Healthy Habits: Fibrocystic Breast Condition

While breast-related health topics such as breast cancer and mammograms seem to be making news headlines all the time for various reasons, there is one subject related to breasts that affects many mothers and simply isn’t getting much attention, despite the fact that it affects an amazing 72% of women.¹

Known casually as “PMS Breasts,” this term refers to breast tenderness, swelling, achiness or heaviness coinciding with the menstrual cycle. More formally, this is known as fibrocystic breast condition, (FBC). The lack of conversation about this condition may be part of the reason that 45% of the women who experience this each month do not seek a solution from their doctors because they think that breast tenderness "is simply part of being a woman.”²  Due to the discomfort, some women are not able to exercise, be intimate with their partners, or even hug their children. In fact, 44% avoid sex, and 22% even avoid walking during “that” time of the month. This adds up to an average of one month of "lost days" per year per woman.³