What causes pain under right breast radiating to back? Injury or irritable bowel syndrome can cause right breast pain. Some women have intermittent, sharp pain under their right breast. Some experience it with every breath. Sometimes this pain radiates to the back, armpit, or breastbone. Sometimes it indicates an underlying condition.
Causes of Pain Under Right Breast
Following are the few causes of right breast pain:
Gallstones
The gallbladder is located beneath the lower ribs on the right side. It accumulates bile from the liver for the purpose of fat digestion. Gallstones arise from chemical imbalances in bile. According to the NIH, gallstones affect 10% to 15% of the American population. Hard, pebble-like cholesterol or bilirubin gallstones block bile ducts, causing pain. This is a gallbladder attack. Upper right abdominal pain can result from gallbladder attacks. This sharp pain strikes suddenly and intensifies.
Hiatal Hernia Related GERD
A hiatal hernia protrudes the upper stomach through an opening in the diaphragm. Diaphragms have smaller openings to prevent stomach acid from entering the esophagus. This acid can splash back into the esophagus with a hiatal hernia, causing GERD. Chest or abdominal pain under your right breast may indicate GERD. This can produce a squeezing sensation and radiate to nearby areas.
Other hiatal hernia-related GERD symptoms:
- Heartburn
- Stinky breath
- Dry cough
Breathing problems, worn teeth, and swallowing difficulties. Medical professionals can’t always determine hernia causes. Hiatal hernias without complications may not need treatment.
Pleural Diseases
Pleura is a thin tissue that lines your chest and covers your lungs. Pleura layers are lined with a small amount of fluid to reduce breathing friction.
Inflammation of the pleura is pleurisy. What causes pain under right breast radiating to back? Pleurisy causes sharp chest pain that worsens with breathing and can occur on the right side.
Most cases of pleurisy are viral.
Pneumonia
Lung infections like pneumonia fill air sacs with fluid. It may be induced by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. In addition to breast pain, pneumonia symptoms include:
- Coughing
- Fever, and chills
- Trouble breathing
Which Organs Are Under Your Right Breast?
The right side beneath the breast contains numerous essential organs. The chest rib cage protects your gallbladder, pancreas, and liver on your right side. Inflammation or infection in these organs can cause right chest, upper abdomen, and back pain. Because your heart is in the center of your chest to the left, cardiac heart disease symptoms rarely affect the right side under your breast.
When to Seek Medical Attention for Right Breast Pain
If home treatment doesn’t relieve right breast pain after a few days, see a back pain doctor in Dallas. If chest pain is constant and accompanied by any of these symptoms, see a doctor:
- Your chest feels tight, especially on the left.
- Abdominal pain affects arms, shoulders, jaw, and neck.
- You have sudden chest pain under your left or right breast while resting.
- You have chest pain, fever, nausea, dizziness, or vomiting.
- You cough green mucus.
- Right breast pain is unrelieving.
- Treating pain and connecting dots
- Consider current routines for some causes. What happened before your right breast hurt? Strain your muscles? Are you usually in severe pain before your period? Do you have high stomach acid?
- Symptoms determine which OTC medications you can take. Ibuprofen can reduce pain.
- Applying an ice pack to a rib or muscle strain and resting for a few weeks can reduce swelling and pain.
When symptoms worsen, see a doctor to learn more. Seeking medical attention or a second opinion is crucial. Listen to your body to determine if you need to see a doctor to diagnose your pain. Unexplained, severe breast pain can cause anxiety and confusion. To properly treat right breast pain, this should have helped you understand your condition.
Right Breast Pain Prevention Tips
Following are the prevention tips:
- Eat vitamin E-rich foods to balance your diet.
- Take small meals throughout the day.
- Avoid sugar and fatty, spicy foods.
- For frequent acid reflux, raise your bedhead.
- Practice meditation and relaxation daily.
- Wear safety gear when playing sports or lifting heavy objects.
- Lose weight if obese.
- Consume less alcohol.
- Quit smoking.
Regular right breast pain may not indicate a serious illness. Heart attack and breast cancer may be the biggest worries. Knowing the cause of breast pain can ease these fears. Pain intensity and duration depend on the cause. Home treatment can usually relieve pain, swelling, and inflammation. A medical checkup may be needed to rule out serious health issues causing right breast pain.
Back pain doctor in Dallas may perform a physical exam and ask about your medical history to diagnose right breast pain. Imaging and blood tests may be ordered by your doctor to determine the cause. Imaging tests like X-rays can detect broken ribs. Gallbladder problems can be detected by amylase or complete blood count tests.
Diagnostics of Right Side Breast Pain
Pain management in Dallas will recommend several tests based on your symptoms and other factors. Healthcare providers first stabilize your “ABCs” (airway, breathing, and circulation). If so, the provider will review your medical history and symptoms and perform a physical. Healthcare providers may inquire about the onset of the pain, its location, your description of it, its triggers, and whether it is ameliorating.
Physical exams can detect shingles. Others need deeper investigation. This usually begins with diagnostic tests:
- Blood tests
- A chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram (ECG) measure heart electrical activity.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images soft tissues with powerful magnetic waves.
- CT scan, which combines X-ray images to create a three-dimensional thorax image.
These findings may prompt additional tests and procedures. A practitioner may perform an echocardiogram to see your heart in motion. The heart’s response to exercise can be measured with a cardiac stress test.
Conclusion
What causes pain under right breast radiating to back? Right-sided chest pain can result from various causes, such as heart, digestive, respiratory, or musculoskeletal issues. The pain may be caused by chest cavity, upper abdominal, or other nerve issues. Diagnostics include a physical exam and medical history and symptoms. Blood and imaging tests may be ordered based on the results. Right-sided chest pain is less likely to be caused by heart disease than left-sided, but it’s still serious.