---
title: What is the best way to measure breast pain that comes and goes with your period?
description: A daily visual pain scale works much better than asking women to remember their pain later. Women with cyclical breast pain reported much higher pain levels d
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/clinical-evaluation-of-mastalgia-1998/
---

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- What is the best way to measure breast pain that comes and goes with your period?

Survey study, 1998

# What is the best way to measure breast pain that comes and goes with your period?

A daily visual pain scale works much better than asking women to remember their pain later. Women with cyclical breast pain reported much higher pain levels during menstruation (5.3 out of 10) compared to women without cyclical pain (3.5).

 Early or limited evidence

30 women from a military hospital, 15 with cyclical breast pain and 15 without

## What they did

Thirty women from a military hospital completed a screening questionnaire about breast pain. Two weeks later, 15 women identified as having cyclical breast pain and 15 without kept daily diaries, rating their breast pain each day using a simple 0-10 scale and recording menstrual symptoms.

## What they found

Women with cyclical breast pain reported peak pain of 5.3 during their period, compared to 3.5 in women without cyclical pain. Using screening answers to predict diary results worked 73% of the time. Most women with cyclical breast pain also reported other premenstrual symptoms, though some had high breast pain with few other complaints.

## What it means for you

Measuring breast pain accurately requires daily tracking, not just asking women what they remember. Memory is unreliable because symptoms change so much day to day. The simple pain scale is easy for women to use and gives consistent results.

5.3

Peak pain in cyclical group

3.5

Peak pain in non-cyclical group

73%

Prediction accuracy

## About the study

Original title Clinical evaluation of mastalgia Authors Tavaf-Motamen H, Ader DN, Browne MW et al. Journal Archives of surgery (Chicago, Ill. : 1960) Year 1998 Study design Survey study Participants 15 What was tested None - this tested how to measure pain, not treat it Read the paper [doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.133.2.211](https://doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.133.2.211)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Work and productivity](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-work/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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