Breast tenderness means that you do not have the ability to properly detoxify estrogen. Your breasts are full of estrogen receptors and these receptors love water. There is increased estrogen in your cycle during ovulation and the last week before your period. This estrogen, like all hormones, must be detoxified by your liver. If the liver already has its work cut out for it due to other hormones keeping it busy or digestive issues (90% of the job of the liver is to detoxify the bowel), then the estrogen must wait its turn. And what better place to hang out than in the breast tissue. The increased water and swelling is what causes the tenderness. This is a very common daily occurrence for many women due to the inability of the estrogen to be detoxified.
Dr. Stephen Gangemi
I'm a board certified chiropractic physician and clinical nutritionist with a passion for true natural health care. I implement dietary & nutritional therapies, exercise & movement practices, and lifestyle changes along with manual therapy techniques to help the body heal and prevent illness and injuries.
I’ve been researching cyclical breast tenderness for years now. I’ve suffered from it on and off and until recently it was relieved by changing birth control every time. Many sources say “estrogen dominance” and to relieve by supplementing progesterone, but when that didn’t work for me I got a hormone panel done. Turns out my body is producing *too little estrogen* for a normal cycle, but I’ve never heard talk about breast pain and low estrogen. At this point, my research is at a dead end.
I’d have to set up a consult appointment with you to see why that is – might be a thyroid issue, adrenal gland problem, or fat/nutrient deficiency resulting in low E.