I don’t know about you, but one thing I actually like during my period, or actually those few days leading up to my period is the fact that my breasts seem to almost double in size sometimes, depending on the severity of the swelling that particular month.  Sure, I have cramps to go with it, but my boobs are unusually large and as my boyfriend would say “pillowy” feeling. 

Sometimes there is so much swelling in my breasts both before and during my period that I cannot even fit into my normal size bras, or I have to loosen them up another notch to accomodate the larger breast size. 

What’s the downside?  Well, most of the time, with the swelling of the breast tissue, my breasts also become hypersensitive to the touch, and they do become tender overall.  Kind of like they sometimes feel if you are on the pill (some women experience breast tenderness more frequently than when they are on their period, when they are on the birth control pill). 

So, what causes breast tenderness and the bigger breast size during your period? Well, during a woman’s menstrual cycle, her body’s production of estrogen goes up dramatically just before the midway point of the cycle.  This causes an enlargement of the ducts in the breasts, which is further exacerbated by the swelling or enlargement of the milk production ducts due to higher levels of progesterone being emitted into the body. 

This enlargement, engorgement, or swelling (whatever you want to call it), is basically what causes the tenderness in the breasts, since it begins to push more against sensitive nerves within the breast, which causes the faint “throbbing pain” signals to the brain.  So, in short, period boobs can be slightly painful, but boy, they sure do look good! 

This entry was posted on December 23, 2006 at 2:50 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Breast Health by Breast News Girl No Comments Yet