Ask a Doctor: “Why are my breasts changing in menopause?”

Meno 101 - May 10, 2023

By Womaness Editors 2-Minute Read

Mayo Clinic's Dr. Ekta Kapoor expert for Womaness

Welcome to ASK AN EXPERT, a series where we pose your real questions to our menopause experts for the intel you need. Need an answer? Post your question on The After Party, our private Facebook Group.

Your Question:

“I'm in menopause and have noticed that my breasts are changing. Can you tell me what's really going on here?”

The Answer:

From Dr. Ekta Kapoor, endocrinologist, Mayo Clinic:

“Breasts are a hormone-sensitive tissue. They respond to both estrogen and progesterone in slightly different ways. But then when you have loss of those hormones with menopause, there is basically loss of breast tissue cells and more presence of greater amounts of fat in the breast and the breast can become sagging in nature.

“...there is basically loss of breast tissue cells and more presence of greater amounts of fat...”

So in a sense, they are shrinking because of loss of tissue, but with the fat and any weight gain, et cetera, they may appear to be large and sagging. And the risk for breast cancer goes up with age, too. For that reason, postmenopausal women tend to have a higher risk of breast cancer.”