5 Natural Ways to Eliminate Cyclical Breast Swelling and Soreness

Fibrocystic Breast Changes? Breast Swelling or Soreness Before Your Period? Keep Reading!

Hi. It’s Emma here from Women’s Health and Hormones. Today I want to talk about fibrocystic breast changes. Do you ever get lumpy, tender, breasts… especially before your period? You might have fibrocystic breast changes. This used to be called fibrocystic breast disease. It refers to changes in the breast tissue caused by a hormonal imbalance.

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Step 1. See Your Doctor for a Breast Check

When I talk to my patients about natural treatment for fibrocystic breast changes and how to balance your hormones naturally to resolve this long-term, the first step is actually to go and get it checked out by your doctor.

You see fibrocystic breast changes is a diagnosis of exclusion. What this means is you need to rule out other potential pathology that might be causing the changes in your breasts before you can know for sure it’s just related to hormonal changes with your cycle.

Breast cancer is a risk so you want to get this checked out.

So first step… go and see your doctor and have a physical examination (in addition to any other testing your GP recommends) so that you know for sure it’s fibrocystic breast changes you’re dealing with.

Step 2. Get Your Hormones Tested

Step two is to get your hormones tested.

We know that there’s a relationship between fibrocystic breast changes (those tender, lumpy breasts that you might be getting) and an under active thyroid.

So you need to get a blood test done to check your thyroid function make sure that’s not causing the problem.

I’d also recommend you have a saliva hormone test done to identify the rest of your hormonal profile. You can then be very specific in taking the correct herbs and nutrients to re-balance your hormonal profile. Then you will see long-term improvements in both your breast symptoms and other symptoms of hormonal imbalance you might be experiencing.

It’s very unusual for the breast changes to be occurring in isolation (for that to be the only symptom of hormonal imbalance that you’re getting). It’s more common for you to be having the breast symptoms and other symptoms as well.

Step 3. Identify and Correct Nutrient Deficiencies

Have a look at what’s going on with your nutrient stores. Nutritional deficiencies can really exacerbate premenstrual breast changes.

Iodine deficiency is a really important one. If you have an iodine deficiency and you’re able to address that by taking a iodine supplement, this may resolve fibrocystic breast changes. There’s a test you can do called the Urinary Iodine Test which will help you find out if you have an iodine deficiency. It’s important not to take supplemental iodine unless a deficiency has been found through testing.

Other common nutritional deficiencies that can play a role here include magnesium, zinc and B vitamins (especially B6) and issues with your essential fatty acid balance.

We know that if you’ve been eating too many omega-6 fatty acids and not enough omega-3 essential fatty acids this can definitely aggravate fibrocystic breast changes. So make sure you’re consuming enough good fats and avoiding the bad fats

Step 4. Address Other Dietary and Lifestyle Triggers

This leads us into talking about the next step which is other changes in diet or lifestyle that might be beneficial.

If you are able to increase your intake of soluble fibre, this will help your body process and clear the hormones that might be causing breast tenderness. So make sure you’re having enough soluble fibre in your diet.

Reduce your intake of sugar, caffeine and alcohol because we know that these foods can also aggravate cyclical breast changes.

Increase your intake of leafy green vegetables. Leafy green vegetables will give your body a boost of the phyto-nutrients and antioxidants that your body needs to process hormones more efficiently. This can lead to good improvements in fibrocystic breasts.

Step 5. Herbal Medicine For Fibrocystic Breast Changes

The final step is to look into any herbal medicines that might also be beneficial for you.

One of the most common herbal medicines used to treat fibrocystic breast changes is Vitex agnus castus or Chaste Tree. It’s really useful in the management of this condition but make sure you get your hormones tested first before you take it.

Not every woman responds well to Vitex agnus castus. The best way to find out whether your body will respond well is to take it according to what’s going on in your unique hormonal profile. So get your hormones tested first.

If this information was helpful for you and you’d like to find out more about how I can help you, why don’t you give my office a call on (03) 5986 5170 and have a chat with me and my team.

It’s a no obligation, no cost opportunity for you to find out more about what we do and whether our treatment approach is a good fit for you or not.

Hopefully I’ll be able to help you, but if it’s not a good fit I will let you know. If you like what you hear, great…it will be wonderful to work with you. If not, that’s no problem either. I look forward to hearing from you.