Breast pain is not uncommon in the lives of girls and women. It is something that can occur naturally that does not necessarily signify that anything is wrong. Although breast pain can accompany cancer, the fact that a girl or a woman has breast pain does not automatically mean that she has the disease.

One time that girls and women frequently experience breast pain is around the times that they are menstruating. Called cyclical mastalgia, the pain typically begins before the menstrual cycle is about to start but it does not continue after the menstrual cycle begins. It also would not be unusual if this pain were to be present in between cycles.

When women are over 40, they may experience non-cyclical mastalgia. This type of mastalgia is not associated with their menstrual cycles, but it does appear to be associated with cysts within the breasts. Women over 40 who have cysts may have breast pain, but these cysts are not cancerous.

Nursing mothers have the potential of developing a condition called mastitis. Mastitis is when the areas within the breast become infected, and it can cause the mother to feel breast pain. If bacteria within the baby's saliva penetrate the mother's breast into the milk ducts, the infection can occur. Other symptoms are swelling of the breast, redness and fever.

Boys may also experience breast pain, and it most commonly occurs during puberty. When these boys have what is called gynecomastia, they are experiencing an increase in breast tissue that can be accompanied by pain.

The fact that women have breast pain may not require that they discuss the issue with their doctors, but there are times when this will be necessary. If the pain is accompanied by an unusual lump, they notice a discharge from their nipples, the pain lasts a long time with no logical explanation or they believe that they have an infection due to breast feeding, they will need to have this condition checked. Also, if the pain is so great that it makes everyday activities difficult, they will want to see a physician.