute to the tenderness, swelling and heaviness that many women experience.
Breast pain can also be affected by things such as stress, hormonal medication, your menstrual cycle and even problems around the neck, shoulders and chest wall which can sometimes feel as though the pain is actually coming from the breast.
So if your breasts suddenly feel different during perimenopause, don't automatically assume something is wrong. But don't ignore changes either. That distinction is really important!
Get to know your normal
One of the simplest things you can do for your breast health is also one of the most accessible: pay attention to your breasts.
You don't need a complicated routine and you don't need to become obsessed with checking them.Just get used to how your breasts normally look and feel.
You notice them when you're getting dressed, showering or applying moisturiser. Look in the mirror occasionally and notice whether anything looks different. Feel around the breast, nipple, armpit and towards the collarbone so that you know what is normal for you.
Check around once a month, because knowing your normal makes it much easier to notice something that has changed. The good news is that breast pain on its own is unlikely to be a sign of breast cancer.
You can start your breast health care today and notice if you’re experiencing pains or tenderness. In my experience there are 2 distinct types of pain that you may feel; from my Chinese medicine perspective which teaches us to listen regularly and notice differences. The two specific types I’ve experienced these myself at different stages of menopause and they may resonate with you:
Tender breast tissue
This is where the overall breast may be sore or hurt so much you don’t want to apply any pressure. This is a build up of lymph fluid and can happen any time throughout the month and maybe more noticeable later in the day. You may find that it is relieved by exercising, showering, washing your hair or when you wake in the morning; this is due to the lymph fluid draining and relieving the pressure (and pain). This feeling may also be accompanied by excess heat. As you check more regularly you'll become aware of heat fluctutations. More on this later.
Sore nipples
You may have a pressure feeling or stabbing pain but only in the nipple and not the surrounding breast tissue. This is linked to oestrogen in excess at peak times of the cycle. This can happen at time of the month with an oestrogen surge or later in your perimenopause as you miss periods with oestrogen declining but surging at specific times.
You may have a combination of both these types of pain and if you have permanently sore nipples, it could be a case of oestrogen dominance. This is when you have low levels of progesterone in comparison. Progesterone is the first of the two sex hormones to decline; years before oestrogen. Progesterone is also suppressed if you are stressed, allowing symptoms to occur that are linked to oestrogen dominance like low moods, mood swings, anxiety, brain fog and more intense PMS.
Many women head to the internet to google: what causes sore breasts in perimenopause? But without getting the explanation of how to relieve this symptom effectively and with natural options. Today I’ve got you covered with my top 3 natural remedies for sore breasts during menopause coming up!
What causes sore breasts in perimenopause?
Let’s be clear what perimenopause is – you still have periods but you have symptoms that are causing you distress.
If you have periods – you have oestrogen. Regular and heavy periods are common in perimenopause and so your oestrogen levels are good and don’t need to be added too. The issue in perimenopause is the loss of progesterone.
Dr Wendy Sweet writes in her blog on breast health:
“As far back as the 1970’s, Dr John Lee, a medical Doctor from California, was inspired to explore the role of progesterone in perimenopause after noticing that many of his female patients were intolerant to the use of oestrogen replacement therapy (HRT).
Dr Lee believed that the distressing symptoms that so many women experienced during menopause were in fact NOT due to the low oestrogen levels, which is a natural occurrence during menopause, but in fact, due to higher-than-normal amounts of oestrogen present in the body fat tissues.
He realised that women with a pre-disposition to put on weight, had higher levels of oestrogen circulating in their blood stream and with new research into obesity, he knew that fat cells are a receptor or storage area for oestrogen too. This includes breast tissue. Because oestrogen, like other hormones, works in harmony with an opposing hormone, Dr Lee, began to explore the role of oestrogen’s opposing hormone, progesterone.”
Image supplied by hormonesbalance.com
What can I take for menopause after breast cancer?
This is a major concern for women as the main question really is: What can I take instead of HRT after breast cancer? As a holistic practitioner I have a whole array of natural ways of helping you relieve menopause symptoms. I help you look after not only your breast health but your overall health; I have a lot of ways to help you. Also, you may be on Tamoxifen and are concerned about what you can take that will not contra-indicate this. One key piece of health advice for any stage of menopause and to keep you in good breast health is to support and clean your liver; this is predominantly done with herbal supplements like milk thistle and turmeric.
Consult a professional before taking any herbals that have a cleansing effect on the liver as they can be contra-indicated with medicines that work on the liver and thus may reduce the efficacy of meds like Tamoxifen. The best thing you can do is work on your liver health NOW in a preventative capacity. For those already on Tamoxifen there is still plenty of support with nutritional supplements (vitamins and minerals) and natural lifestyle solutions to reduce stress and inflammation in your body like shiatsu, acupuncture, yoga and meditative. There is plenty of support available holistically so please reach out to an experienced practitioner like myself who can help you navigate your way through. Symptoms can be reduced effectively without the need for HRT.
Mammogram v thermogram for breast health
As you transition through menopause and oestrogen drops your breast tissue becomes more fatty and less dense and now a mammogram can see better as it’s an Xray. This is why you’re invited to mammograms after 50 rather than at a younger age. However, if you go onto HRT breast tissue potentially can become denser (and possibly lumpy). This should be investigated with your GP if you have any concerns.
One major point to note is that painful breasts tend to be hot as well; prolonged heat allows lumps to form. Lymph fluid trapped in the breast tissue is causing pain and not doing the job of removing trapped toxins. If the lymph is stagnated in the breast tissue it will turn gelatinous and eventually to a lump. Heat in the breast area is not a good idea. This is where a thermogram comes in – it’s a heat temperature map of your breasts.
From hormonesbalance.com on thermograms:
“Just as with the weather report, you’re looking at a map of the country, with a thermogram, you’re looking at a map of the person. The colours on a thermogram reflect the temperature of the breast tissue. Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue give you the temperature spectrum.
It’s important to note that a thermogram IS a Breast Thermal Findings Assessment. It is NOT a Breast Risk Thermal Assessment. The risk assessment comes from the doctor’s interpretation of the thermal findings, which may result in a diagnosis.
In other words, a thermogram is kind of like an x-ray. It’s nothing more than a radiological image of structures. It doesn’t diagnose. Just like when you get an x-ray, the black and white image itself doesn’t tell you whether there’s cancer there. It’s the interpretation that is the diagnosis.”
A mammogram shows up the vascular density in the breast which is an indication of oestrogen dominance and this allows for a higher risk of cancer. A thermogram shows up heat patterns and the more towards red (i.e. blue is cold) the pattern - is the more heat there is. Cancer cells produce heat – see the examples below.
image supplied by hormonesbalance.com
6 natural ways to increase your breast health in menopause
Breast pain can come and go with changes in hormones and lifestyle but for a permanent pain with any other changes (view list at end of blog) you should see your doctor for. Even with an appointment arraned, you can still start on these natural ways to help you straight away and support your health overall ahead of any diagnosis or treatment. The sooner you help your body to reduce inflammation and cleanse itself the better your body will be able to cope with any medical situation.
Natural solutions and remedies are preventative in nature and so there is no reason why you shouldn’t start today. The good news is that everything you do for your breast health will also aid in reducing your overall menopause symptoms; after all - Breast health is health!
1. Look after your liver
Your liver is amazing but in midlife it can struggle due to food, alcohol, toxins and lifestyle; it’s like a car that’s way overdue on its service. If you’re experiencing regular low-level nausea, mood swings, lethargy, itchy skin, night sweats, irritability, out bursts of anger or reaction to sugar/alcohol you need to detox your liver. I have a step-by-step guide to liver detoxing here.
2. Gentle breast massage to shift stagnant lymph fluid (but not if you feel a lump). From my Chinese medicine perspective, I want you to think about movement as a way of keeping the body flowing.
We are not designed to sit still for eight hours and then expect everything to feel wonderful!
So if your job involves sitting at a desk, get up. Stretch your arms overhead. Roll your shoulders. Walk around the block. Take a few deep breaths and move your chest and ribcage.
Little things really do add up.
image supplied by wellena.com
Using the heel of your hand gently massage in the direction of the arrows this moves lymph out of the breast tissue and back into the lymphatic system to be detoxed. So yes it may hurt to do this massage the first time I know because it did for me but the upside is that once you encourage lymph to move it rarely hurts afterwards. I teach this breast massage in any classes that I do as it’s so important so don’t be squeamish – have a go! You can try in the shower or in bed, without or without clothes; you don't require oils or creams just gentle touch.
Switch to a natural deodorant
There are many natural deodorants now available that actually do work! I've tried a handful from Wild to handmade locally. Deodorants do not need to have chemicals / metals in them at all; going back to traditional ingredients like baking soda and shea butter gentle or your skin and you're not overloading your lymph glands (in your arm pits) with toxins. Once you're used to this start to change each and every one of your skin care products over to natural ones. There's a statistic that women come into contact with over 500 chemicals before leaving the house in the morning. This is an overload on an already stressed liver the more chemicals you reduce the better. Have a look at Tropic skincare which I use.
Eating supportive foods
Nipple pain – low progesterone – boost with vitamins and minerals (foods and plant-based supplements)
Increasing anti-inflammatory foods - veggies - especially greens
Lower intakes of inflammatory foods (highly processed, alcohol, sugar)
The first place to start is with what you eat. This isn’t a diet it’s about altering your food so that you get the best nutrients for your body – your food IS your medicine.
With the best will in the world you will not get all the nutrients you need from food to reduce your symptoms significantly. This is due to two factors – the stress in your body needing a greater source of nutriention and that the food you're currently eating doesn't is not from mineral rich soil. The food you’re eating isn’t as nutritionally rich as food 50 or so years ago.
I have two resources here to help you: Eat for perimenopause and beyond and Supplements starter guide.
5. Gentle movement can help
One of the simplest things you can do for your overall breast health is move your body regularly.
You don't need to become a marathon runner. Walking, dancing, swimming, cycling, yoga, strength training or simply getting yourself out of your chair regularly all count.
Physical activity is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, and it also helps with many of the other things that become important during menopause, including maintaining muscle, supporting cardiovascular health, managing weight and helping your mood.
We're not designed to sit still for eight hours and then expect everything to feel wonderful!
So if your job involves sitting at a desk, get up. Stretch your arms overhead. Roll your shoulders. Walk around the block. Take a few deep breaths and move your chest and ribcage.
6.Your lymphatic system likes movement too
Your lymphatic system is part of your body's fluid and immune system, and unlike your cardiovascular system it doesn't have a heart pumping lymph around your body.Movement and muscle contractions help lymph flow. This is one reason I love simple movement, stretching, breathing and bodywork as part of a daily self-care routine.
Little things really do add up.
Breast health in menopause is your health after menopause
Breast pain is rarely the number one symptom that women reach out to me for as it isn’t debilitating in everyday life – until it is. Brain fog, hot flushes, sleep deprivation, anxiety and aching joints rank higher. However, in resolving one of these major symptoms effectively you may significantly reduce breast discomfort; as the root cause of symptoms do track back to the same source.
My best piece of advice in any stage of menopause is: DO NOT PUT UP WITH SYMPTOMS. They are your body telling you that something is out of kilter and needs help. I have a large self-help area to get you started on making small changes or you can read my book Understanding Your Menopause. You may take up some daily yoga or you may start on a multivitamin or omega oil. Just add in one change and then choose another and another; do not moan – do!
If you have more complex issues or are feeling overwhelmed and do not know where to start then investigate whether a consultation with me is right for you.
I’m passionate about helping women resolve their symptoms so that they can embrace menopause and life beyond but at some point, you need to take action – what action will you choose?
Meet Andrea - Holistic Menopause Specialist
Andrea is a shiatsu and Chinese medicine practitioner who uses the principles and wisdom of Chinese medicine in a completely practical way to help you resolve your symptoms naturally and effectively. If you live locally you can book in for a wonderfully relaxing Shiatsu for Menopause, otherwise Andrea does online indepth consultations where you'll leave with an actionable plan to follow. Andrea is also passionate about doing workplace talks and has written a book to help you step through simple and effect changes to reduce your symptoms: Understanding Your Menopause
When should you see your GP?
Please get any new or unusual breast change checked. This includes:
a new lump or swelling in the breast, chest or armpit
a change in the size or shape of a breast
dimpling or other changes to the skin
a change in the appearance of the nipple, including a nipple turning inwards
unusual nipple discharge, particularly if it is bloody
a persistent change in one breast
pain that doesn't improve or keeps returning
swelling around the breast or armpit
These symptoms are often caused by conditions other than cancer, but they are worth getting checked rather than trying to work out the cause yourself.
Don't panic. Don't ignore it. Get it checked.
References:
KNOWLEDGE . PAUSE . FLOURISH
