Cinnamon and breast pain

Cyclic breast pain (CBP) or mastalgia is reported to occur in approximately 70% of reproductive age women, and is the most common complaint among patients with benign breast lesions. CBP includes pain or tenderness before menstruation and breast inflation that lasts five to seven days and subsides when menstruation begins.

A recent randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included 79 women, between the ages of 18–40 years, with a history of moderate to severe breast pain starting in the time preceding their menstrual period. All participants had regular periods, no recent use of hormone therapy or oral contraceptives, and aimed to investigate whether cinnamon would actively improve their symptoms of CBP compared to a placebo.

Cinnamon has a well-established clinical and traditional use as a pain reliever, antispasmodic and for reducing pain during menstruation.

Participants were administered a dose of 400 mg cinnamon capsule, three times per day, or a placebo for two months and asked to assess their breast pain using the Cardiff Breast Pain chart.

This chart is composed of thirty squares that each participant was asked to fill in according to the severity of their pain. If they considered their pain to be severe they filled in the square completely, if their pain was moderate they filled in half a square, if they had no pain, they put a dot in the
square. Data was collected prior to beginning treatment, at the one-month mark and at the completion of the two-month treatment.

According to the findings, throughout the treatment, pain intensity was reduced in both groups, however 59% of the participants administered the cinnamon capsule were satisfied with their treatment, while only 2.7% of the placebo group were satisfied, a statistically significant difference.

While this study was small in scale, it certainly highlights the potential for cinnamon to reduce cyclic breast pain in patients with hormonally mediated breast pain conditions such as cyclic breast disease and fibrocystic breast disease.