When the lower abdomen pulls and the chest hurts. Reasons for aching pain in the lower abdomen and chest

Pain at the peak of ovulation itself is quite natural. Their nature can be different: cramping, cutting, pulling or stabbing. Pain immediately after ovulation occurs for an hour. Some women say that such pain may not leave them even 2-3 days after ovulation. What can pain after ovulation mean?

Breast pain after ovulation

Every month, the body carefully prepares for the expected pregnancy if ovulation occurs. And of course, a woman's breasts are also preparing to breastfeed a baby. Even when it doesn’t happen, the body still prepares the breasts for lactation. After ovulation, progesterone begins to fulfill its tasks, preparing the uterus for the implantation of a fertilized egg. Breasts become more sensitive during ovulation. When the mammary glands swell, this indicates that the glandular tissue is increasing in volume. Naturally, a lot of space is needed: as the mammary glands grow, they put pressure on the vessels, their location changes, and the woman feels pain in the chest.

After some time, which depends on the length of the cycle, the overgrown tissues die off after menstruation. After the second phase of the cycle is completed, the level of progesterone drops sharply and everything falls into place, the pain disappears.

Stomach hurts after ovulation

A woman may experience abdominal pain due to the fact that a mature egg moves through the fallopian tube - this is the peak of ovulation. Every month this process occurs regularly every 28-35 days. About two weeks after the cycle begins, the follicle grows and matures. On the 14th day, with a normal and regular cycle, a mature egg is released and forms.

Abdominal pain is a period of follicle growth. Such pain during this period is considered normal. Soon the discomfort will pass, and the woman should not feel any pain until the next critical days.

Ovarian pain after ovulation

The ovary may hurt due to the fact that it is inflamed, the reasons may be as follows:

• if an infection has entered the uterine cavity;
• the female body was susceptible to hypothermia;
• severe pain may indicate that the cyst has ruptured;
• if the ovarian tissue has burst;
• oophoritis;
• favorable conception or the implantation process may cause some discomfort.

Nagging pain after ovulation

• pregnancy has occurred;
• pregnancy with pathologies: threat of miscarriage, miscarriage and increased uterine tone;
• diseases of the genital organs, for example, inflammatory processes in the ovaries, cystitis, the effect of taking medications that contain hormones, appendicitis.

Lower back pain after ovulation

After the completion of menstruation, in the place where the ovary was, the corpus luteum gradually begins to form - this is a collection of cells that activate progesterone. If the corpus luteum is not fully formed and the female hormone is produced in minimal quantities, then the process of detachment of some parts of the uterus begins in the female body. As a result, women experience pain in the lower back.

Such pain is considered normal if it occurs every 28-35 days, depending on the length of the cycle.

Nipples hurt after ovulation

60% of women experience nipple pain after ovulation. As a rule, such pain is associated with hormonal levels. The nipples hurt because the levels of the hormone progesterone and prolactin increase. It is these hormones, together with other biological enzymes contained in a woman’s blood, that cause stagnation of fluid and electrolytes in the mammary glands. Because of this, the breasts swell and the nipples are also susceptible to pain.

Dear women, in most cases, pain after ovulation is normal. But, if they interfere with your daily life, be sure to find out the reason by consulting a doctor.

One of the most common problems in young women is a combination of discomfort in the chest and pain in the lower abdomen before menstruation. According to statistics, from 10% to 30% of girls consult a doctor with this complaint. It is impossible to give a clear and unambiguous answer why the chest hurts and the lower abdomen pulls, since these symptoms can be a sign of both physiological and pathological conditions.

The most common reason why the mammary glands and nipples hurt, as well as why the lower abdomen hurts and pulls, is cyclic mastodynia, or a set of symptoms observed in many girls before the onset of menstruation. During this period, an increased level of progesterone is observed in the blood, one of the main hormones that is responsible for preparing the woman’s body for pregnancy. Under its influence the following important changes occur:

• The endometrium, or inner layer of the uterus, becomes more juicy due to the proliferation of blood vessels and mucous glands.
• The ovaries are temporarily transferred to a new “working mode” in order to maintain an early pregnancy.
• The end sections of the mammary glands increase in volume, and the ducts grow.
• The nipples become somewhat rough and increase in size.

For many women, these changes may be accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as:

• Tightening and pain in the lower abdomen.
• Nipples hurt (both at rest and when touched).
• Breasts hurt (or feel discomfort in them).

No matter how threatening these symptoms may seem, they are completely normal and indicate that a woman is able to become pregnant, carry a child and breastfeed it.

Other common reasons why the lower abdomen hurts

Abdominal pain and discomfort can be a sign of many other diseases that do not affect the reproductive system. Among them, the most common are the following:

• Food poisoning.
• Acute appendicitis.
• Urolithiasis disease.
• Neuralgia.

Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Food poisoning

When poor-quality products containing toxic substances and pathogenic bacteria enter the gastrointestinal tract, a picture of acute food poisoning develops. Its symptoms, known to almost everyone, include the following:

• Both the entire abdomen and its lower part hurt.
• Nausea, vomiting, and loose stools appear.
• Body temperature rises.
• Lost appetite.
• General weakness and malaise develops.

At the height of the fever, some women may experience discomfort in the chest and nipples. Once the digestive system is cleared of toxins and harmful microorganisms, all symptoms will go away.

Acute appendicitis

The most common surgical disease, in which the lower abdomen hurts, body temperature rises, and there may be nausea and loose stools. These symptoms are caused by inflammation of the appendix, a small elongated structure attached to the colon. Typically, appendicitis is not accompanied by discomfort in the chest, however, if there is severe abdominal pain that occurs against the background of complete health, this pathology should be excluded.

The first signs of appendicitis

Urolithiasis disease

When stones form in the kidneys and urinary tract, renal colic often develops. In this condition, the lower abdomen hurts unbearably, urination is impaired, and blood appears in the urine. In women, urolithiasis is quite common, and it often causes pain in the nipples and breasts.

Neuralgia

With spinal pathology, neuralgia often develops - severe pain along the spinal nerve, which intensifies with movements, bending and taking a deep breath. Sometimes neuralgia can even simulate an acute surgical pathology, such as appendicitis, when the lower abdomen begins to hurt.

Common reasons why breasts and nipples hurt

On the other hand, there are a number of diseases and pathological conditions that themselves may be accompanied by pain and discomfort in the mammary glands and nipples. These include the following:

• Mastopathy.
• Mastitis
• Intercostal neuralgia.
• Mammary cancer.

Mastopathy

Mastopathy is a benign disease of the mammary gland, in which compactions and nodes form in its thickness. Despite the alarming symptoms, in the vast majority of cases this disease is not complicated by oncological processes.

The most important symptoms of mastopathy are the following:

• Diffuse compactions and/or nodes form in the thickness of the mammary gland.
• Breasts hurt.
• There is discomfort in the nipples, and there may be unusual discharge.
• The lesions are asymmetrical and predominate on one side.

Mastopathy requires regular monitoring by a mammologist and appropriate hormonal treatment.

Mastitis

Breast inflammation, or mastitis, is more common after childbirth. The disease is caused by the entry of pathogenic bacteria (usually staphylococci) into the mammary ducts and the subsequent development of a purulent-inflammatory process. With mastitis, the body temperature rises significantly, throbbing pain appears in the chest, the nipples hurt and swell, and pus is released from them.

Mastitis belongs to the group of acute surgical pathologies and requires mandatory treatment. They use powerful antibiotics, detoxification, and infusion therapy. The contents of the mammary glands are evacuated using a breast pump. If complications such as an abscess develop, surgical intervention is required.

Intercostal neuralgia

Neuralgia was mentioned above. Intercostal neuralgia is the same thing, but in this case the nerves of the thoracic region are affected.

Sometimes shingles, an infectious disease caused by the chickenpox virus, can begin with symptoms of intercostal neuralgia. At first, the breasts and nipples hurt very badly, and the body temperature rises. Then, at the point of greatest pain, rashes resembling herpes appear. Shingles must be treated with antiviral drugs.

Mammary cancer

The most dangerous cause of breast and nipple pain is breast cancer. With this disease, individual cells of the gland begin to grow excessively, destroying surrounding tissues, after which they spread throughout the body with the formation of metastases. The key symptom of breast cancer is nipple retraction and other deformation.

Early detection of breast cancer is the key to a complete cure and long life. Therefore, all women over 30 years of age should undergo regular preventive examinations and mammograms.

Women often wonder why their lower abdomen feels tight and their chest hurts. There are many known factors that provoke such symptoms. They are often caused by disruptions in the menstrual cycle.

Regardless of the intensity of pain, its duration and other circumstances, women should not delay a visit to a specialist.

A timely examination makes it possible to identify the problem at a preliminary stage of its formation, which significantly simplifies therapy and reduces its time.

Chest pain and abdominal pain

If your chest hurts and your lower abdomen feels tight, this may be a harbinger of your menstrual cycle. Initially, a nagging pain develops as the uterus becomes tense.

Thus, preparations for menstruation begin. Afterwards, discomfort forms in the chest.

The lower abdomen pulls, mainly due to ovulation, at the same time the pain itself will be nagging. This can happen due to the rupture of the follicle and the release of the egg.

In some women, ovulation does not have characteristic symptoms; at the same time, the lower abdomen hurts, and then a significant amount of clear discharge is formed.

Discomfort in the chest and abdominal area can appear in the first days of the menstrual cycle. The discomfort will go away when menstruation ends.

Some patients are unable to tolerate pain, so they take painkillers.

Causes

Women's health is extremely fragile, so it is necessary to monitor your body and respond in a timely manner when your chest and lower abdomen hurt.

Such symptoms can occur in combination with various diseases, indicate the approach of the menstrual cycle or the pathological course of pregnancy.

There are a lot of reasons that provoke the occurrence of pain. The nature of the discomfort also differs in different cases.

Someone's breasts swell, pain occurs near the mammary gland, and intense discomfort appears in the lower part of the abdominal cavity.

For the rest, the lower abdomen feels tight and aches. You should not turn a blind eye to such signals in order to avoid the formation of adverse consequences.

Cyclic mastodynia

The most common factor why the mammary glands hurt and why the lower abdomen hurts and pulls is cyclic mastodynia or a set of symptoms that are observed in most women before the start of the menstrual cycle.

During this period, a high concentration of progesterone is observed in the bloodstream. This is one of the main hormones responsible for preparing the female body for pregnancy.

Thanks to its influence, the following important changes are realized:

• The endometrium will become more juicy due to enlarged blood vessels and mucous membranes of the gland.
• The ovaries will temporarily switch to a different “mode” of functioning in order to maintain pregnancy.
• The end portion of the mammary gland will increase in size, and the ducts will grow.
• The nipples become rough and increase in size.

For many women, such changes are associated with such painful symptoms as:

• Drawing pain in the lower abdomen.
• Pain in the nipples (at rest and during touching).
• Chest pain (or discomfort).

Regardless of the danger of the symptoms, they are considered completely natural and may indicate that the woman is able to become pregnant and breastfeed.

Other reasons

Pain and unpleasant discomfort in the abdominal area can be a symptom of many other diseases that do not affect the reproductive system. These include:

• Food poisoning. In the process of penetration into the gastrointestinal tract of products of inadequate quality, which contain toxins and pathogens, acute food poisoning is formed. Its symptoms are as follows: pain in the lower abdomen, nausea, gag reflex, upset stool, increased temperature, loss of appetite, general weakness. Some patients experience chest pain. Sometimes they note that the mammary gland is swollen. After cleansing the digestive system of toxic substances and harmful bacteria, all symptoms will go away.
• Acute appendicitis. It is the most common surgical disease, during which the lower abdomen hurts, the temperature increases, nausea and stool upset occur. This symptomatology is caused by the inflammatory process in the appendix, a small elongated growth that is attached to the large intestine. Mostly appendicitis is not associated with chest discomfort, but if there is severe pain in the abdominal area, this pathological process must also be excluded.
• Urolithiasis. During the formation of stones in the kidneys and urinary ducts, renal colic often occurs. In this condition, there is a tugging sensation in the lower abdomen, urination problems occur, and there is blood in the urine. In women, the disease is often observed. Often during it, the nipples and breasts hurt.
• Neuralgia. With pathological processes in the spine, neuralgia often develops - severe pain in the spinal nerve, intensifying during movements, bending and taking deep breaths. In some situations, neuralgia simulates an acute surgical pathological process.

Causes of chest pain

There are also diseases and pathological conditions that are accompanied by pain and discomfort in the chest. These include:

Mastopathy

A benign disease of the mammary gland, during which compactions and nodules form within its thickness.

Despite the danger of the symptoms, in many situations this disease is not complicated by the oncological process.

Important symptoms: formation of diffuse lumps or nodes, chest pain, discomfort in the nipples. The disease requires regular monitoring by a mammologist and proper hormonal therapy.

Mastitis

The inflammatory process of the mammary gland is often observed in the postpartum period.

The disease is caused by the penetration of harmful microorganisms into the gland ducts and the further formation of inflammation.

With the disease, the temperature increases significantly, throbbing chest pain occurs, and nipples hurt.

Mastitis belongs to the group of acute surgical pathological processes, and requires mandatory therapy.

Strong antibiotics, detoxification, and infusion treatment are used. If adverse consequences occur (abscess), surgical intervention is necessary.

Intercostal neuralgia

In such a situation, damage to the nerves of the chest occurs. In some cases, the symptoms of this disease begin with herpes zoster, a viral disease caused by the causative agent of chickenpox.

Initially, the chest hurts severely and the temperature increases. Next, a rash appears that resembles herpes. Shingles must be treated with antiviral agents.

Mammary cancer

The most dangerous factor is chest pain. During such a disease, some gland cells grow excessively, destroying nearby tissues, and then spread throughout the body to form metastases.

The main symptoms are retraction and other deformation of the nipple. Timely detection of the disease contributes to complete healing.

Therefore, upon reaching 30 years of age, women must regularly undergo medical examinations and mammograms.

To determine why the chest hurts and the lower abdomen feels tight, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination.

Prevention measures

Many women wonder why when a specialist does not detect pathological processes, but after the menstrual cycle the chest continues to hurt and the lower abdomen continues to hurt.

The reason may be a violation of the rest and work schedule. You need to review your sleep patterns, balance your diet, eliminate stressful situations and get rid of bad habits.

You need to spend more time in the fresh air, play sports, and master yoga exercises in order to relieve pain. If your stomach hurts after the menstrual cycle, this is a deviation from the norm.

It is necessary to change something in your lifestyle, reconsider your habits, and it is possible that painful discomfort after the menstrual cycle will go away on its own.

If there is a pulling in the lower abdomen and chest pain, this is a dangerous signal that there are malfunctions within the body. They should be eliminated before they cause complications.

Self-therapy is not recommended. Many diseases occur latently, do not manifest themselves for a long time, and have complex symptoms. Tests should be done to ensure that there are no health risks.

Useful video

Women's health is very fragile, so you should listen to your body and react in time if your chest and lower abdomen hurt. These symptoms can accompany various diseases, indicate the approach of menstruation or the pathological course of pregnancy.

There are plenty of factors that provoke the appearance of painful sensations. The nature of the pain can also vary. Some people experience unbearable, very severe pain in the lower abdomen, swelling and tenderness of the mammary glands. In other women, the lower abdomen feels tight and aches. This situation should not be left to chance to prevent complications from developing.

Many young girls experience stomach and chest pain during menstruation. But this is not the only reason for the manifestation of such symptoms.

Similar sensations may accompany the following conditions:

• pregnancy period;
• diseases of the mammary glands;
• pathologies of the reproductive system;
• hypothermia of the body;
• lack of nutrients;
• constant stress and depression.

In some situations, consulting a doctor is not required. This is, for example, if you know that your period is coming soon, and painful sensations are their harbinger.

But if your period has long passed, and the next one is still far away, you should think about your health, visit specialists, and get tested.

Start of menstruation

According to statistics, 70% of women experience discomfort during menstruation.

If your stomach hurts and feels tight, or your breasts swell, you shouldn’t worry too much, this is due to the physiological characteristics of the female body. The mammary glands begin to ache long before menstruation, but pain in the lower abdomen appears immediately before the onset of menstruation.

If the pain is not severe, it is easy to bear and there is no need to do anything. As a rule, the most painful day is the first day, then the discomfort subsides. But for some girls and women, the pain is so severe that it interferes with normal life activities. In this case, you should take an anesthetic, antispasmodic tablet to calm the pain and improve your condition. Menstruation is accompanied by severe pain for various reasons. Most often it is overwork, lack of sleep, stress, and anxiety.

Pregnancy

One of the most common reasons for pain in the lower abdomen and mammary glands is pregnancy.

In this case, discomfort in these two areas may or may not be related. The breast hurts because it is preparing to feed the baby, it is increasing in size and filling with milk.

But abdominal pain can be caused by the following factors:

• Frequent constipation that appears in the last stages of pregnancy. The main reason is compression of the intestines by the uterus. To prevent this problem, you should move more, walk often, and eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.
• Stretching the ligaments that support the uterus. There is a sharp, aching pain in the lower abdomen. You can prevent stretch marks using a special bandage belt.
• Chronic diseases of the digestive system. During pregnancy, the fetus grows and puts pressure on the digestive organs, which causes an exacerbation of chronic pathologies such as intestinal obstruction and pancreatitis.
• Gynecological pain. Severe pain accompanied by bleeding is a good reason to seek specialized help to prevent complications or miscarriage.
• Ectopic pregnancy accompanied by strong, sharp pain in the lower abdomen, which begins to worry in the second month.

If pain in the mammary glands in pregnant women is normal, then pain in the lower abdomen is a signal that there are some pathological disorders in the body. You cannot let the situation take its course, because this can lead to miscarriage or premature birth.

Other reasons

Many different diseases are accompanied by symptoms such as pain in the lower abdomen and mammary glands. It is impossible to determine the exact cause at home. If you let the situation get worse, you may encounter very unpleasant complications, so if such signs appear, you should go to the antenatal clinic, get tested, undergo a full examination, after which the doctor will be able to make a diagnosis.

Pain in the abdomen and chest often appears with the following pathologies:

• adhesive process;
• endometriosis;
• polycystic ovary syndrome;
• tumor diseases;
• uterine prolapse;
• the presence of cystic formations;
• hormonal imbalance;
• special structure of the genital organs.

A woman must constantly monitor her health, because any problems in the functioning of the organs of the reproductive system can lead to undesirable consequences. It is imperative to undergo a full examination at least once a year, take care of genital hygiene, and lead a normal sex life.

During pregnancy, you need to limit yourself from stress, disappointments, and provide yourself with positive emotions. If it's your period, you can take a pill. If there are other reasons, you cannot do without consulting a specialist. Timely diagnosis and proper treatment are the key to a quick recovery.

Of course, signs of pregnancy are for those who are really looking forward to pregnancy. After all, if the pregnancy is unexpected, then you will most likely find out about what happened when you can use the test and check your guesses with an ultrasound.

Those who have been planning “parenthood” for a long time (or not so long) listen to themselves very carefully, waiting for the first joyful bells.

And although there are women who do not feel the birth of a new life at all, many can, one and a half to two weeks after a fateful sexual intercourse, catch themselves thinking that “something is wrong here”...

So, how does the body let us know what is happening to it?

Main signs of pregnancy

Breast

It swells and becomes sensitive even to touch (sometimes the nipples become hypersensitive).
However, if no signs are observed on the bust side, this is also normal.

Stomach

According to subjective assessments, you can find yourself with a small tummy - many mothers note that a small tummy begins to be noticeable immediately - even before the delay. There may also be a feeling of “fullness” inside the uterus. It may also be that the stomach tightens (as during ovulation) - this happens during the days of implantation of the child into the wall of the uterus.

Going to the toilet on all occasions is becoming more frequent (not much more so yet) - the uterus pumps its rights and frees up space for itself in the pelvis.

The veins along the lower abdomen become more visible (during pregnancy they will become bluer throughout the body, especially on the stomach and chest). This is due to increased blood volume and increased circulation in strategic locations.

Again, if absolutely nothing is felt or noticeable, this is normal. It will be later for sure.

Taste desires

Suddenly you want something, maybe the most ordinary thing, but you want it unusually strongly. This is more often noticeable in repeated pregnancies, when the mother already knows the product(s) that she is drawn to at the beginning of a new life. This selectivity is associated with the needs of the baby and the adapting mother’s body, and special hormones increase the mother’s sensitivity to those products that contain the necessary substances.

Sensitivity

Sensitivity to everything else also increases. Smells, sounds, colors, images, etc. are perceived differently. It is not at all necessary that such changes be sharp and obvious; more often they are, on the contrary, soft, smooth, slightly perceptible, but quite specific: “ugh, it stinks more than usually”, “oh, how I started to like this color”, “let’s buy another soft bear, they are so cute”, “I don’t really want to listen to BG and Tsoi, but I love them so much”, etc.

Nausea/toxicosis

By the way, toxicosis with its nausea, as a rule, appears much later - a week or two after the delay. Therefore, there is no point in relying on this symptom to determine pregnancy. Although there are exceptions here: in some cases, nausea occurs from the moment of implantation, and sometimes there is no toxicosis at all.

Fatigue/apathy

Feeling tired or apathetic is a sign of pregnancy that can appear as early as the first week after conception.

Lower back pain

Lower back pain may also indicate early pregnancy; however, mild pain occurs periodically throughout the entire period of pregnancy.

Headache and migraines

A sudden increase in hormone levels in the body can cause headaches in early pregnancy.

Suspecting that she is no longer alone, mom will probably do a test - a regular pharmacy strip that determines the presence of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the urine. On such tests they usually write “from the first day of delay,” but I want to find out earlier! If you can't wait, do it. Quite often, the test already gives a positive result 2-3 days after implantation, i.e. about a week before your expected period.

A very thin or very pale second line already means a positive result.

Gender of baby on pregnancy test?

It is believed that a girl’s embryo has a higher level of hCG than a boy’s, so if the test noticeably “stripes” long before the delay, then it can be assumed to be a girl, and if even after the delay the second stripe is not very bright, then it is more likely a boy.

If the test shows nothing, but you still have symptoms, just wait a few days and do the test again.

There may also be a situation where all the symptoms are present, and the delay is already obvious, but the test is still negative. Don't worry and don't rush to conclusions. At this time, even on an ultrasound, new life is not always visible. Just wait a little longer. Of course, if something bothers you - pain, discharge or just fear - you need to go to the doctor.

And one more completely subjective “symptom”, but often so true - the kind of “I just know that I’m pregnant” :) This kind of calm confidence, internal knowledge that does not require proof. And it's so pleasant and peaceful. True, like other symptoms, this feeling may or may not be present. That's also quite normal.

In any case, meet the new person with joy and confidence. At the slightest suspicion, it is better to transform your behavior to suit the suspected pregnancy. If you made a mistake, it’s not scary, because a correct lifestyle will not harm a non-pregnant woman :) It’s much more unpleasant to brush off the symptoms, and then regret something not very useful, but already done. Therefore, be sensitive to your body and intuition.