Question
I went jogging yesterday and felt what was like a sharp pain/tear above my left breast. I recently ended my period and shook it off as tenderness from that. But the further i jogged the more it hurt. I was being stubborn (wanted to run my 5 miles nonstop) and even thought out loud that I could tear muscles in my breast. I am certain it was the bra, I was not wearing enough support. I later forgot about it and came home several hours later. I was getting ready to shower and noticed a small welt, or like I popped a blood vessel on my breast. It was a little sore and when i jumped in the shower it burned.Open wound? Its hard to tell, cause it doesn't look like it. I applied neosporen and wanted to know if this is something I should consult a doctor about? Is it serious or something I can self medicate...just let it heal on its own? I am still a little sore and laying low on the working out and have officially chunked the old sports bra away!
thank for taking the time to read my question and for your insight on this matter.

have a great day!

Answer
Dear Edna,

There are no muscles in the breast tissue. The closest muscles would be the pecotralis major/minor muscles which lie under the breast tissue. They are the muscles that we use to flex our shoulders anteriorly. They are exercised by doing butterflies. Does it hurt to do that type of exercise? In the breast tissue proper, it is mostly adipose, for fat tissue. There are suspensory ligaments and there is a lot of blood flow through the tissues. Perhaps the ligaments were strained or you ruptured a blood vessel. Is it possible that the pain and the welt was due to the sport bra rubbing repetitively on the same spot on the breast?

This article is quite informative...   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper%27s_ligaments

It is my opinion that if this is caused by one of the above mechanisms, there really isn't much that anybody can do for you... as long as there is no open wound, it should heal with time. You might experience some shape changes to the breast if it was a suspensory ligament rupture. The wikipedia article above states that surgical repairs to suspensory ligaments have been attempted but the procedure is usually not beneficial. What does concern me is the possibility that the injury occurred over tissue that wasn't healthy in the first place.  

The absolute safest thing to do would be to consult with your OBGYN.  A simple office visit would put your mind at ease.

I hope that this information helps you to make a good decision!

Good Luck,

Keith Biggs, DC
http://www.eastmesachiropractor.com