Ow.
February 13, 2012 8:49 AM   Subscribe

Why is my nipple hurting?

Female, twenties, never been pregnant/breastfed, no birth control, no family history of breast cancer. I don't do BSEs on a regular basis, but having just checked I don't feel any lumps or see any visual changes.

One of my nipples have started hurting out of the blue (just the one, not the other) - once when I wasn't menstruating, and once when I was (two days into my period). It's a sharp, burning-type pain, the nipple hardens, and the pain doesn't reside for at least five minutes. After, the nipple feels sore and the rest of the breast isn't affected. There seems to be evidence of dried milky discharge inside the duct, though I haven't seen it occur. There's never been any menstruation-related breast sensitivity or tenderness, so I don't know if this is something bad or something cycle-related that's new and normal. It hasn't happened before this year and I can't see any obvious reason for it (no one's hit me in the tit with a baseball bat, etc).

Has this happened to you? What was it? YANMD, etc. (I will be seeing a doctor, but I'm curious/slightly worried now.)
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)
 
If you're able to track your cycle (in a journal or Word doc or whatever's clever), you might be able to track this a little better. You said it happened out of the blue, but maybe there's an underlying cause-- stress, change in diet or mood, etc.

If there's no lumps and you don't think you're pregnant (I felt like someone had been sticking a fork into my nipples when I was pregnant!), this is my only thought, but if you have a gyno, maybe you should talk to him/her. That's the best way to calm your concerns.
posted by camylanded at 8:55 AM on February 13, 2012


By the way,this happens to me during months I have bad periods as well, so you're not alone. I'm also on an IUD though, if that helps. Hope you figure it out.
posted by camylanded at 8:56 AM on February 13, 2012


Could be menstrual related; could be a blocked duct; could be bruised. You are wise to go to the doctor.

Also, not to scare you, but because I had no idea this was even possible until I read this this morning, do you have any other symptoms of inflammatory breast cancerr?
posted by dpx.mfx at 8:56 AM on February 13, 2012


I dealt with this for about two years when my baby-making hormones were at their raging peak, if that makes any difference to you. It was only in one breast.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:59 AM on February 13, 2012


This sounds to me like a blocked, infected or otherwise messed up duct (can't really google this at work but I had something similar). It should be treatable, but IME it's really difficult to get your doctor to treat something like this if they themselves cannot express discharge. (Ick, TMI, I know) So be persistent.

While inflammatory breast cancer can present with weird nipple symptoms (and OMG, how I researched the hell out of this one), as a broad generality, sharp, localized pain like that in the absence of any of the other symptoms (redness, swelling, heat, distorted skin, bite-like rash, "bruise" that appears from nowhere, significant skin peeling/changes on the nipple) and in the presence of milky discharge to me suggests duct problems rather than IBC. And while IBC is an aggressive cancer that has a higher rate of cases in young patients, you are still quite, quite young for IBC ("younger" means that there are outlier cases in the teens and twenties, some cases in the thirties and then more in the forties, with a big jump in the fifties - whereas with non-IBC, the big jump happens later)
posted by Frowner at 9:18 AM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]


This has happened to me and I don't menstruate (I take pills continuously). It typically happens to me when the nipple is irritated in some way, usually when I'm cold. Even if I'm no longer cold, it is like the nipple just can't stop being erect, and it becomes painful. Esp depending on the shirt I'm wearing (since it is rubbing a lot).

I don't think this would cause the evidence of milk discharge, but thought I'd mention it so you could rule it out.
posted by evening at 9:23 AM on February 13, 2012


Do you have any symptoms of Reynaud's anywhere else? I had some vasospasms when I started nursing, but it was my understanding that people with Reynaud's could have that under non-lactating circumstances. If the symptoms in the link sound right (nip going hard and the tip turning white/blue, worse when it's cold out), I found that forcing the blood back in by gentle squeezing helped almost instantly. As did wearing vests.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:50 AM on February 13, 2012


Yes, this could be a form of Reynaud's phenomenon. I have the same issue in the same location as you (both breasts, but right more often than left), and it started in my twenties about 15 years ago. I had a hard time finding any information on it, since it's somewhat uncommon to have Reynaud's in the breasts (hands/feet are more common.) It's alarming to look at: the tissue turns white and stiff like all the blood has gone; then as it progresses it turns blue, then purple, then red, then goes back to normal. The whole thing is terribly painful and can last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour at a time. It's exacerbated by cold and happens most often in bed. I find that if I'm having an attack, it helps a lot to hold a hot heating pad to my chest. [As a side note which may or not be relevant to you, I also found that the Reynaud's nipple attacks drastically reduced in frequency when I began eating a gluten-free diet 2.5 years ago, so I take that as an indication that the Reynaud's is part of a larger inflammatory syndrome I'm dealing with, in addition to arthritis & other issues that were improved by my diet change. I have also heard that reducing caffeine intake may help prevent Reynaud's.]
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 11:38 AM on February 13, 2012


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