Can Having a Large Breast Size Cause Tendonitis And/or Bursitis?

It’s not unusual for breast hypertrophy to be
associated with significant symptoms.Patients commonly complain of neck pain, back pain, breast pain and
shoulder pain.Shoulder pain is usually
associated with shoulder grooves and numbness on the inner aspects of the
arms.These symptoms usually respond to
breast reduction with significant improvement.Shoulder
bursitis and tendinitis aren’t typically associated with breast
hypertrophy.For this reason, it’s
appropriate to consult an orthopedic surgeon who can perform a comprehensive
musculo-skeletal evaluation.Depending
upon the results of this evaluation a treatment plan can be formulated.Even if a primary orthopedic diagnosis is
made, breast reduction may still be an option.It’s
therefore also important to consult a board certified plastic surgeon with
experience in this area.This surgeon
should be able to formulate a treatment plan that addresses your concerns.

Thank you for the question.

You are doing the right thing by ruling out musculoskeletal causes ( with Orthopedic follow-up) before assuming your symptoms are related to the large breasts.

Having said that, there is no doubt that the size of your breasts may be causing problems ( or exacerbating) issues of neck, back, and shoulder discomfort.

At some point, it may behoove you to seek consultation with well experienced board-certified plastic surgeons.

Best wishes.

Shoulder, back and neck pain can possibly be related to having large breasts. First, you want to eliminate the more obvious causes, and therefore you should follow closely with your orthopedic surgeon.

RE - "My surgeon's nurse thinks that the pain in my shoulder and arm may have been a symptom from my large breasts (38 DDD). This pain happened out of no where while I was sitting and hurt tot he point that I had to go to the ER and was given a sling. I am waiting to meet with my orthopedic doctor again because we were never clear about why the pain and fluid on the shoulder (shown on the MRI) occurred suddenly, but he thought it was tendinitis and bursitis."

Large breasts (Macromastia) have been associated with pain in the neck, shoulders and upper back. They limit women's ability to run and engage in many physical activities. It has been further shown that surgically reducing such large breasts has ion many cases reduced or eliminated such discomfort. That being said I have never seen a true bursitis or tendinitis associated with large breasts. These conditions are seen with hard repetitive injury and stress to the (?biceps) tendon and is seen in occupations such as pitchers etc. For this reason, even if you have large breasts, I would have this worked up by a good Orthopedic surgeon to make sure there is no OTHER explanation for the pain. In most cases, these are treated with rest and anti inflammatory drugs.

Good Luck.

Dr. Peter A Aldea

The presents of large breasts can be symptomatic.  However, there are varying degrees of large.  Also many men and small breasted women have these same symptoms.  The place to start would be with an orthopedic surgeon and probably some CT or MRI scan.  Good luck

Heavy beasts can cause shoulder and arm symptoms, mostly pain in the shoulders and tingling in the hands.

It should not cause fluid in your shoulder.  I expect that your orthopedic surgeon is right.  Follow up with him.

Hi Daenyris,

Anything's possible but it sounds more like an orthopedic issue (the sudden, unilateral pain) than your breasts.  You should, of course, be checked out by your orthopedic surgeon.  Then, depending on what he or she finds, you may want to try a course of non-streroidal anti-inflammatories or other non-invasive treatments.

That being said, neck back and shoulder pain are often associated with enlarged breasts.  Depending on how heavy your breasts are (size is one factor, weight - which is related to the density of your breast tissue - is another).  A breast reduction, if indicated, can provide a dramatic relief of precisely those symptoms.

So, I would advise starting with your orthopedic surgeon and, if there is inadequate relief of symptoms, have a consultation with a plastic surgeon.

I hope that this helps, and good luck,

Dr. E